When Abilene was young and gay And thunder storms filled up the days The cattle roam outside the town Sleeping in the midday sun X4 Then tracks were laid across the plain By broken old men in torrid rain The towns grew up, and the people were still Sleeping in the midday sun X4 We all joined in (And) We all joined hands We all joined in To help run this land Then the soldiers came, long long ago Rode through the town And mowed down those Sleeping in the midday sun X4 Gold came and went, quickly spent And the people broke down And often drowned From the wealth and the pain Of old Abilene Sleeping in the midday sun X8