I’d Like to Be in Texas for the Roundup in the Spring
Western Music
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Western Song: I’d Like to be in Texas for the Roundup in the Spring

I’d Like to Be in Texas for the Roundup in the Spring, also seen as I’d Like to Be in Texas When They Roundup in the Spring, is a traditional American cowboy song. The Western Writers of America voted the song as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time. However, like most classic cowboy songs, there wasn’t much documentation regarding the song’s authorship and other details about it.

Its earliest recording and release was by Vernon Dalhart, written by Carl Copeland, Lou Fishback, and Jack Williams. The first recording was on October 20, 1926, while its release as a single happened on November 1926. Years later and up to the present, several cowboy singers like Buck Ramsey and Don Edwards sang their versions of the song, making slight variations in the title.

The song tells the story of cowboys in a lobby of a big hotel in New York as they reminisce the places they’ve visited, such as Chicago and New Orleans. When they asked one gray-haired cowboy for his opinion, he recalls his life as a cattleman saying, “I’d like to be in Texas when they round up in the spring.”

Popular Recordings

Many artists covered the song and some of the notable versions were recorded by:

  • Leon Chappelear (1932)
  • Martin and Roberts (May 1933)
  • Bradley Kincaid (1935)
  • The Yodelling Boundary Rider (1936)
  • “Texas” Jim Robertson with Male Quartet and Orchestra (1941)
  • Yodeling Slim Clark (1960)
  • Don Edwards (1992)
  • Buck Ramsey (2003)
  • Riders in the Sky and Wilford Brimley (2013)
  • Syd Masters & The Swing Riders (2013)

Other Titles for I’d Like to be In Texas for the Roundup in the Spring

The same song has been recorded and written with minimal changes such as:

  • I’d Like to Be in Texas (When They Round-Up in the Spring)
  • I’d Like to Be in Texas for the Round Up in the Spring
  • The Roundup in the Spring
  • I’d Like to Be in Texas
  • Texas in the Spring
  • In Texas for the Round-Up in the Spring
  • I’d Like to Be in Texas for the Roundup in the Spring
  • Roundup in the Spring

Listen (Don Edwards Version)

I’d Like to Be in Texas When They Roundup in the Spring Lyrics

In the lobby of a big hotel in New York Town, one day
Sat a bunch of fellows telling yarns, to pass the time away
They told of places where they'd been and different things they'd seen
Some preferred Chicago Town, while others New Orleans

I can see the cattle grazing o'er the hills at early morn
I can see the campfires smoking at the breaking of the dawn
I can hear the bronco's neighing, I can hear the cowboy sing
I'd like to be in Texas for the roundup in the spring

In a corner in an old armchair, sat a man whose hair was gray
He listened to them eagerly, to what they had to say
They asked him where he'd like to be, his clear old voice did ring
I'd like to be in Texas for the roundup in the spring

I can see the cattle grazing o'er the hills at early morn
I can see the campfires smoking at the breaking of the dawn
I can hear the bronco's neighing, I can hear the cowboy sing
I'd like to be in Texas for the roundup in the spring

They sat and listened carefully to each word he had to say
They knew the old man sitting there, had been a top hand in his day
They asked him for a story of his life out on the plains
Slowly he removed his hat then quietly began

I've seen 'em stampede o'er the hills till you'd think they'd never stop
I've seen 'em run for miles and miles until their leader dropped
I was a foreman of a cow ranch, the calling of a king
I'd like to be in Texas for the roundup in the spring

I can see the cattle grazing o'er the hills at early morn
I can see the campfires smoking at the breaking of the dawn
I can hear the bronco's neighing, I can hear the cowboy sing
I'd like to be in Texas for the roundup in the spring

I'd like to sleep my last long sleep with mother earth for bed
My saddle for a pillow, the bright stars overhead
Then I could hear the last stampede, the songs of rivers sing
Way back down in Texas for the roundup in the spring

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