"Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" is a song by American singer

Paula Cole Paula Cole (born April 5, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter. After gaining attention for her performances as a vocalist on Peter Gabriel's 1993–1994 Secret World Tour, she released her first album, ''Harbinger (Paula Cole album), Harbing ...

. It was released on March 25, 1997, as the lead single from her second studio album, '' This Fire''. The song is Cole's only top-ten hit on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching number eight, and was her first top-ten hit in Canada, where it reached number seven. It was additionally a critical success, earning nominations for three Grammy awards:

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

, Song of the Year, and

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The awar ...

Style and theme

The song traces the stages of a tragic romance. The first two verses explore infatuation and discovery; a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

expresses disillusionment, and a final verse changes to despair. A brief transition and chorus that repeats the song's title follows each verse, and questions the loss of the narrator's idyllic dream of spending her lifetime with a

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 ...

-styled hero. The song is written in 4/4 time and maintains a minor key throughout. The verse score is minimalist and includes only low, rasping vocals by Cole with percussion accompaniment, while the choral transitions, chorus, and bridge use the full instrumentation and Cole's

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

range.

Music video

The video was directed by Caitlin Felton. It is simple, primarily featuring Cole in the foreground singing or posing for the camera, while her band plays in the background. These shots are augmented by various shadowy or obscure images of people walking, sitting at a table, sitting in a car and riding a horse. There are several points where the video looks grainy, adding to the effect of the song. The video was nominated for

Best Female Video The MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video is one of the original general awards that has been handed out every year since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. In 2007, however, the award was briefly renamed Female Artist of the Y ...

at the

1997 MTV Video Music Awards The 1997 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 4, 1997, honoring the best music videos from June 17, 1996, to June 16, 1997. The show was hosted by Chris Rock at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. American singer Beck took home the ...

, losing to Jewel's " You Were Meant for Me".

Accolades

The song received

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

nominations for

(losing to

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan Order of Canada, OC Order of British Columbia, OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is ''Surfacing ( ...

's "

Building a Mystery "Building a Mystery" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan from her fourth studio album, '' Surfacing'' (1997). At a live performance, Sarah explains the song as being "basically about the fact that we all... have insecurities t ...

"),

, and Song of the Year (losing both to "

Sunny Came Home "Sunny Came Home" is a folk-rock song by American musician Shawn Colvin. It is the opening track on her 1996 concept album, '' A Few Small Repairs'', and was released as a CD and cassette single on June 24, 1997. In the United Kingdom, the song ...

" by

Shawn Colvin Shawn Colvin (born Shawna Lee Colvin, January 10, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. While Colvin has been a solo recording artist for decades, she is best known for her 1998 Grammy Award-winning song "Sunny Came Home". Early ...

Track listings

US 7-inch and cassette single :A. "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" (edit) – 3:46 :B. "Hush, Hush, Hush." (album version) – 4:22 UK and European CD single # "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" (album version edit) – 3:47 # "Hush, Hush, Hush." (album version) – 4:23 # "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" (E-Team Drugstore Cowboy Radio Edit) – 3:57 Australian CD single # "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" (album version edit) # "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" (E-Team Drugstore Cowboy Radio Edit) # "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" (Sylkscreen Radio Edit) # "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" (Dekkard's Rancho Pepe Mix) # "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" (E-Team Saxuality Mix)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1996 songs 1997 singles Imago Records singles Paula Cole songs Songs about cowboys and cowgirls Songs written by Paula Cole Warner Records singles