Through progress of the railroads our occupation\u2019s gone;
\nSo we will put ideas into words, our words into a song.
\nFirst comes the cowboy; he is pointed for the west;
\nOf all the pioneers I claim the cowboys are the best;
\nYou will miss him on the round\u2011up; it\u2019s gone, his merry shout, \u2014
\nThe cowboy has left the country and the camp\u2011fire has gone out.<\/p>\n
There is the freighters, our companions; you\u2019ve got to leave this land;
\nCan\u2019t drag your loads for nothing through the gumbo and the sand.
\nThe railroads are bound to beat you when you do your level best;
\nSo give it up to the grangers and strike out for the west.
\nBid them all adieu and give the merry shout, \u2014
\nThe cowboy has left the country and the camp\u2011fire has gone out.<\/p>\n
When I think of those good old days, my eyes with tears do fill;
\nWhen I think of the tin can by the fire and the coyote on the hill.
\nI\u2019ll tell you, boys, in those days old\u2011timers stood a show, \u2014
\nOur pockets full of money, not a sorrow did we know.
\nBut things have changed now; we are poorly clothed and fed.
\nOur wagons are all broken and our ponies \u2019most all dead.
\nSoon we will leave this country; you\u2019ll hear the angels shout,
\n\u201cOh, here they come to Heaven, the camp\u2011fire has gone out.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Progress vs. Tradition<\/strong><\/span> Land Displacement<\/strong> A Lament & Eulogy<\/strong><\/span> Oral Tradition & Revival<\/strong><\/span> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
References to barbed wire and railroads represent progress that gradually displaced cowboys. Fences replaced open frontier and machines supplanted labor, forcing traditional cowboys out.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n
The verse about the \u201ccowboy, like the red man, you had to leave your land\u201d underscores how both cowboys and Native Americans lost their heritage-giving lands. It highlights how greed-driven modernization often pushed them aside.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n
The repeated line \u201cthe campfire has gone out\u201d symbolizes the extinguishing of an era. Some see it as both grieving the old life and a peaceful admission that it\u2019s now history\u2014a kind of requiem for vanished traditions.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Though originally penned in the late 1800s, the poem was set to music in the 20th century and persisted through oral tradition at gatherings and around campfires. Don\u202fEdwards recorded it in his 1992 Songs of the Trail<\/em> album, revitalizing interest in this classic cowboy lament<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n