Cowboy Take Me Away
| "Cowboy Take Me Away" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Chicks | ||||
| from the album Fly | ||||
| B-side | "Goodbye Earl" | |||
| Released | November 8, 1999 | |||
| Recorded | 1999 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 4:47 (album version) 3:55 (radio version) | |||
| Label | Monument | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producers | ||||
| The Chicks singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Cowboy Take Me Away" is a song by American country music group The Chicks, written by Martie Maguire and Marcus Hummon. It was released in November 1999 as the second single from their album Fly. The song's title is derived from a famous slogan used in commercials for Calgon bath and beauty products. It reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks chart in February 2000.
Content
Driven by co-writer Martie Seidel's fiddle, Emily Robison's banjo, and Natalie Maines' vocals, "Cowboy Take Me Away" quickly became one of the trio's signature songs. Maines was praised for a "sincere" vocal that escaped the clichés of "Nashville music-factory tearjerkers".[1] "Cowboy Take Me Away" has become a staple of the Chicks' concert set lists, appearing from the Fly Tour onwards.
Music video
The first scene of the music video for "Cowboy Take Me Away" shows a car stopping on a busy street, with Robison's high hot pink cowboy boot splashing through a puddle, and Maines waiting in a crowded elevator until reaching the top floor of an empty industrial-looking loft, joining the other two Chicks. The three begin singing the song and playing their instruments up there at the building-top in the center of a large city which appears to be Los Angeles. Gradually, the scene around them begins to slowly melt (via various CGI backdrops) of forest floors and snow-covered mountains and the like appear, while the trio dance and sing. The city does not ever disappear entirely, but the point is made.
The filming captured them at the height of their early days, when all three women had hair either naturally or dyed blonde. Looking back, Robison commented, "You have three girls, so automatically you get the roll-the-eyes, you know; it's the band that's been put together," Robison says. "And at the time we were all blonde. And, you know, it was just so – it was so packageable. You know, it was just so easy for people to say, 'Oh, this is something manufactured.'"[2]
Chart performance
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[8] | Gold | 15,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[9] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
Release history
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | November 8, 1999 | Country radio | Monument | [10] |
Cover versions
Singer-songwriter Lissie released a stripped-down rendition of the song in 2019 as part of the album When I'm Alone: The Piano Retrospective. In 2020, country singers Cameron Hawthorn and Carly Pearce independently recorded the song as standalone singles, the former accompanying the song with a music video.[11][12][13] Indie supergroup Boygenius had performed the song while on tour in 2018 and released a live version through KEXP's YouTube channel in 2019; The Chicks tweeted their praise for the cover in 2021.[14] Pop-country stars Miley Cyrus and Orville Peck performed a duet of the song for Cyrus's 2021 filmed concert special Stand by You, and, in 2022, country singer Brittney Spencer released a cover of the song as part of the single "if i ever get there: a day at blackbird studio".[15][16] Kelsea Ballerini performed the song on her 2023 HEARTFIRST tour in combination with her song "LOVE IS A COWBOY".[17]
References
- ^ Dixie Chicks: Fly Archived 2012-09-05 at archive.today
- ^ Rather, Dan (September 6, 2002). "Dixie Chicks Not Whistling Dixie". 60 Minutes II. CBS News. pp. 1–3. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
- ^ "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 10030." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. January 17, 2000. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
- ^ "Dixie Chicks Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
- ^ "Dixie Chicks Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
- ^ "Best of 2000: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2000. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
- ^ "Billboard Top 100 – 2000". Archived from the original on March 4, 2009. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
- ^ "New Zealand single certifications – The Chicks – Cowboy Take Me Away". Radioscope. Retrieved November 24, 2025. Type Cowboy Take Me Away in the "Search:" field and press Enter.
- ^ "American single certifications – The Chicks – Cowboy Take Me Away". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
- ^ "Going for Adds - Country" (PDF). Radio & Records. November 5, 1999. p. 83.
- ^ "Gay Country Heartthrob Cameron Hawthorn Releases Gorgeous New Single – Culture Fix". www.culturefix.co.uk. Retrieved 2025-07-16.
- ^ Cowboy Take Me Away - Single by Cameron Hawthorn on Apple Music, 2020-04-27, retrieved 2025-07-16
- ^ "LISTEN: Carly Pearce Soars on 'Cowboy Take Me Away' Cover". The Boot. 2020-03-12. Retrieved 2025-12-11.
- ^ "Years Later, Boygenius Finally Get The Chicks To Co-Sign Their Cover". UPROXX. 2021-05-04. Retrieved 2025-12-11.
- ^ Curto, Justin (2021-02-17). "Every Miley Cyrus Cover, Ranked". Vulture. Retrieved 2025-12-11.
- ^ "Brittney Spencer's 'Beautiful Journey' into Country Music Started Decades Ago Because of These 3 Country Stars (Exclusive)". People.com. Retrieved 2025-12-11.
- ^ "Kelsea Ballerini 2023 Concert Tour Setlist | Holler". holler.country. Retrieved 2025-12-11.
