Should've Been A Cowboy

About this song

Toby Keith released the song on February 12, 1993, as his debut single and the first from his self-titled debut album, and it became his first number one on the Hot Country Songs chart. It was inspired by an incident Keith saw at a bar in the early 1990s, when an older highway patrolman tried to dance with a younger woman and was turned down. The song is a staple after sporting events at Oklahoma State University, and American Aquarium covered it in 2021.

What it's about

The lyrics romanticize the cowboy lifestyle through references to old Westerns, imagining what the narrator's life would be like if he had been a cowboy. The chorus name-checks singing cowboys Gene Autry and Roy Rogers.

Summary written with AI, based on the song's Wikipedia article. Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Fun facts

• Covered 5 times, including “Should've Been a Cowboy by Dustin Hulett”.
• Written by Toby Keith.
• Produced by Harold Shedd and Nelson Larkin.