100 Best Songs About Cowboys and Cowgirls
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The life and times of people in the country & western world have been poetically described in many songs. Although cowboy themes are exceedingly popular with singers and songwriters in the realms of country music, a number of musicians from other genres have thoughtfully portrayed western-country moments of cowboys and cowgirls.
Popularity of Cowboy Themes in Songs
Cowboy themes are exceedingly popular across different genres. The cowboy way of life represents a plethora of emotions. Although many songs outline the joys of nostalgic moments in a heartwarming manner, certain tunes emphasize on the harsh realities of an unglamorous life in the countryside. Certain singers and songwriters portray the emotions a person goes through living in isolation and wilderness of country-western landscapes. The lyrics in certain songs describe the beautiful landscapes herdsmen and cattlemen tread. Singers and songwriters also use cowboy themes to convey a complex meaning figuratively.
The nomadic lifestyles cowboys lead are exquisitely echoed in the lyrics of many country and folk tunes. Certain songs thoughtfully describe the work carried out on cattle ranches, and the happiness one derives spending time with horses, cows, and sheep. Stories about horseback, gunslingers and old country westerns are narrated aesthetically in certain country and folk songs. In certain songs the responsibility of looking after herds of cattle is compared metaphorically to taking care of a large family in a big city.
Different types of cowboy themes and western theme ideas are exceedingly popular in songs. Some of the popular country western themes in songs from different genres are
- Country Boots
- Horsemanship
- Clothing and Attire
- Outlaws
- Rebellion
- Gunslingers
- Wild West
- Romance
- Bull Riding
- Rodeo
- Great Plains
- Bounty Hunters
- Railroads
- Wilderness
- Ranches
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What Does the Cowboy Spirit Symbolize?
Although the western frontier symbolizes the love and passion for the great tradition of herding cattle on ranches, across various genres, the cowboy spirit represents a wide-range of attributes. While the term “cowboy” is often associated with the West, especially with the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains, over the years the term has become a prominent part of mainstream country. In many country-western songs, tales of heroics and bravado of cowboys are described in a delightful manner. Country musicians through their songs offer a detailed perspective on how it feels to be in love with a cowgirl or cowboy.
Simple moral tales are often narrated in songs about cowboys. In numerous songs, herdsmen represent the spirit of self-reliance and independence. The strength, courage, and valor of cattlemen are often showcased in an exemplary manner. The typical cowboy spirit is often celebrated with a sense of honor, freedom, and hard work. Simplistic values of herd tenders are often told in the form of lyrical tales in folk songs. Although the cowboy spirit represents a wide-spectrum of exemplary characteristics, in songs it may denote or symbolize
- Bravery
- Courage
- Strength
- Individualism
- Tradition
- Substance
- Freedom
- Camaraderie
- Hard Work
- Simplicity
- Respect
- Determination
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The list below showcases a collection of rock songs, pop songs, country songs, folk songs and hip hop songs about cowboys and cowgirls. If you have a view, opinion, or song suggestion, let us know in the comments section.
