Larry McMurtry's Streets of Laredo is a 1995 American Western television miniseries directed by Joseph Sargent. Home and relations I ne'er shall see more. Send for the surgeon to look at my wounds Throwback: 20th Century Television Mini-Series. We beat the drum slowly and played the fife lowly, Played the dead march as we carried him along. "Streets of Laredo" (Laws B01, Roud 23650),[1] also known as the "Cowboy's Lament", is a famous American cowboy ballad in which a dying cowboy tells his story to another cowboy. As for The Cowboy's Lament/Streets of Laredo itself, Austin E. and Alta S. Fife in Songs of the Cowboys (1966) say. He is hired by an eastern rail baron to track down Joey Garza, a new kind of killer, only a boy, who kills from a distance with a rifle. The belle of the Village the fairest of all Take me to the grave yard, lay the sod o'er me The song "Streets of the East Village" by The Dan Emery Mystery Band shows a definite influence from this song as well. Got shot through the body, and now here I lay." Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.[2]. The song deliberately echoes "Streets of Laredo", beginning:[10], As I was out walking the streets of Northwestern, I'm a young cow-boy and know I've done wrong. . Before I returned, his spirit had departed, Two former Texas Rangers renew their spirit of adventure as they and several other residents of a small Texas town join a cattle drive to the Montana Territory. Harry James recorded a version on his 1966 album Harry James & His Western Friends (Dot DLP 3735 and DLP 25735). This in turn is the phrase used in the song "Bang the Drum Slowly" on the album Red Dirt Girl by Emmylou Harris. The streets of Laredo grew cold as the clay. The band from Circo de La Maravilla plays the song at Lupe's funeral. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time. It’s often played with just four chords—the I, the IV, the V, and the V/V, or II—making it ideally suited for campfire play. Who drove me from friends that I loved and from home The chorus begins "There's gold in the mountains, gold in the valleys...". The song evolved from a seventeenth century British balladabout a soldier who died of syphilis. Streets of Laredo are a Brooklyn NY based indie-folk outfit from New Zealand. For I'm a young cowboy and I know I've done wrong.". "'Oh once in the saddle I used to go dashing, The song is a featured motif in John Irving's 14th Novel 'Avenue of Mysteries'. The lyrics are also (indirectly) the source of the title of Peter S. Beagle's 1965 travelogue of a cross-USA trip by Heinkel scooter, "I See by My Outfit." Beat your drums lightly, play your fifes merrily on their 1961 album College Concert: As I walked down in the streets of Laredo. The story of one unfortunate cowboy who met a violent end in one of these towns is told in the song "Streets of Laredo." Sing your dearth march as you bear me along Is she, or is she not THE greatest actor Texas ever produced? Change. Beat your drums lightly, play your fifes merrily And so powerful when he does speak. The song presages the American Civil Rights Movement and recounts the refusal of Northwestern University's Psi Upsilon fraternity to accept Sherman Wu because of his Chinese heritage. Vince Gill recorded a version of three verses of the Irish ballad The Bard of Armagh (which takes the same tune) followed by three verses of this song on the album Long Journey Home, a compilation of songs about Irish emigration and the links between Irish and American folk and country music also featuring Van Morrison, the Chieftains, Mary Black, Elvis Costello and others, in 1998. "When I Was a Young Girl", a female version of the same theme, was popular on the folk music circuits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and was recorded by Barbara Dane and Odetta before being revived by Nina Simone, Leslie Feist, and Marlon Williams. Sometimes the cause of death is more lingering than a gunshot wound. An outlaw separates from his two partners in crime when they join the Texas Rangers, and he continues to commit daring robberies. Streets of Laredo (1995) Plot Summary (1) Captain Woodrow Call, now retired from the Rangers, is a bounty hunter. A veteran cowboy and his nephew save five Chinese girls from prostitution while trekking from Oregon to Wyoming. The series is set in the 1890s. Joined by his old compadre Pea Eye, it is a long ride to south Texas and the Mexican side of the border, where the past, in the form of Maria Garza, Joey's mother, haunts Call. The Kingston Trio performed this comedy version as "Laredo?" I'm a young cow-boy and know I've done wrong. This miniseries follows the original Lonesome Dove miniseries, and both are based on the characters created by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry. Captain Woodrow Call, now retired from the Rangers, is a bounty hunter. We all loved our comrade, although he'd done wrong. Sing your dearth march as you bear me along Laredo is located in Southern Texas and was not one of the early railheads, but there are over a hundred different versions of this ballad set in almost as many towns across the West. A shot from a six-shooter took my life away. Farewell my friends, farewell my relations For I'm a young cowboy and I know I've done wrong." The same tune is used for the Irish lament "Bold Robert Emmet" and the sea chanty "Spanish Ladies" . Loyalty. She gave me up for the glitter of gold. "[8], A portion of "Streets of Laredo" was sung by a group of cowboys in Season 2, Episode 5: Estralita on the TV show Wanted Dead or Alive which first aired on 10/3/1959. