Cowboys Cry Too

Album

Single

Label

Black River Entertainment

Genre

Country

Composer(s)

Alysa Vanderheym,;Kelsea Ballerini;Noah Kahan

Entered Chart

Jul 13, 2024

Peak Date

Jul 13, 2024

Released

June 28, 2024

"Cowboys Cry Too" is a fiddle-led heartfelt ballad that challenges traditional masculinity and celebrates emotional vulnerability in men. Kelsea Ballerini sings about a tough cowboy who hides his pain and avoids showing weakness. She sees through his facade and acknowledges the hurt beneath the surface. "In our world and culture and echo chamber of highlight reels and pretty things, sometimes real feelings start to feel like something you just set aside or push down to keep up," Ballerini said of the song. "Especially the way so many men grow up, that kind of toxic masculinity mindset of 'saddle up, brush it off.'" The tender duet features Noah Kahan, who adds a relatable male perspective to the story. His verse reflects on societal pressures and the difficulty men face in expressing their emotions. "I wanted to write my perspective and essentially celebrate the vulnerable men in my life, and Noah adding his really unfiltered perspective into it just brought it to life in a more meaningful and beautiful way," said Ballerini. Ballerini and Kahan first met at the 2024 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. "He was like, 'Kelsea, how long ago did you put out 'Peter Pan?'" she recalled to Taste of Country Nights. "Immediately, I'm like 'Oh my God, he knows me!'" Ballerini wrote the chorus on her back porch in November 2023. "I love the idea of writing the song from a female perspective, kind of tackling toxic masculinity," she shared. Ballerini knew a male voice was crucial to fully capture the message. Enter a well-timed DM. Following the success of her late-night text to Kenny Chesney asking if he'd join her on "Half of My Hometown," Ballerini took another shot and messaged Kahan directly. Again, it paid off. Kahan wrote his part while on tour, and the two came together in the studio shortly after their performance of "Stick Season" and "Mountain With a View" at the 2024 ACM Awards. With "Cowboys Cry Too," Kahan dips his toes into classic country territory. The folk-pop star has collaborated with artists like Kacey Musgraves and Zach Bryan in the past, but here he sounds completely at ease donning a cowboy hat. Ballerini and Kahan wrote the song alongside Alysa Vanderheym. Ballerini and Vanderheym also produced the track. The Nashville-based songwriter Vanderheym co-wrote eight tracks on Ballerini's 2022 Subject to Change album and the two women made her 2023 Rolling Up the Welcome Mat EP together.

Mm

He's as tough as the tattoos up his right arm
And I've talked him down from getting in a fight or two
He stands his ground, he's as stubborn as the weeds in the backyard
'Cause growing up, he had to go where the wind blew
He hides his heart and hurt, guess he kinda had to
In a world that says, "Saddle up and be a man"
When the sun goes down and his hazel eyes go blue
That's when I understand

Cowboys cry too
They may not let 'em fall down in their hometown thinkin' they still got shit to prove
That well runs deep
But when he's showin' his skin, lettin' me in, that's when he's toughest to me
I never knew cowboys cry too

I grew up wishing I could close off the way my dad did
'Cause that man never felt a damn thing he didn't wanna feel
But I've burned too many miles tryna ride out all the sadness
But you can't outdrive pain, someday it's gonna take the wheel
Can't be alone, but don't wanna get close to anybody
Don't wanna bare teeth, but don't wanna look weak, it's a tough spot
But I'm afraid you'll walk away when the tears start runnin'
But I hope not

'Cause cowboys cry too
They may not let 'em fall down in their hometown thinkin' they still got shit to prove
That well runs deep
But when he's showin' his skin, lettin' me in, that's when he's toughest to me
I never knew cowboys cry too

Blame it on their fathers
The ones that said they'd stay
Blame it on the songs that tell you they all ride away
But mine ain't that way
I ain't that way

Cowboys cry too
They may not let 'em fall down in their hometown thinkin' they still got shit to prove
That well runs deep (deep)
But when he's showin' his skin, lettin' me in, that's when he's toughest to me
I never knew cowboys cry too
Mm