Song :
E
Intro :
A
A E7 A E7
As I walked out on the streets of Laredo
A D A E7
As I walked out on Laredo one day
A E7 A E7
I spied a young cowboy all wrapped in white linen
A D E7 A
Wrapped in white linen as cold as the clay
A E7 A E7
"I can see by your outfit that you are a cowboy"
A D A E7
These words he did say as I boldly walked by
A E7 A E7
"Come and sit down beside me and hear my sad story
A D E7 A
I'm shot in the breast and I know I must die"
A E7 A E7
"It was once in the saddle, I used to go dashing
A D A E7
Once in the saddle, I used to go gay
A E7 A E7
First to the card-house and then down to Rose's
A D E7 A
But I'm shot in the breast and I'm dying today
A E7 A E7
Get six jolly cowboys to carry my coffin
A D A E7
Six dance-hall maidens to bear up my pall
A E7 A E7
Throw bunches of roses all over my coffin
A D E7 A
Roses to deaden the clods as they fall"
Chorus :
A D
"Then beat the drum slowly, play the Fife lowly
A B E7
Play the dead march as you carry me along
A D
Take me to the green valley, lay the sod o'er me
A E7 A
I'm a young cowboy and I know I've done wrong"
A E7 A E7
"Then go write a letter to my grey-haired mother
A D A E7
And tell her the cowboy that she loved has gone
A E7 A E7
But please not one word of the man who had killed me
A D E7 A
Don't mention his name and his name will pass on"
A E7 A E7
When this he had spoken, the hot sun was setting
A D A E7
The streets of Laredo grew cold as the clay
A E7 A E7
We took the young cowboy down to the green valley
A D E7 A
And there stands his marker we made to this day
Chorus :
A D
We beat the drum slowly, play the Fife lowly
A B E7
Play the dead march as we carried him along
A D
Down in the green valley, lay the sod over him
A E7 A
He was a young cowboy and he said he'd done wrong