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Put bunches of roses all over my coffin, Use the HTML below. Beat your drums lightly, play your fifes merrily Streets of Laredo lyrics and chords These country classic song lyrics are the property of the respective artist, authors and labels, they are intended solely for educational purposes and private study only. . Western traditions. The song "Blackwatertown" by The Handsome Family is another updated version of this song, framing the narrator's downfall as the resultant of an affair with a young woman employed in the publishing industry. Streets of Laredo It's a quiet story though, not full of action, as some shoot-em-ups are. Streets of Laredo are a seven-piece indie folk outfit formed by siblings Daniel, Dave, and Sarahjane Gibson in Auckland, New Zealand. "Go bring me a cup, a cup of cold water. I'm a young cow-boy cut down in my bloom. His wife Lorena, played by Sissy Spacek, speaks for him most eloquently. In some versions, the dying man is a woman. Down in the green valley, laid the sod o'er him. [7] Some elements of this song closely presage those in the "Streets of Laredo" and in the "St. James Infirmary Blues". But, I met with a Greaser and my life he has finished Beat your drums lightly, play your fifes merrily The Smothers Brothers performed a similar comedy version on their 1962 album The Two Sides of the Smothers Brothers. I spied a poor cowboy, all wrapped in white linen And give a wild whoop as you carry me along; The song "Streets of Whitechapel" sung by J. C. Carroll is an updated version of this ballad. Streets of Laredo are an indie-folk band of joy. "The Cowboy's Lament" redirects here. Marty Robbins' 1959 album Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs features his hit "El Paso", similar in form and content to "Streets of Laredo". Lines from the song also feature in the British found-footage horror film The Borderlands (2013 film). The old-time cowboy Frank H. Maynard (1853–1926) of Colorado Springs, Colorado, claimed authorship of the revised Cowboy's Lament, and his story was widely reported in 1924 by the journalism professor Elmo Scott Watson, then on the faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. An outlaw separates from his two partners in crime when they join the Texas Rangers, and he continues to commit daring robberies. This bowdlerization renders nonsensical the next phrase, "...and then to the card-house," as though drinking and gambling took place in separate establishments. Was this review helpful to you? “Streets of Laredo” is used as the theme music at the beginning of the Coen Brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018); in its last segment, Brendan Gleeson sings “The Unfortunate Rake”. He was a young cowboy and he said he'd done wrong. Add the first question. Allan Sherman also performed a parody of the song; his version was titled "Streets of Miami", and was about vacationing Manhattan lawyers. "Then swing your rope slowly and rattle your spurs lowly, My curse let it rest, rest on the fair one As I walked out in the streets of Laredo as I walked out in Laredo one day I saw a young cowboy all dressed in white linen Dressed in white linen as cold as the clay So beat the drum slowly and play the fife lowly Play the dead march as you carry me along Laurent. Take me to the grave yard, lay the sod o'er me 20, "Folk Songs and Ballads", American Roots Music, PBS, Episodic literary serial based on the song. He is so quiet! The adventures and love lives of young Texas Rangers Woodrow Call and Augustus McRae leading up to their retirement to the city of Lonesome Dove. -- Beat your drums lightly, play your fifes merrily ", Who knew George Carlin could act?James Garner is genuine, and authentic, as he always is.The story is full of great characters - who fall away until the principles are left to resolve, or not resolve their conflicts.The score is haunting, the cinematography is especially beautiful, the story is timeless, which is what one expects from Larry McMurtry.Enjoy! This is “Streets of Laredo”, also known as “The Cowboy’s Lament”. It was first published in 1910 in John Lomax's Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads.[4][5]. Dressed in white linen and cold as the clay. It's also one of his most affectingly melancholy books. Louis MacNeice wrote a poem called "The Streets of Laredo" about the bombing of London during World War Two. But I first took to drinking, then to gambling Eastern values. Lyrics to 'Streets Of Laredo' by Jim Reeves. After playing just one hometown show, the Gibsons took a leap of faith and in 2012 they relocated to Brooklyn, New York, where they expanded their lineup to include fellow Kiwi Thom Darlow and local Brooklyners Sean McMahon and Andrew McGovern. Garrison Keillor's album Songs of the Cat has a feline-themed parody, "As I Walked Out". Captain Woodrow Call, now retired from the Rangers, is a bounty hunter. Streets of Laredo - The sequel to Lonesome DoveStreets of Laredo has much to offer - a long tale of famous Texas legends - some fictional, like Captain Woodrow F. Call, others real - John Wesley Hardin (played by Randy Quaid) and Judge Roy Bean (played by Ned Beatty). “Streets of Laredo”, also known as the “Cowboy’s Lament”, is an American cowboy ballad in which a dying cowboy tells his story to a living one. 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