Draft:Cowboy like Me
 | Draft article not currently submitted for review.
This is a draft Articles for creation (AfC) submission. It is not currently pending review. While there are no deadlines, abandoned drafts may be deleted after six months. To edit the draft click on the "Edit" tab at the top of the window. To be accepted, a draft should:
It is strongly discouraged to write about yourself, your business or employer. If you do so, you must declare it. Where to get help
How to improve a draft
You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Editor resources
Last edited by Ippantekina (talk | contribs) 46 days ago. (Update) |
| "Cowboy like Me" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Taylor Swift | |
| from the album Evermore | |
| Released | December 11, 2020 |
| Recorded | 2020 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 4:35 |
| Label | Republic |
| Songwriter(s) |
|
| Producer(s) | Aaron Dessner |
| Lyric video | |
| "Cowboy like Me" on YouTube | |
"Cowboy like Me" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her ninth studio album, Evermore (2020). Swift wrote the track with its producer, Aaron Dessner. "Cowboy like Me" is a country and folk rock ballad with elements of diverse styles such as blues, alternative, Western, and country rock. Its instrumentation uses hushed drums, a piano, a lap steel guitar, a harmonica, and hushed guitar and mandolin tones. Its lyrics narrate the story of how two con artists unexpectedly fall in love while scamming wealthy people in their town.
Music critics generally praised the production of "Cowboy like Me" as elegant and tasteful, although a few thought that its arrangement was not exciting. Retrospectively, several critics have ranked "Cowboy like Me" among the best songs in Swift's discography. Upon the release of Evermore, the track peaked at number 62 on the Billboard Global 200 and charted in Canada and the US.
Background and release
[edit]Amidst the COVID-19 lockdowns, Taylor Swift wrote songs and produced her eighth studio album, Folklore, with Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff. Surprise-released on July 24, 2020. Folklore incorporated new styles for Swift such as indie folk and indie rock, and it garnered widespread critical acclaim.[1][2] In September 2020, Swift, Antonoff, and Dessner assembled at Long Pond Studio in upstate New York to film Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, a documentary consisting of stripped-down renditions of tracks from Folklore and recounting the creative process behind the album.[3] After filming, the three celebrated Folklore by drinking and unexpectedly continued writing songs while staying at Long Pond.[4] The result was a studio album, Evermore, which Swift described as a "sister record" to Folklore.[5]
"Cowboy like Me" is one of the tracks that Swift and Dessner wrote for Evermore.[6]
One such song was "Cowboy like Me". Josh Kaufman played three instruments on the song, while Justin Vernon played drums.
Swift announced and released her ninth studio album in the same year, titled Evermore, her second product of remote collaboration and virtual communication after Folklore.[7] "Cowboy like Me" placed as the eleventh track on the record's track-listing. All of Evermore was recorded at Dessner's Long Pond studio, New York, during the making of Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, Swift's 2020 documentary,[6] except "Cowboy like Me", which was recorded at Scarlet Pimpernel Studios, a recording studio in the UK owned by Marcus Mumford, the frontman of English folk rock band Mumford & Sons. Mumford also contributed uncredited backing vocals to the song. Mumford had alluded to the collaboration in an Instagram post from inside the studio.[8][9]
Composition and lyrics
[edit]"Cowboy like Me" is country[5][10] and folk rock[11] ballad[12] with elements of blues,[13] alternative,[14] and country rock.[15] Its production contains a lap steel,[10] hushed guitars, harmonica, mandolin, piano,[16] upright bass and easy-brushed drums.[17] Lyrically, it is a melancholic and picaresque song.[18] Swift described "Cowboy like Me" as a fictional song about "two young con artists who fall in love while hanging out at fancy resorts trying to score rich romantic beneficiaries".[8] In the song, two high-society scammers meet their match in each other and rejoice in having someone around who's able to see through the posturing,[19] all while dealing with "bandits" and "hustling".[17] Notably, the song begins with the word "and", indicating a happening in the song's extended storyline.[12]
Reception
[edit]Writing for Billboard, Jason Lipshutz ranked "Cowboy like Me" ninth among the 17 tracks from the deluxe edition of Evermore, deeming it "an ambitious mix of folk, sun-kissed alternative and a whiff of the country music that Swift was once rooted in".[14] Pitchfork's Sam Sodomsky called the track "gorgeous", and one of the closest things to country music Swift had written in years.[9] Chris Willman of Variety praised Mumford's "lovely harmony vocal", opining that it "might count" as the second country track on the record — labelling "No Body, No Crime" as being the other country track — but stated that the song's narrative is "more determinedly Western than C&W".[10] In a piece for the Los Angeles Times, Mikael Wood praised the concept of the song, but said that its arrangement "never gets up and goes anywhere".[11]
All of the tracks on Evermore debuted inside the top 75 of the Billboard Global 200 chart simultaneously; "Cowboy Like Me" was at number 62. In the US, the song opened at number 71 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 15 on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart.[20] The song reached number 43 on the Canadian Hot 100.[21]
Credits and personnel
[edit]- Taylor Swift − vocals, songwriting
- Aaron Dessner − songwriting, production, recording, drum machine, percussion, synth bass, piano, keyboards, synthesizer, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
- Marcus Mumford − backing vocals
- Josh Kaufman − lap steel, harmonica, mandolin
- Justin Vernon − drum kit, electric guitar
- Bryce Dessner − orchestration
- Yuki Numata Resnick − orchestration
- Clarice Jensen − orchestration
- Robin Baynton − recording
- Kyle Resnick − recording
- Greg Calbi − mastering
- Steve Fallone − mastering
- Logan Coale − upright bass
Charts
[edit]| Chart (2020) | Peak
position |
|---|---|
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[22] | 43 |
| Global 200 (Billboard)[23] | 62 |
| UK Audio Streaming (OCC)[24] | 91 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[25] | 71 |
| US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[26] | 15 |
| US Rolling Stone Top 100[27] | 50 |
References
[edit]- ^ McGrath 2023, p. 79.
