Streets of Laredo
As I walked out in the streets of Laredo
As I walked out in Laredo one day
I spied a young cowboy all wrapped in white linen
All wrapped in white linen and cold as the clay
I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy
These words he did say as I boldly walked by
Come sit down beside me and hear my sad story
For I'm shot in the breast and I know I must die
Once in the saddle I used to go dashing
Once in the saddle I used to go gay
First down to Rosie's and then to the card house
But I'm shot in the breast and I'm dying today
Beat the drum slowly and play the fife lowly
And sound the dead march as you carry me along
Put bunches of roses all over mycoffin
Roses to deaden the clods as they fall
Everyone knows this one.
This is one of the young trooper songs really. Turned into a cowboy because it's America. And although the disease is still unmentionable and unmentioned, the undesirable nature is still there - wrapped up in bandages and cold as the clay (that he is soon to be put down in).