Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie
Encyclopedia
"Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" is a cowboy
folk song. Also known as "The Cowboy's Lament", "The Dying Cowboy" and "Bury Me Out on the Lone Prairie", the song is described as the most famous cowboy ballad. Based on a sailor's song, the song has been recorded by many artists, including Moe Bandy
, Johnny Cash
, Burl Ives
, Tex Ritter
, Roy Rogers
and William Elliott Whitmore
.
, though the speaker at that time requested—contrary to other renditions—to "bury me out on the lone prairie."
The song has been a popular recording, having been released on album by Moe Bandy
, Johnny Cash
, Burl Ives
, Tex Ritter
, and Roy Rogers
, among others. Even avante-garde musicians, The Residents
, have covered the song for live performances. Under the alternate title "Bury Me Out on the Lone Prairie", it has been recorded by Johnnie Ray
.
A version of this song was used in the popular video game Red Dead Redemption, sung by William Elliott Whitmore
.
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
folk song. Also known as "The Cowboy's Lament", "The Dying Cowboy" and "Bury Me Out on the Lone Prairie", the song is described as the most famous cowboy ballad. Based on a sailor's song, the song has been recorded by many artists, including Moe Bandy
Moe Bandy
Marion Franklin Bandy, Jr.–better known professionally as Moe Bandy– is a country music singer...
, Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
, Burl Ives
Burl Ives
Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....
, Tex Ritter
Tex Ritter
Woodward Maurice Ritter , better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting...
, Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
and William Elliott Whitmore
William Elliott Whitmore
William Elliott Whitmore is an American blues singer and musician from Lee County, Iowa. He has recorded a number of albums released on Southern Records, and now is a member of the Anti Records family. His act consists mostly of playing the banjo or guitar while singing, though on occasion he...
.
History
The ballad is an adaptation of a sea song called "The Sailor's Grave" or "The Ocean-Burial" which began "O bury me not in the deep, deep sea." Originally collected with different music than that widely known today, it first appeared in print with the present melody in 1932, with a likely origin of North CarolinaNorth Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, though the speaker at that time requested—contrary to other renditions—to "bury me out on the lone prairie."
The song has been a popular recording, having been released on album by Moe Bandy
Moe Bandy
Marion Franklin Bandy, Jr.–better known professionally as Moe Bandy– is a country music singer...
, Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
, Burl Ives
Burl Ives
Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....
, Tex Ritter
Tex Ritter
Woodward Maurice Ritter , better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting...
, and Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
, among others. Even avante-garde musicians, The Residents
The Residents
The Residents is an American art collective best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. The first official release under the name of The Residents was in 1972, and the group has since released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs....
, have covered the song for live performances. Under the alternate title "Bury Me Out on the Lone Prairie", it has been recorded by Johnnie Ray
Johnnie Ray
Johnnie Ray was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor of what would become rock and roll, for his jazz and blues-influenced music and his animated stage personality.-Early life:John Alvin Ray was born in...
.
A version of this song was used in the popular video game Red Dead Redemption, sung by William Elliott Whitmore
William Elliott Whitmore
William Elliott Whitmore is an American blues singer and musician from Lee County, Iowa. He has recorded a number of albums released on Southern Records, and now is a member of the Anti Records family. His act consists mostly of playing the banjo or guitar while singing, though on occasion he...
.
Premise
The song records the plaintive request of a dying man not to be buried on the prairie, away from civilization. In spite of his request, he is buried on the prairie. As with many folk songs, there are a number of variations of that basic theme.Lyrics
This version of the lyrics date back to the early 19th century.
"O bury me not on the lone prairie."
These words came low and mournfully
From the pallid lips of the youth who lay
On his dying bed at the close of day.
He had wasted and pined 'til o'er his brow
Death's shades were slowly gathering now
He thought of home and loved ones nigh,
As the cowboys gathered to see him die.
"O bury me not on the lone prairie
Where coyotes howl and the wind blows free
In a narrow grave just six by three—
O bury me not on the lone prairie"
"It matters not, I've been told,
Where the body lies when the heart grows cold
Yet grant, o grant, this wish to me
O bury me not on the lone prairie."
"I've always wished to be laid when I died
In a little churchyard on the green hillside
By my father's grave, there let me be,
O bury me not on the lone prairie."
"I wish to lie where a mother's prayer
And a sister's tear will mingle there.
Where friends can come and weep o'er me.
O bury me not on the lone prairie."
"For there's another whose tears will shed.
For the one who lies in a prairie bed.
It breaks me heart to think of her now,
She has curled these locks, she has kissed this brow."
"O bury me not..." And his voice failed there.
But they took no heed to his dying prayer.
In a narrow grave, just six by three
They buried him there on the lone prairie.
And the cowboys now as they roam the plain,
For they marked the spot where his bones were lain,
Fling a handful o' roses o'er his grave
With a prayer to God his soul to save.
Alternative versions
- One version collected for publication by the Southern Pacific Company in 1912 omits the final verse and concludes with another round of the chorus, which is there rendered:
"O bury me not on the lone prairie
Where the wild coyote will howl o'er me
Where the rattlesnakes hiss and the wind blows free
O bury me not on the lone prairie.
- Another specifies that the speaker is "a trapper...at the point of death /...short his bank account, short his breath".
- A special version performed by William Elliott WhitmoreWilliam Elliott WhitmoreWilliam Elliott Whitmore is an American blues singer and musician from Lee County, Iowa. He has recorded a number of albums released on Southern Records, and now is a member of the Anti Records family. His act consists mostly of playing the banjo or guitar while singing, though on occasion he...
has been recorded for the game Red Dead Redemption :
"Oh bury me not on the lone prairie."
Where the coyotes wail and the wind blows free.
And when I die, don't bury me
beneath the western sky, on the lone prairie.
"Oh bury me not on the lone prairie."
These words came soft and painfully
from the pallid lips of a youth who lay
on his dyin' bed, at the break of day.
But we buried him there, on the lone prairie
where the rattle snakes hiss and the wind blows free.
In a shallow grave, no one to grieve
beneath the western sky, on the lone prairie.
"Oh bury me not on the lone prairie."
These words came soft and painfully
from the pallid lips of a youth who lay
on his dyin' bed, at the break of day.
On his dyin' bed, at the break of day.
Recordings
- Charlie Zahm
Charlie ZahmCharlie Zahm is an American singer and player of Celtic, maritime and traditional American music. Zahm sings baritone, and plays guitar, tin whistle, and the bodhran, among other instruments.-Personal Life:...
recorded it on his 2003 album Songs for When the Sun Goes DownSongs for When the Sun Goes DownSongs for When the Sun Goes Down is a 2003 album by Charlie Zahm. It was recorded live in New Jersey.-Songs:* Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie*Eclipse* The Lasses Who Dance* They Called The Wind Maria* Arizona* My Grandfather's Clock* Home on the Range...
.- William Elliott Whitmore
William Elliott WhitmoreWilliam Elliott Whitmore is an American blues singer and musician from Lee County, Iowa. He has recorded a number of albums released on Southern Records, and now is a member of the Anti Records family. His act consists mostly of playing the banjo or guitar while singing, though on occasion he...
recorded it for the game Red Dead Redemption.- Bruce Molsky
Bruce MolskyBruce C. Molsky is an American fiddler, banjo player, guitarist, and singer. He primarily performs old-time music of the Appalachian region.Molsky was born in 1955 at New York Infirmary in Manhattan, and grew up in The Bronx...
plays the tune on his album Soon Be Time (2006).