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cowboy like me

evermore (2020)

“cowboy like me” is the eleventh track on Taylor’s ninth album, evermore (2020). It tells the story of two swindlers who fall in love through a cat-and-mouse fling “while hanging out at fancy resorts trying to score rich romantic beneficiaries”. The song was written by Taylor and Aaron Dessner, the latter of whom also produced the track. Backing vocals are also provided by Marcus Mumford, lead singer of the band Mumford & Sons.

Background and Release

Taylor released her eighth studio album, folklore, on July 24, 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic. The majority of it was produced by American producer Aaron Dessner. Taylor continued to work with Dessner remotely even after releasing folklore, who would send her his instrumental tracks, to which she would write the lyrics. These sessions spontaneously resulted in a set of songs that were a natural extension of folklore. One such song was “cowboy like me”. While on her “The Eras Tour” in 2023, Taylor recalled the challenges of recording songs for evermore due to Covid-19:

«Take yourselves back to 2020, and I put out folklore, and I just kept writing. I thought, 'Let me make a sister album to folklore and call it evermore.' And so I started immediately. Aaron, Jack, and I were just writing remotely. And the challenge at the time was trying to figure out how to record things. Most studios were completely shut down due to Covid, understandably. I could not find a studio, essentially. So Aaron is like, 'Let me call around to see if there is anyone who is cool, and nice, and generous, and might be willing to offer up their home studio, if we do the right amount of testing, we're totally locked down, and quarantined.' And I was like, 'Okay, please, I really hope someone comes through.'»

Taylor Swift

A couple of days later, Aaron got back to Taylor with good news. A friend of his was willing to share his home studio:

«'Marcus Mumford said that you could record at his home studio.' So I first of all, I am so excited that he's saving us, because without this trip, we wouldn't have recorded five or six of the songs on evermore, which came from me getting in a car, driving six hours out into the country past thousands of beautiful sheep, to Marcus Mumford's beautiful house where he has a studio. So I got to do this, we get there, and the whole time I'm thinking, 'Okay, wouldn't it be so cool if he would sing on something?' Because I'm such a Mumford & Sons fan. I just think he's brilliant and has one of the most gorgeous voices in the world. So I'm like, 'Will he sing something, please?' But I didn't want to be weird about it, so I'm like, 'I wonder if fate will have him wander into the studio at the right time.' So sure enough, we're recording a song, and he wanders in at the perfect time and just kind of started humming a harmony. And I turned to him as if I hadn't been thinking of it the whole time, and I was like, 'Oh! You sound really good on that harmony! I wonder if you might sing on this song?' And he said, 'Yep, I would love to!' So essentially, because of Marcus Mumford we have a lot of the songs that probably we wouldn't have been able to put out evermore as quickly as we did. And we also have a gorgeous harmony on a song called 'cowboy like me.'»

Taylor Swift

Taylor announced and released her ninth studio album in the same year, titled evermore, her second product of remote collaboration and virtual communication after folklore. “cowboy like me” placed as the eleventh track on the record’s track-listing. It 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. He had alluded to the collaboration in an Instagram post from inside the studio.

Lyrical Theme

Narrating the fictitious story of two rogue con artists from one of their perspectives, “cowboy like me” has the characters fall in love while frequenting resorts to impress, deceive and scam rich beneficiaries of high society, whilst dealing with their own problems.

Live Performances

Taylor first performed “cowboy like me” on March 25, 2023, during her second Las Vegas show on “The Eras Tour” (2023-2024). She sang the song with special guest Marcus Mumford. On March 6, 2024, she played a mashup of “cowboy like me” with “Tim McGraw” (2006) on acoustic guitar in Singapore. During her concert on July 5, 2024, in Amsterdam Taylor performed the song together with “You Are In Love” (2014). In Indianapolis on November 2, 2024, she played it together with “Maroon” (2022) on piano.

Critical Reception

Writing for Billboard, Jason Lipshutz deemed the song “an ambitious mix of folk, sun-kissed alternative and a whiff of the country music that Swift was once rooted in”. Pitchfork‘s Sam Sodomsky called the track “gorgeous”, and one of the closest things to country music Taylor had written in years. 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”.

Commercial Performance

All of the tracks on evermore debuted inside the top 75 of the Billboard Global 200 chart simultaneously; “cowboy like me” was at No. 62. In the US, the song opened at No. 71 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 15 on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. The song reached No. 43 on the Canadian Hot 100.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
And the tennis court was covered up
With some tent-like thing
And you asked me to dance
But I said, “Dancing is a dangerous game”
Oh, I thought
This is gonna be one of those things
Now I know
I’m never gonna love again

[Refrain 1]
I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve
Takes one to know one
You’re a cowboy like me

[Verse 2]
Never wanted love
Just a fancy car
Now I’m waiting by the phone
Like I’m sitting in an airport bar

[Refrain 2]
You had some tricks up your sleeve
Takes one to know one
You’re a cowboy like me

[Chorus]
Perched in the dark
Telling all the rich folks anything they wanna hear
Like it could be love
I could be the way forward only if they pay for it
You’re a bandit like me
Eyes full of stars
Hustling for the good life
Never thought I’d meet you here
It could be love
We could be the way forward
And I know I’ll pay for it

[Refrain 3]
You’re a cowboy like me

[Bridge]
And the skeletons in both our closets
Plotted hard to fuck this up
And the old men that I’ve swindled
Really did believe I was the one
And the ladies lunching have their stories about when you passed through town
But that was all before I locked it down

[Verse 3]
Now you hang from my lips
Like the Gardens of Babylon
With your boots beneath my bed
Forever is the sweetest con

[Refrain 4]
I’ve had some tricks up my sleeve
Takes one to know one
You’re a cowboy like me

[Outro]
And I’m never gonna love again
I’m never gonna love again
I’m never gonna love again