Cowboy's Life, A

DESCRIPTION: "A cowboy's life is a weary, dreary life, Some say it's free from care." The singer complains of long hours, rising too early in the day, howling wild animals, bad weather, and wealthy bosses
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1908
KEYWORDS: cowboy work hardtimes
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Larkin-SingingCowboy, pp. 53-57, "The Dreary Life" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FolkSongsOfNorthAmerica 187, "A Cowboy's Life" (1 text, 1 tune)
Thorp/Fife-SongsOfTheCowboys XVII, pp. 228-239 (38-39), "The Pecos Stream" (6 texts, 2 tunes, though not all appear to be part of this piece); Thorp/Logsdon-SongsOfTheCowboys, pp. 61-62, "The Dreary, Dreary Life" (1 text)
Fife/Fife-CowboyAndWesternSongs 86, "The Cowboy's Life" (3 texts, 1 tune, although only the "A" text is demonstrably this piece)
Tinsley-HeWasSinginThisSong, pp. 8-11, "The Dreary, Dreary Life" (1 text, 1 tune)
ArkansasWoodchopper, pp. 44-45, "The Dreary, Dreary Life" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lingenfelter/Dwyer/Cohen-SongsOfAmericanWest, pp. 348-349, "The Dreary, Dreary Life" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #838
RECORDINGS:
Sloan Matthews, "The Cowboy's Life is a Very Dreary Life" (AFS, 1940s; on LC28)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Shantyman's Life (I)" (tune & meter; lyrics)
NOTES [48 words]: Roud seems to lump all cowboy songs which contain the words "A cowboy's life is a (weary/dreary), dreary life" here. I'm not really convinced -- some of these songs share hardly any other lyrics. But, with none of them telling distinct stories, there isn't much basis for distinguishing. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.6
File: LoF187

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