''When the Work's All Done this Fall'' is a classic American cowboy song, written as a poem by D. J. O'Malley (1867–1943). The work was first published in the ''Miles City Stock-Growers Journal'' in 1893, titled ''After the Roundup'', over the pen name D.J. White. The lyrics and a melody were first collected from tradition and published by

John Lomax John Avery Lomax (September 23, 1867 – January 26, 1948) was an American teacher, a pioneering musicologist, and a folklorist who did much for the preservation of American folk music. He was the father of Alan Lomax, John Lomax Jr. and Bess ...

in 1910 in ''Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads.'' This poem, like many others of the day, was intended to be sung as lyrics to the melodies of other popular songs. Carl T. Sprague recorded ''When the Work's All Done This Fall'' in 1925. It sold over 900,000 copies, at a time when 5,000 was typical for a successful recording. More recently, it has been recorded by artists as diverse as

Michael Martin Murphey Michael Martin Murphey (born March 14, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter. He was one of the founding artists of progressive country. A multiple Grammy nominee, Murphey has six gold albums, including ''Cowboy Songs (Michael Martin Murphey alb ...

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American country and western singer and songwriter. He was one of the most popular and successful singers of his genre for most o ...

, Kyle Evans, Cowboy Celtic, STAMPEDE!, and Harry Jackson. Many variations of the words appear in the various songs. Members of the

Western Writers of America Western Writers of America (WWA), founded 1953, promotes literature, both fictional and nonfictional, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional Western fiction Western fiction is a genre of literature set in th ...

chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.

References

{{reflist Songs about labor 1893 songs 1925 singles American Songbag songs Western music (North America) songs