Ahhh, rats, Joe...I was just about to go fix supper.

OK, here's the Miditext from Songs of the American West, compiled & edited by Richard E. Lingenfelter, Richard A. Dwyer, and David Cohen; published by the Univ. of Calif. Press (1968), Berkeley and Los Angeles. The lyrics are somewhat different from ANY of those listed above, so I've included them, too. If you want the Noteworthy file I can send it via email.

Lin

THE COWBOY, I
By Allen McCandless
Text: from Daily Advertiser, Trinidad, CO, April 9, 1885. Music from Lomax (1910), 98-99
Copyright 1938, Ludlow Music, Inc., New York, NY

He started in business clear down at bedrock,
And made quite a fortune by watering stock.
David went from night herding and using a sling
To winning a battle and being a king.
And the shepherds, when watching their flocks on the hill,
Heard the message from heaven of peace and good will.

I wash in a puddle and wipe on a sack
And carry my wardrobe all on my back.
My ceiling the sky; my carpet, the grass;
My music, the lowing herds as they pass.
My books are the brooks; my sermon, the stones;
My parson, a wolf on a pulpit of bones.

But then if my cooking ain't very complete,
Hygienists can't blame me for living to eat;
And where is the man who slept more profound
Than the cowboy who stretches himself on the ground.
My books teach me constancy ever to prize;
My sermons, that small things I should not despise.

And my parson remarks from his pulpit of bone
That "the Lord favors them who look out for their own."
Between love and me lies a gulf very wide,
And a luckier fellow may call her his bride;
But Cupid is always a friend to the bold,
And the best of his arrows are pointed with gold.

Friends gently hint I am going to grief,
But men must make money and women have beef.
Society bans me, a savage and dodge,
And Masons would ball me out of their lodge.
If I'd hair on my chin, I might pass for the goat
That bore all sin in ages remote.

But why this is thusly, I don't understand;
For each of the Patriarchs owned a big brand.
Abraham emigrated in search of a range,
When water got scarce and he wanted a change.
Isaac had cattle in charge of Esau.
And Jacob "run cows" for his father-in-law.

He started in business clear down at bedrock,
And made quite a fortune by watering stock.
David went from night herding and using a sling
To winning a battle and being a king.
And the shepherds, when watching their flocks on the hill,
Heard the message from heaven of peace and good will.

MIDI file: Cowboy.mid

Timebase: 192

Name: THE COWBOY, I
Text: By Allen McCandless
Copyright: Copyright © 1938, Ludlow Music, Inc., New York NY
Key: G
TimeSig: 6/8 24 8
Start
0480 1 62 110 0094 0 62 000 0002 1 67 110 0094 0 67 000 0002 1 67 110 0046 0 67 000 0002 1 67 110 0046 0 67 000 0002 1 67 110 0094 0 67 000 0002 1 67 110 0094 0 67 000 0002 1 71 110 0094 0 71 000 0002 1 67 110 0094 0 67 000 0002 1 69 110 0096 0 69 000 0000 1 67 110 0094 0 67 000 0002 1 64 110 0094 0 64 000 0002 1 62 110 0160 0 62 000 0032 1 62 110 0094 0 62 000 0002 1 67 110 0094 0 67 000 0002 1 67 110 0094 0 67 000 0002 1 67 110 0094 0 67 000 0002 1 71 110 0160 0 71 000 0032 1 67 110 0094 0 67 000 0002 1 69 110 0094 0 69 000 0002 1 69 110 0094 0 69 000 0002 1 69 110 0094 0 69 000 0002 1 69 110 0160 0 69 000 0032 1 62 110 0094 0 62 000 0002 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 67 110 0094 0 67 000 0002 1 67 110 0094 0 67 000 0002 1 71 110 0142 0 71 000 0002 1 71 110 0046 0 71 000 0002 1 71 110 0094 0 71 000 0002 1 71 110 0094 0 71 000 0002 1 71 110 0094 0 71 000 0002 1 71 110 0160 0 71 000 0032 1 67 110 0094 0 67 000 0002 1 69 110 0160 0 69 000 0032 1 69 110 0094 0 69 000 0002 1 72 110 0094 0 72 000 0002 1 72 110 0094 0 72 000 0002 1 72 110 0094 0 72 000 0002 1 71 110 0094 0 71 000 0002 1 67 110 0094 0 67 000 0002 1 67 110 0094 0 67 000 0002 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0128 1 67 110 0094 0 67 000 0002 1 71 110 0094 0 71 000 0002 1 69 110 0094 0 69 000 0002 1 67 110 0094 0 67 000 0002 1 66 110 0094 0 66 000 0002 1 67 110 0094 0 67 000 0002 1 69 110 0094 0 69 000 0002 1 72 110 0094 0 72 000 0002 1 71 110 0094 0 71 000 0002 1 69 110 0160 0 69 000 0032 1 67 110 0048 0 67 000 0000 1 69 110 0046 0 69 000 0002 1 71 110 0094 0 71 000 0002 1 74 110 0094 0 74 000 0002 1 74 110 0094 0 74 000 0002 1 74 110 0096 0 74 000 0000 1 72 110 0094 0 72 000 0002 1 69 110 0094 0 69 000 0002 1 62 110 0094 0 62 000 0002 1 64 110 0094 0 64 000 0002 1 66 110 0094 0 66 000 0002 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000
End

This program is worth the effort of learning it.

To download the March 10 MIDItext 98 software and get instructions on how to use it click here

ABC format:

X:1
T:THE COWBOY, I
M:6/8
Q:1/4=120
K:G
D6|GG/2G/2GGBG|AGED2D|GGGB2G|AAAA2D|G2GGB3/2B/2|
BBBB2G|A2Accc|BGGG3|GBAGFG|AcBA2G/2A/2|BdddcA|
DEFG13/8||