Like a Cowboy

Album: How Country Feels (2013)
Charted: 62
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Houser wrote this song with Brice Long, who also co-penned Gary Allan's #1 Country hit "Nothing On but the Radio." He told Billboard magazine: "I grew up around the rodeo and around a bunch of cowboys. I always noticed that cowboys traveled. One of my favorite movies of all time was Red Headed Stranger and all those old Clint Eastwood movies. You always see the cowboy going home and resting and trying to plant the fields, and make things easier at home."

    "I kind of felt that musicians these days are a lot like an old cowboy," Houser continued. "We go out and try to make our living. There's that picture of someone who has to go out and travel for a living, and comes home to their family, and making it work. That's what it means to me."
  • Houser told Radio.com about the day Brice Long and he penned the song. "We got together and we didn't know what we were going to write," he recalled. "It was one of those days that I didn't want to settle on writing something just to be writing a song. I wanted to wait on the right idea. Brice is a cowboy and I grew up rodeo-ing through high school as a cowboy. I got to thinking about our lifestyles and the lifestyle that I lived. I thought about the similarities and the parallels of what I do and the Old West cowboy."
  • Houser said that the song isn't just for cowboys. It's for anyone who travels for a living. "That's what you do. You can't help it. You don't know how to do anything else," he explained. "You have to come home and pick up the pieces and try to make everything as best as you can at home, and then you have to prepare everything to leave again. The leaving and coming back and the let downs and the ups and downs."

    "There's a lot of highs in what we do and there's a lot of lows," Houser added. "There's a lot of tough times in what we do. Every time you come home it's not that you had a huge success, and every time you leave and go out there you're fighting for success of some sort."
  • The song's video was shot in Tucson, Arizona and filmed by Hollywood director Dustin Rikert, who also helmed the Kix Brooks western, Ambush at Dark Canyon. Amongst the 75 cast members are veteran actors William Shockley, who played Hank Lawson in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and Timothy V Murphy, who is one of the most recognized and sought-after villains working in television today.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

80s Video Director Jay Dubin

80s Video Director Jay DubinSong Writing

Billy Joel and Hall & Oates hated making videos, so they chose a director with similar contempt for the medium. That was Jay Dubin, and he has a lot to say on the subject.

Shawn Mullins

Shawn MullinsSongwriter Interviews

"Lullaby" singer Shawn Mullins on "Beautiful Wreck," beating the Devil, and his writing credit on the Zac Brown Band song "Toes."

Yoko Ono

Yoko OnoSongwriter Interviews

At 80 years old, Yoko has 10 #1 Dance hits. She discusses some of her songs and explains what inspired John Lennon's return to music in 1980.

Marc Campbell - "88 Lines About 44 Women"

Marc Campbell - "88 Lines About 44 Women"They're Playing My Song

The Nails lead singer Marc Campbell talks about those 44 women he sings about over a stock Casio keyboard track. He's married to one of them now - you might be surprised which.

George Clinton

George ClintonSongwriter Interviews

When you free your mind, your ass may follow, but you have to make sure someone else doesn't program it while it's wide open.

Adam Duritz of Counting Crows

Adam Duritz of Counting CrowsSongwriter Interviews

"Mr. Jones" took on new meaning when the song about a misguided view of fame made Adam famous.