Top 10 Best Songs About Cowboys and Cowgirls
- “Ain’t Always the Cowboy”—Jon Pardi
- “We Are the Cowboys”—Willie Nelson
- “Rhinestone Cowboy”—Glen Campbell
- “Cowboy Like Me”—Taylor Swift
- “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)”—Big & Rich
- “Cowboy Take Me Away”—The Chicks
- “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys”—Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson
- “Cowboy”—Kid Rock
- “Last Cowboy Song”—Ed Bruce and Willie Nelson
- “Should’ve Been a Cowboy”—Toby Keith
#11—20
11. “Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Good)”—Garth Brooks
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12. “Cowboys and Angels”—Dustin Lynch
13. “Cowboy Casanova”—Carrie Underwood
14. “This Cowboy’s Hat”—Chris LeDoux
15. “Cowboy Style”—Kylie Minogue
16. “Amarillo By Morning”—George Strait
17. “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys”—Willie Nelson
18. “Night Rider’s Lament”—Suzy Bogguss
19. “How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls”—George Strait
20. “Coyotes”—Don Edwards
#21—40
21. “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?”—Paula Cole
22. “Don’t Call Him a Cowboy”—Conway Twitty
23. “Ghetto Cowboy”—Mo Thugs featuring Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
24. “Cowboys & Kisses”—Anastacia
25. “I Can Still Make Cheyenne”—George Strait
26. “Cowboy Love”—John Michael Montgomery
27. “Cowgirls Don’t Cry”—Brooks and Dunn featuring Reba McEntire
28. “Dime Store Cowgirl”—Kacey Musgraves
29. “Modern Day Cowboy”—Tesla
30. “A Cowboy’s Born With a Broken Heart”—Boy Howdy
31. “Cowboy Man”—Lyle Lovett
32. “The Beaches of Cheyenne”—Garth Brooks
33. “What the Cowgirls Do”—Vince Gill
34. “Head Over Boots”—Jon Pardi
35. “Cowboys Like Us”—George Strait
36. “Good Girl”—Dustin Lynch
37. “Dancin’ Cowboys”—The Bellamy Brothers
38. “Kerosene”—Miranda Lambert
39. “A Cowboy’s Work is Never Done”—Sonny and Cher
40. “Kern River”—Emmylou Harris
#41—60
41. “God Must Be a Cowboy”—Dan Seals
42. “Good Ol’ Boys Club”—Kacey Musgraves
43. “Bandy the Rodeo Clown”—Moe Bandy
44. “Why’d You Come in Here Looking Like That”—Dolly Parton
45. “Cowboys and Clowns”—Ronnie Milsap
46. “Let there Be Cowgirls”—Chris Cagle
47. “Faster Horses (The Cowboy and the Poet)”—Tom T. Hall
48. “Like a Cowboy”—Randy Houser
49. “Cowgirls”—Belinda Carlile
50. “Burry Me Not on the Lone Prairie”—Johnny Cash
51. “I Wanna Be a Cowboy”—Boys Don’t Cry
52. “A Few More Cowboys”—Toby Keith
53. “Cowboy’s Back in Town”—Trace Adkins
54. “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues”—Dolly Parton
55. “Cowboy Song”—Thin Lizzy
56. “100% Cowboy”—Jason Medows
57. “Reverse Cowgirl”—Wisin & Yandel
58. “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy”—Elton John
59. “He Walked on Water”—Randy Travis
60. “Cowboys From Hell”—Pantera
#61—80
61. “Like a Cowboy”—Parker McCollum
62. “Cowboys to Girls”—The Intruders
63. “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honkey Tonkey Angels”—Kitty Wells
64. “Every Cowboy’s Dream”—Rheet Akins
65. “American Cowboy”—Jada
66. “Ghetto Cowboy”—Yelawolf
67. “Space Cowboy”—Kacey Musgraves
68. “I Want to Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart”—Patsy Montana
69. “Cowboy”—Allison Ponthier
70. “I’m An Old Cowhand (From Rio Grande)”—Bing Crosby
71. “Coming Home”—Maggie McClure
