Music · 10/15/2019

This song, “Cowboy’s Lament,” had its origins in Ireland in the early 1800’s in a song called “The Unfortunate Rake.” When it made its way to the Western US, the theme, lyrics and title changed to “Cowboy’s Lament” or “Streets of Laredo,” to better fit the new locale. In 1876, a cowboy in Kansas named F.H. Maynard wrote the lyrics we know today, and the song became one of the best-known of all traditional cowboy songs. It was one of the first songs recorded by Burl Ives, one of the country’s m