"Ain't Always the Cowboy" is a song written by Brandon Kinney and Josh Thompson, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

Jon Pardi Jonathan Ryan Pardi (born May 20, 1985) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Capitol Nashville, he has released four studio albums: ''Write You a Song'' (2014), ''California Sunrise'' (2016), ''Heartache Medication'' (2 ...

. It is the second single from Pardi's third studio album ''

Heartache Medication ''Heartache Medication'' is the third studio album by American neotraditional country artist Jon Pardi. The album was released on September 27, 2019, via Capitol Nashville. Following the success of 2016's ''California Sunrise'', Pardi reteamed wit ...

''. (2019) The track is about a non-committal woman that uses

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

iconography. "Ain't Always the Cowboy" peaked at numbers three and six on ''Billboard'''s

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

and

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

charts respectively. It also reached number 55 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

. It was certified two-times platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA), denoting sales of over two million units in the United States. The song achieved similar success in Canada, giving Pardi his fifth number-one hit on the

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

chart, and peaked at number 52 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

. The accompanying music video for the single, directed by Carlos Ruiz, features Pardi barrel racing.

Content and history

The song uses

imagery to describe a woman who does not want to commit to a relationship. Pardi told the blog

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

, ""I feel like the topic of the song hasn't been written about in this way, and I love songs that approach things differently and offer fresh perspectives". Thompson told the same publication that upon meeting with Brandon Kinney, he only had the title in mind, and after the two writers began drinking beer together, they came up with the idea for the song. The demo, featuring vocals from Thompson, was then sent to Kinney's cousin Bart Butler, who is also Pardi's producer. Butler chose for the song to be recorded at a faster tempo than the demo, adding prominent

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

from

Jenee Fleenor Jenee Fleenor is an American musician. A singer-songwriter, she plays the fiddle, mandolin and acoustic guitar and has performed with various musicians and bands. In 2019, she became the first woman to be nominated and to win the Country Music ...

and a lead guitar from Rob McNelley, along with several backing vocals all sung by session vocalist Russell Terrell. Taste of Country writer Cillea Houghton described the song as "put

ing Ing, ING or ing may refer to: Art and media * '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film * i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group * The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' * "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 1992 ...

as much focus on the restless woman who stole the titular cowboy's heart as it does the cowboy himself, tied together with descriptive lyrics".

Music video

Carlos Ruiz directed the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

, which features Pardi

barrel racing Barrel racing is a rodeo event in which a horse and rider attempt to run a cloverleaf pattern around preset barrels in the fastest time. In collegiate and professional ranks, it is usually a women's event, though both sexes compete at amateur a ...

Chart performance

On the week of September 12, 2020, "Ain't Always the Cowboy" debuted at number 99 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Eleven weeks later, it peaked at number 55 the week of November 28, and stayed on the chart for eighteen weeks. On the week of December 19, it reached numbers three and six on both the ''Billboard'' Country Airplay and Hot Country Songs charts respectively. In Canada, the song debuted at number 100 on the Canadian Hot 100 the week of September 26. Nine weeks later, it reached number 52 the same week it peaked on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and remained on the chart for fifteen weeks.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2019 songs 2020 singles 2020s ballads Country ballads Jon Pardi songs Capitol Records Nashville singles Songs about cowboys and cowgirls Songs written by Brandon Kinney Songs written by Josh Thompson (singer)