"The Cowboy in Me" is a song written by

Jeffrey Steele Jeffrey LeVasseur (born August 27, 1961), known as Jeffrey Steele, is an American country music singer and songwriter. Along with recording his own material, Steele has become a prolific Nashville songwriter, having co-written more than 60 hit ...

, Al Anderson and

Craig Wiseman Craig Michael Wiseman is an American Country music songwriter and producer, and the owner/founder of the Big Loud enterprise. He has been writing since the late 1980s, and his songs have been recorded by Lorrie Morgan, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, ...

, 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, ...

artist

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...

. It was released in November 2001 as the third single from McGraw's '' Set This Circus Down'' album. The song reached Number One on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now

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. It reached Number One one week after McGraw's duet with

Jo Dee Messina Jo Dee Marie Messina (born August 25, 1970) is an American country music artist. She has charted six number-one singles on the ''Billboard'' country music charts. She has been honored by the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country ...

, "Bring On the Rain".

Content

In this song, Tim McGraw is acknowledging the destructive and sometimes selfish side of his personality, which he identifies as "the cowboy in im"

Critical reception

Kevin John Coyne of ''Country Universe'' gave the song a B grade, saying that the song "might be an amoebic form of the country lifestyle anthems that have flooded the genre in the years since it was released." He goes on to say that it is "certainly subtler and more refined than what’s come out since, and McGraw’s hit doesn’t include the head-pounding loudness that sinks so many other 'country' anthems."CountryUniverse.net
Song review

Music video

The music video was directed by

Sherman Halsey Sherman Brooks Halsey (February 22, 1957 – October 29, 2013) was an American music video and television director, producer, and artist manager. Sherman Halsey produced and directed hundreds of television shows and music videos for artists ...

and was released in early 2002.

Chart performance

"The Cowboy in Me" debuted at number 48 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the chart week of December 1, 2001. It reached a peak of number one on the chart dated March 16, 2002, remaining there for one week. During most of its chart run, it overlapped with McGraw's duet with

, "

Bring On the Rain "Bring On the Rain" is a song written by Billy Montana and Helen Darling and recorded by American country music artist Jo Dee Messina. It was released in September 2001 as the fourth single from her album ''Burn''. In March 2002, it became Mes ...

", which was the number one song one week earlier.

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowboy In Me Songs about cowboys and cowgirls 2001 singles 2001 songs Tim McGraw songs Songs written by Craig Wiseman Songs written by Jeffrey Steele Songs written by Al Anderson (NRBQ) Song recordings produced by Byron Gallimore Song recordings produced by Tim McGraw Song recordings produced by James Stroud Curb Records singles Music videos directed by Sherman Halsey Country ballads