Released January 1980 Length 3:06 Writer(s) Sharon Vaughn | Genre Country Label Columbia Records | |
B-side "Rising Star (Love Theme)" | ||
"My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" was recorded by Waylon Jennings on the 1976 album Wanted! The Outlaws, and further popularized in 1980 by Willie Nelson as a single on the soundtrack to The Electric Horseman. "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" was written by Sharon Vaughn and Nelson's version was his fifth number one on the country chart. The single stayed at number one for two weeks and spent a total of fourteen weeks on the country chart.
Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.
Content
The narrator compares his child dream to become a cowboy and the reality he faces when he actually became a cowboy, and finds a strong contrast between the two.
References
My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys (song) Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA