"The Cowboy Rides Away" is a song written by

Sonny Throckmorton James Fron "Sonny" Throckmorton (born April 2, 1941) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Known primarily for his songwriting, Throckmorton has had more than 1,000 of his songs recorded by various country singers. He has also had ...

and

Casey Kelly Casey Patrick Kelly (born October 4, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the LG Twins of the KBO League. He was a first-round draft choice, 30th overall, in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft by the Boston Red Sox. Kelly was ...

, 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, o ...

artist

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. In the 1980s, he was credited fo ...

. It was released in January 1985 as the second single from his album ''

Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind ''Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind'' is the fourth studio album by American country music artist George Strait, released on September 26, 1984, by MCA Records. It is certified platinum by the RIAA for sales of one million copies in the U.S. ...

''. It peaked at number 5 on the United States ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart, and at number 3 on the ''RPM'' Country Tracks chart in Canada. It is the song used by Strait to close out his performances. This is also the name of his last and final tour commencing January 18, 2013. It was the last song he sang at his final

The Cowboy Rides Away Tour The Cowboy Rides Away Tour was a concert tour by American country music artist George Strait. The tour was divided into two legs: 21 concerts in 2013 and 27 concerts in 2014, for a total of 48 concerts, all in the United States. The tour started ...

concert on June 7, 2014 at

AT&T Stadium AT&T Stadium, formerly Cowboys Stadium, is a retractable-roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL), and was completed on May 27, 2009. It is also the hom ...

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

with a worldwide record setting attendance for the show at 104,000.

Content

The song is about a cowboy riding away from a failed relationship. He and his wife/girlfriend have been through it all and they just can’t work things out.

Critical reception

Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave the song an A grade, calling it a song that "embraces the traditional cowboy mythos while simultaneously reinventing it."CountryUniverse.net
Review by Kevin John Coyne

Chart positions

Certifications

References

* Songs about cowboys and cowgirls 1985 singles George Strait songs Songs written by Casey Kelly (songwriter) Songs written by Sonny Throckmorton Song recordings produced by Jimmy Bowen MCA Records singles 1984 songs {{1984-country-song-stub