The Cowboy Song.
April 2nd, 2007 by Jim Clark
Last night I recorded my take on “The Cowboy Song” originally sung by Tom Hanks in the movie Joe vs. the Volcano. (I changed it a little bit.)
This is the song that made me want to learn ukulele in the first place. When my wife was pregnant with our two kids I decided that I wanted to be able to play and sing this to them.
The chords and lyrics are below.
Giddyap!
Download “The Cowboy Song.mp3″ (Right Click & Save As, Mac:Ctrl-Click)
Rate this song!
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This page comes up on a lot of Google searches. I assume people are looking for MP3s of Tom Hanks singing this (sorry, I can’t help you there). However, if you just want information about the song or you’re looking for the lyrics and/or tabs, I can help with that.
The song was written by John Patrick Shanley for the film. There are only two chords in this song. I think Hanks plays them as F and C, but I play them as G and D7 which is a little better for my voice.
The lyrics are:
Ee he o he-o cowboy
Ee he o he-o oooo
Ee he o he-o cowboy, cowboy, cowboy
Under the moon.I was ridin’ my horse
by the Rio Grandee
and all o’ them coyotes singing
in a prairie symphony.I was ridin’ my horse
down by the Rio Grandee
when I seen me a cowboy, cowboy, cowboy,
ridin’ toward me.Ee he o he-o cowboy
Ee he o he-o oooo
Ee he o he-o cowboy, cowboy, cowboy
Under the moon
Giddyup!
If you were to happen to read the whole script to the movie, you’d notice there was a verse originally written that was cut out of the film. It’s supposed to be the last verse before the chorus and it goes like this:
He was twirling his guns
And he had a guitar
And we sang us up a sweet old
song about love
Under the stars
Someone asked me to make a “naked” recording with the Zoom H4 with no effects or overdubs so they could hear what it sounds like. My wife also thinks the version of Cowboy Song I recorded last night is too “Phil Spector-ish” because of all the production I added to it. So here’s a raw version that’s just a single track of me strumming while singing the song. I don’t think I had the levels set right because there’s a slight hiss on the track… I need to spend more time figuring out the recorder.
Download “cowboysong_demo.mp3″ (Right Click & Save As, Mac:Ctrl-Click)
Since posting this, I’ve received an overwhelming response from folks telling me that the “naked” version is better. I guess sometimes it’s best to just sit down and play and not worry about all the reverb and effects and stuff.
But maybe there’s a middle ground…
Arch Larizza took the liberty of processing the naked track in an audio editor, removing some of the background hiss (it was definitely there), adding a mastering effect (Waves Ultramaximiser), fading in the beginning and end and finally, adding a teensy-weensy touch of vocal plate reverb to round it out. (Thanks, Arch!) This is simply to demonstrate how starting with the raw product, then adding the fancy stuff later gives you more control over the final result. Here’s the fixed version:
Download “the cowboy song (fixed demo).mp3″ (Right Click & Save As, Mac:Ctrl-Click)
Jim:
I like the cowboy song the best.
You sound great!
Pat
Here’s a video of the Central Ohio Ukulele Coup playing The Cowboy Song at one of their get togethers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHOTk0aJYm0
They’re playing my arrangement, too!
Hey,
I just picked up the uke and I want to learn this one too. What is the strum pattern? and when do you change chords?
Awesome! I loved it. I too just purchased a uke and the primary reason is that scene in “Joe Vs. the Volcano”! Thanks for having it out there for anyone to find and play!