# 'The Streets Of Laredo' Celtic song? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [November 30, 2024, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-streets-of-laredo-celtic-song/1010965 "2024-11-30T03:41:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2024, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-streets-of-laredo-celtic-song/1010965/1 "2024-11-30T03:41:12Z")
_The Streets Of Laredo_ contains the lyrics ‘Beat the drum slowly and play the fife lowly/Play the dead march as you carry me along’. Was there a Celtic-sounding song with these lyrics? Possibly about WWI? Or am I conflating it with something else? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2024, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-streets-of-laredo-celtic-song/1010965/2 "2024-11-30T03:56:59Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Was there a Celtic-sounding song with these lyrics? Possibly about WWI? Or am I conflating it with something else? These lyrics are in _No Man’s Land_ by Eric Bogle, aka _Green Fields of France_, about WWI. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2024, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-streets-of-laredo-celtic-song/1010965/3 "2024-11-30T04:08:30Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Was there a Celtic-sounding song with these lyrics? Streets of Laredo is a variation of a traditional English folk tune called The Unfortunate Rake, which also spawned the above-mentioned Green Fields of France as well as St. James Infirmary. > **[The Unfortunate Rake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unfortunate_Rake)** > > The Unfortunate Rake is a ballad (Roud 2, Laws Q26), which through the folk process has evolved into a large number of variants, including allegedly the country and western song "Streets of Laredo". > The Roud Broadside Index contains exactly two songs with the title "The Unfortunate Rake": "Jenny Gordon or The Unfortunate Rake" from the Madden collection, and another printed in Gateshead, England, whose first line is "Attend to the tale of a wand’rer forlorn". These do not seem to be connected wi... Here’s a pretty good rendition of the original song. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/1aQd99zfIRo/maxresdefault.jpg "The Unfortunate Rake") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aQd99zfIRo) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2024, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-streets-of-laredo-celtic-song/1010965/4 "2024-11-30T04:11:00Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > These lyrics are in _No Man’s Land_ by Eric Bogle, aka _Green Fields of France_, about WWI. That’s it. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2024, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-streets-of-laredo-celtic-song/1010965/5 "2024-11-30T09:30:09Z")
FWIW, my favorite recording of that song is the Dropkick Murphys version. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/zRmJwqVbtQI/maxresdefault.jpg "Dropkick Murphys - "The Green Fields Of France" (Full Album Stream)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRmJwqVbtQI) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2024, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-streets-of-laredo-celtic-song/1010965/6 "2024-11-30T14:04:42Z")
To my mind, the definitive version of “The Streets of Laredo”: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/7fYCvA-G9Iw/maxresdefault.jpg "The Smothers Brothers - Laredo") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fYCvA-G9Iw) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2024, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-streets-of-laredo-celtic-song/1010965/7 "2024-11-30T14:40:52Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > FWIW, my favorite recording of that song is the Dropkick Murphys version. And _that_ is the version I listen to. I’m only going into the office once a month now, so I only get to listen to music once a month. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-streets-of-laredo-celtic-song/1010965/8 "2024-12-03T21:46:56Z")
…well… I get to post a Deadwood clip. [Al Swearengen singing the song.](https://youtu.be/a3CVlu5rRBQ?si=4yESzXjM5xX6IpeU)