72. “Ballad of the Alamo”—Marty Robins
73. “Good Ride Cowboy”—Garth Brooks
74. “Cowgirl”—Underworld
75. “I Want a Cowboy”—Reba McEntire
76. “Who You Thought I Was”—Brandi Clark
77. “Midnight Cowgirl”—Dani Taylor
78. “Cowboy in LA”—LANY
79. “Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy”—Chris DeLoux
80. “A Cowboy’s Way”—Dolly Parton
#81—100
81. “Cowboy Boogie”—Randy Travis
82. “Tumbling Tumbeweeds”—Sons of the Prisoners
83. “Beach Cowboy”—Brian Kelley
84. “The Only One I Know” (Cowboy Life)—Cody Johnson
85. “Cowboy Blues”—Kesha
86. “The Ballad of the Lonesome Cowboy”—Randy Newman
87. “Happy Trails”—Roy Rogers
88. “The Cowboy Rides Away”—George Strait
89. “No Cowboy”—Stephanie Rainey
90. “Asphalt Cowboy”—Jason Aldean
91. “Let the Cowboy Rock”—Ronnie Dunn
92. “The Cowgirl and the Dandy”—Brenda Lee
93. “Old Hat”—Jon Pardi
94. “Hippies and Cowboys”—Cody Jinks
95. “The Strawberry Roan”—Marty Robbins
96. “Cowboy Up”—Joni Harms
97. “Texas in 1880”—Foster & Lloyd
98. “Cosmic Cowboy, Pt 1”—Michael Martin Murphey
99. “The Master’s Call”—Marty Robbins
100. “My Cowboy”—Jessie James
Other Notable Songs About Cowboys and Cowgirls
- “Cowboy Logic”—Michael Martin Murphey
- “Back in the Saddle Again”—Gene Autry
- “Cowboy Band”—Billy Dean
- “Night Herding Song”—Harry Stephens
- “Cowboy”—The Sunny Cowgirls
- “(Ghost ) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend”—Vaughn Monroe
- “Ride Cowboy Ride”—Bon Jovi
- “Move On”—Clare Dunn
- “That’s Why God Loves Cowboy’s”—Aaron Watson
- “Cowboy’s Cowgirl”—Chad Cooke Band
- “The Sons of Katie Elder”—Johnny Cash
- “Cowboy Beat”—The Bellamy Brothers
- “Cool Water”—Sons of the Prisoners
- “Don’t Blame it on Whiskey”—Jon Pardi featuring Lauren Alaina
- “Space Cowboy”—Cash and Maverick
- “Rev it Up”—The Sunny Cowgirls
- “Cowboy Songs”—Chris LeDoux
- “Takin’ Me a Heartbreak”—Randall King
- “Call You Cowboy”—Brenn Hill
- “A Cowboy Can”—Josh Ward
- “Cowgirls & Cowboys”—Teshuva
- “Renegade Runaway”—Carrie Underwood
- “Tuggin’ on my Heartstrings”—Randal King
- “Cowgirl Blues”—Midland
- “Cowboys, Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other”—Ned Sublette
- “The Dreary Black Hills”—Harry Stephens
- “Party on the Beach”—Brian Kelley
- “Cowboy Boots and Shorts”—Knuckles
- “Someday Soon”—Ian Tyson
- “Cowgirl”—Nice Horse
- “Ragtime Cowboy Joe”—The Chipunks
- “Cowgirl”—Lil Keke
- “Nobody Leaves a Girl Like That”—Jon Pardi
- “Coca-Cola Cowboy”—Steve Dorff
- “The Cowboy’s Christmas Ball”—The Killers
- “Billy the Kid”—Billy Dean
- “Hey Cowgirl”—Mac DeMarco
- “The Cowboy Dance”—Jack Hartman
- “In the Real West”—Tish Hinojosa
- “Cowboys & Cowgirls”—Stone Thug
- “Trail of Broken Hearts”—K.D. Lang
- “Broken Cowboy”—The Dead South
- “My Pony Boy”—Lillian Lorraine
- “The Colorado Trail”—The Kingston Trio
- “Rawhide”—Frankie Laine
- “Hey Cowgirl”—Randall King
- “That Girl is a Cowboy”—Garth Brooks
- “Singapore Cowboy”—Matthew and the Mandarins
- “Keep Her on the Line”—Randall King
- “Cowboy Boots”—Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
- “Tied One On”—Jon Pardi
- “It’s Been Everywhere”—The Sunny Cowgirls
- “Cowboys Don’t Cry”—Dude Mowrey
- “The Lady Takes the Cowboy Everytime”—Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers
- “Rappin’ Duke”—Shawn Brown
- “She’s a Cowgirl”—Midland
© 2021 Ansel Pereira
