"Walking the Cow" is a song written and recorded by singer-songwriter

Daniel Johnston Daniel Dale Johnston (January 22, 1961 – September 11, 2019) was an American singer, musician and artist regarded as a significant figure in outsider, lo-fi, and alternative music scenes. Most of his work consisted of cassettes recorded a ...

from his 1983 album ''

Hi, How Are You ''Hi, How Are You: The Unfinished Album'' is the sixth self-released music cassette album by singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, recorded in September 1983. The subtitle refers to the length of the album; Johnston had intended for it to be an h ...

''. The title was inspired by an illustration on a wrapper for Blue Bell ice cream depicting a young girl attempting to lead a reluctant cow by its reins. Johnston recorded an updated version of the song on his 2010 album ''

Beam Me Up! ''Beam Me Up!'' is the eighteenth and final album by Daniel Johnston released in 2010. Track listing All songs written by Daniel Johnston. #"Sarah Drove Around In Her Car" #"Syrup Of Tears" #"Must" #"True Love Will Find You In The End" #"Wicke ...

Covers

Austin band The Reivers included their version of the song as a bonus track on the 1988 CD release of ''

Translate Slowly ''Translate Slowly'' is the 1985 debut album by The Reivers. This album was originally released under the band's original name, Zeitgeist, but was remixed in 1988 and re-released under the band name The Reivers, after another band claimed rights ...

'', their 1984 debut album. During Johnston's wave of popularity in the early 1990s, several musicians released covers of "Walking the Cow".

Mike Watt Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. Watt co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ...

's group Firehose included a version on ''

Flyin' the Flannel ''Flyin' the Flannel'' is the fourth album by the American alternative rock band Firehose (band), Firehose. It was released in 1991, and was the band's first album after signing with the major label Columbia Records. The album is considerably d ...

'' (1991). Kathy McCarty of

Glass Eye An ocular prosthesis, artificial eye or glass eye is a type of craniofacial prosthesis that replaces an absent natural eye following an enucleation, evisceration, or orbital exenteration. The prosthesis fits over an orbital implant and under ...

included it on her 1994 Daniel Johnston tribute album ''Dead Dog's Eyeball''. Also in 1994, the Austin surf-rock band Whirled Peas released a version on their second and final album, ''War and Peas''. In October of that year,

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...

covered the song in a performance at

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

Bridge School Benefit The Bridge School Benefit was an annual charity concert usually held in Mountain View, California, every October at the Shoreline Amphitheatre from 1986 until 2016 with the exception of 1987. The concerts lasted the entire weekend and were organ ...

concert, and this subsequently became available on the

bootleg Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made ...

album ''In Rock We Trust''. Watt performed the song on a 1995 solo tour; a recording opens his live album ''Ring Spiel Tour '95'', released in 2016. Pearl Jam's

Eddie Vedder Eddie Jerome Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson III; December 23, 1964) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and one of four guitarists of the rock band Pearl Jam. He also appeared as a guest vocalist i ...

used the song to open every show of his 2008 solo tour. It was covered by

A Camp A Camp is the solo side project of Nina Persson, vocalist for the Swedish indie pop band The Cardigans, her husband, composer Nathan Larson, and former Atomic Swing guitarist Niclas Frisk. Persson formed A Camp when The Cardigans took a break af ...

on their 2001 album ''

''. On the 2004 tribute album '' The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered'',

TV on the Radio TV on the Radio (TVOTR) is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2001. The band consists of Tunde Adebimpe (vocals, loops), David Andrew Sitek (guitars, keyboards, loops), Kyp Malone (vocals, guitars, bass, loops), and Jale ...

contributed their cover of the song. On September 11, 2020 — the one-year anniversary of Johnston's death —

Electric Lady Studios Electric Lady Studios is a recording studio in Greenwich Village, New York City. It was commissioned by rock musician Jimi Hendrix in 1968 and designed by architect John Storyk and audio engineer Eddie Kramer by 1970. Hendrix spent only ten ...

released a video tribute album, ''Honey I Sure Miss You'', via YouTube. It included a cover of "Walking the Cow" by the indie-pop band

Lucius Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from ''Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames (''praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from L ...

References

External links

Daniel Johnston's official website
1983 singles 1983 songs Daniel Johnston Songs about cattle {{1980s-single-stub