https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y7w16-its-hard-to-love-a-cowboy/ Guitar Noise Discussion Board en-US Fri, 05 Jun 2026 03:23:28 +0000 wpForo 60 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y7w16-its-hard-to-love-a-cowboy/#post-322763 Sun, 08 Mar 2009 20:52:49 +0000
Something along these lines:

Hard To Love a Cowboy (male female duet)

(male)
I'm just a cowboy
Out on the road
Makin' my livin'
In the rodeo

I'm sorry darlin'
It's all I know
Kiss our little baby
Let her watch her favorite shows

(female)
I think of you day and night
Wish I had you safe in my sight
When it's cold and dark
And the coyotes bark

I'll just tighten my apron once more
And go back to washin' the floor
I'll try to ignore the lines of progress and fear
On the face you hold so dear

(maybe a chorus)
A cowboy's life, is a lonely life
He could never, compromise
Ridin' the range
Is in his soul
He never looks back, as he rides away
Never a glance, to the children at play
Not even a nod to the woman
Who clutches her heart
It's hard to love a cowboy ---------female
(cowboy's wife) --male

(another idea for the chorus – our life is a lonely life, but we could never compromise and then some new lyrics to match that.)]]> Sunday Songwriters Group stikman https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y7w16-its-hard-to-love-a-cowboy/#post-322763 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y7w16-its-hard-to-love-a-cowboy/#post-322649 Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:42:14 +0000 Sunday Songwriters Group jimmybinder https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y7w16-its-hard-to-love-a-cowboy/#post-322649 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y7w16-its-hard-to-love-a-cowboy/#post-321425 Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:13:06 +0000
I think that maybe for the duet part, you could keep the verses the same, even have the male sing them, but you could add a female voice underneath the male during the female veres, kind of off in the distance and off a half beat, like the main character is thinking it, and so is the female, but there thoughts are off just a bit.

Does that make any sense, I can't really seem to explain it all that well, but maybe like the following:
A cowboy's life, is a lonely life
He could never, compromise
Ridin' the range
Is in his soul Here have the male vocalist only maybe
He never looks back, as he rides away
Never a glance, to the children at play
Not even a nod to the woman
Who clutches her heart Here possible have the female voice underneath and off in the distance so to speak
She thinks of him, all day and all night
Wishes she had him, safe in her sight
When it's cold and dark
And the coyotes bark And then here: She's thinks of him, all day and night -- sing this part in the narrative voice, but have the female sing off beat with "I think of him, all day and night. Kind of like:

She's thinks of him, all day and night
I think of him all day and night

This isn't formatting right, but the "I think of him all day and night" should be underneath the "All day and night"

I dunno, it's all I got LOL.]]> Sunday Songwriters Group JoeHempel https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y7w16-its-hard-to-love-a-cowboy/#post-321425 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y7w16-its-hard-to-love-a-cowboy/#post-321414 Tue, 17 Feb 2009 02:14:12 +0000
I don't know. Life issues are bearing down on me. I feel the songwriting losing it's grip. Got chickens ta tend but hopefully I can keep a foot in here.

stik]]> Sunday Songwriters Group stikman https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y7w16-its-hard-to-love-a-cowboy/#post-321414 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y7w16-its-hard-to-love-a-cowboy/#post-321409 Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:07:23 +0000 Make them banditos . . . good luck rhyming that word . . .
I say go ahead and kill her off . . . . and then he becomes a wandering cowboy looking for them . . .
. . . the rest of his life (because he never did live with the Cherokees . . . that was just something he said to impress her). . . and the wolves howl . . . and the wind blows through the tumbleweeds (gotta mention tumbleweeds) . . .
. . . fade into the ending with the sun setting over a desert with the outlines of cacti . . .

She welcomed them with a smile
When they rode up to the farm
I never occurred to her
That they meant her harm

KR2]]> Sunday Songwriters Group KR2 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y7w16-its-hard-to-love-a-cowboy/#post-321409 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y7w16-its-hard-to-love-a-cowboy/#post-321396 Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:45:52 +0000
I started out with first person but switched later.

Some good suggestions to go with.]]> Sunday Songwriters Group stikman https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y7w16-its-hard-to-love-a-cowboy/#post-321396 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y7w16-its-hard-to-love-a-cowboy/#post-321384 Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:13:30 +0000 At first I thought it should be written in first person

I could never, compromise
Ridin' the range
Is in my soul

But that didn't seem to make a difference.

I think it lacks some action . . . or some message . . . or have some type of closure.

KR2]]> Sunday Songwriters Group KR2 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y7w16-its-hard-to-love-a-cowboy/#post-321384 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y7w16-its-hard-to-love-a-cowboy/#post-321380 Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:22:31 +0000
Duet, yup, I suppose his horse could always sing back to him...

Sorry, not very constructive... :roll:

Rock on!
D 8)]]> Sunday Songwriters Group DylanBarrett https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y7w16-its-hard-to-love-a-cowboy/#post-321380 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y7w16-its-hard-to-love-a-cowboy/#post-321375 Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:45:22 +0000

A :-)]]> Sunday Songwriters Group Alan Green https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y7w16-its-hard-to-love-a-cowboy/#post-321375 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y7w16-its-hard-to-love-a-cowboy/#post-321368 Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:08:32 +0000
Don't worry, I haven't left you a lone. :|
#1 Maybe Asia is rubbing off on me...The nail that sticks out gets the hammer
#2 Ken keeps houndin' about da' boys
#3 I am waiting for my duet partner to learn the song and fit me into her busy schedule

Now to YOUR song :wink:
It looks like you have a pretty good handle on the main characters and the mood.

Suggestion:
Consider making the verses more of a dialog about what the cowboy and wife are saying to themselves or eachother and cut back on the narrative, point of view...fill in the emotion with the details...."she blows out the candles and tosses another cold home cooked meal to the dog/ in the trash"...what were the promises made to eachother?.. is this temporary or permanent?..is she resigned to stick it out or on the verge of leaving?...what drives the cowboy? what will he do when he gets too old? any sons? etc...

James]]> Sunday Songwriters Group jamestoffee https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/y7w16-its-hard-to-love-a-cowboy/#post-321368