“Should’ve Been a Cowboy”: 3 Country Songs That Made Hats, Horses, and Highways Seem Like Heaven

Country music carries with it an iconography. It’s emblematic of a way of life. While listening to songs in this genre, the audience can try on that life. The three country songs below made the cowboy way—hats, horses, and highways—seem like heaven.

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“Rhinestone Cowboy” (Glen Campbell)

A real cowboy’s life is mostly work and little play, but this Glen Campbell track adds a dash of showbiz to the mix, breathing new life into the occupation. Like a rhinestone cowboy / Riding out on a horse in a star-spangled rodeo, Campbell sings in this pop-country crossover. Listening to this country song will make anyone want to throw on a Stetson and strut down Nashville’s Broadway.

While many cowboy-influenced country songs see their artist dreaming of life on a ranch out west somewhere, Campbell doesn’t dream quite as outlandishly. He knows where his talents lie, and they aren’t in herding cattle. But that doesn’t mean he can’t play the part a little—albeit a little more gussied up than usual.

“If Heartaches Were Horses” (George Strait)

If songs are to be believed, matters of the heart aren’t a cowboy’s strong suit. Instead, they thrive in a solitary kind of life, according to many country singers. George Strait joined that conversation with “If Heartaches Were Horses.”

In this country song, Strait wishes his problems were as easy to deal with as horses or cattle. The cowboy way of life he has a grip on. Breakups not so much. If heartaches were horses / And hard times were cattle / I’d ride home at sunset / Sittin’ tall in the saddle, he sings in this cowboy country song, nursing a broken heart.

“On the Road Again” (Willie Nelson)

While hundreds of years ago cowboys would travel miles on horseback, the plight of the modern cowboy (at least in the music industry) is the highway. Countless country artists have waxed poetic about life on the road, playing into the vagabond tradition of the cowboy archetype.

One of the best country songs about life lived on the road is Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again.” This classic track perfectly sums up the mundanity of touring while also reveling in wayfaring around the world. It’s the perfect mix of modern ideas with cowboy traditions.

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