- ^ Light, Alan (December 11, 2020). "Evermore Isn't About Taylor Swift. It's About Storytelling". Esquire. Archived from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
- ^ Winn, Layne; Larramendia, Eliana (November 24, 2020). "Taylor Swift announces folklore: the long pond studio sessions intimate concert film for Disney+". ABC News. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
- ^ Havens, Lyndsey (December 18, 2020). "Aaron Dessner on the 'Weird Avalanche' That Resulted in Taylor Swift's Evermore". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
- ^ a b Shaffer, Claire (December 11, 2020). "Taylor Swift Deepens Her Goth-Folk Vision on the Excellent Evermore". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
- ^ a b Shaffer, Claire (December 18, 2020). "Aaron Dessner on How His Collaborative Chemistry With Taylor Swift Led to Evermore". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
- ^ Countryman, Eli (December 16, 2020). "Taylor Swift Opens Up About the Creation of 'Evermore'". Variety. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
- ^ a b Gutowitz, Jill (December 11, 2020). "So, What the Hell Folk Tales Is Taylor Swift Telling Now on evermore?". Vulture. Archived from the original on December 14, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ a b Sodomsky, Sam (December 15, 2020). "Taylor Swift- Evermore". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on December 15, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ a b c Willman, Chris (December 10, 2020). "Taylor Swift Has Her Second Great Album of 2020 With Evermore: Album Review". Variety. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ a b Wood, Mikael (December 10, 2020). "Review: Taylor Swift's surprise LP Evermore is more — and less — Folklore". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ a b Kornhaber, Spencer (December 16, 2020). "Taylor Swift Could Use an Editor". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on April 14, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ Mylrea, Hannah (December 11, 2020). "Taylor Swift's surprise new album Evermore – the big talking points". NME. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ a b Lipshutz, Jason (December 14, 2020). "Every Song Ranked on Taylor Swift's Evermore: Critic's Picks". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 13, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ Sheffield, Rob (October 26, 2021). "All 129 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked by Rob Sheffield". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
- ^ Lipshutz, Jason (December 11, 2020). "Every Song Ranked on Taylor Swift's 'Evermore' Deluxe Edition: Critic's Picks". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 13, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ a b Pierson-Hagger, Ellen (December 11, 2020). "Taylor Swift's Evermore is Folklore's darker, colder sister record". New Statesman. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
- ^ Krieger, Deborah (December 15, 2020). "Taylor Swift Has Written the Best Music of Her Career with evermore and folklore". PopMatters. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
- ^ Jenkins, Craig (December 14, 2020). "Taylor Swift Is Done Self-Mythologizing". Vulture. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
- ^ "Taylor Swift – Hot Rock & Alternative Songs". Billboard. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
- ^ "Taylor Swift – Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
- ^ "Taylor Swift Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
- ^ "Taylor Swift Chart History (Global 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
- ^ "Official Audio Streaming Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
- ^ "Taylor Swift Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
- ^ "Taylor Swift Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
- ^ "Top 100 Songs". Rolling Stone. December 17, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
Cited literature
[edit]- McGrath, John (2023). "The Return to Craft: Taylor Swift, Nostalgia, and Covid-19". Popular Music and Society. 46 (1): 70–84. doi:10.1080/03007766.2022.2156761.
- Zaleski, Annie (2024). "The Evermore Era". Taylor Swift: The Stories Behind the Songs. Thunder Bay Press. pp. 190–207. ISBN 978-1-6672-0845-9.
