Brooks & Dunn, “Cowgirls Don’t Cry”

Choose Your Own Adventure

Page 1: A little girl and her father are outside on a sunny day, and he assists her as she rides her (bike, Page 2; horse, Page 3).

Page 2: He hangs onto the seat as she wobbles and weaves, but eventually she gains control of the bike and tells him that she can move forward on her own. (Go to Page 4)

Page 3: Although he tries his darndest, she still manages to fall quite a few times. But in his infinite wisdom, he tells her not to spill her tears, for she will rise above these challenges and gain a steely resolve as her reward. (Go to Page 4)

Page 4: Eventually she grows up and meets a strapping young man and they choose to marry and have a fairytale wedding. Then, they experience (happiness everlasting, Page 5; sadness and struggle, page 6).

Page 5: The grown woman now recognizes that it’s time for her to be independent, but still understands the inherent melancholy that her father faces in having to let his daughter leave the nest. She says that she is ready for adulthood and the commitments of marriage. (Go to Page 7)

Page 6: The fairytale abruptly screeches to a halt in the face of her emotionally-stinted tendencies and her husband’s lying, cheating ways, and the couple lives under a cloud of uncertainty that is never quite resolved. (Go to Page 7)

Page 7: Later in life, death comes calling for her father, and she is (present, Page 8; not present, Page 9) for his final moments.

Page 8: At his bedside, she summons the strength needed to assure him that she will use his long-lasting love and smart lessons to live in a way that will make him proud. (Go to Page 10)

Page 9: On the telephone, she listens as he whispers into the phone his dying wish: that she continue to hold her head high regardless of the stresses and struggles of her life. (Go to Page 10)

Page 10: The last words spoken between them are when (she says, Page 11; he says, Page 12).

Page 11: “You can let go.”

Page 12: “Cowgirls don’t cry.”

Grade (Cowgirls Don’t Cry): C

Written by Ronnie Dunn and Terry McBride

Listen: Cowgirls Don’t Cry

18 Comments

  1. Great review. Although a C grade would normally put me off, thanks to your review, I now have to listen to the song! I don’t know if that was your intention. ;)

    (As an aside, those “choose your own adventure” books used to drive me crazy!)

  2. Aren’t Brooks & Dunn starting to be in the ‘dirty old man’ age where they shouldn’t sing songs like “Put A Girl In It” or “Cowgirls Don’t Cry?”

    Creative review by the way.

  3. with that review you catapulted my eyeballs and braincells right into the nintendo wii age – not sure yet, what to really make out of that, but it sure is cool and quite bold(t). oh yeah, the song – i like it.

  4. The big bummer is I can see how this could have been a really cool song, given a deeper and more clever lyrical approach…and minus the three-act thing. Okay, so I guess that’s a lot of the song that’s not good. But I do like the hook and the production alright; the lyrics just sound forced and awkward, like the writers were a little rusty when they sat down to write about the idea, and never bothered to revise it later (which would have probably demanded a complete narrative overhaul, but still).

  5. HA! Gotta love a great Blake review. They’ve already released three other singles from this lack-luster album, why a forth? Will this song really move any more copies?

    And what happened to the individual albums that Kix and Ronnie were apparently making? Isn’t that what they said when Cowboy Town was released? That the two were working on personal albums and put together some of the “best” songs they had to make this album. Those could’ve been nice Christmas presents.

  6. Awesome song! Creative review but the rating should be A+. Great to hear country music on a country music radio station. The vocals are outstanding and the lyrics are great stepping through the various life stages and I, for one, can really relate. This song really touches the heart strings.

    IMO, this is ten times better than anything in the top ten country radio right now except for maybe Brad Paisley’s “Waiting on a Woman”

  7. This song was made for me! I’m twelve years old and my dad just bought me a Arabian filley which we have been training. Last Monday 10/13/08 I was riding Raisa in the round pen and I fell off her and snapped my arm. My mom keeps saying she never cried, thru it all she never cried. I had extensive arm surgery and a long road to recovery but my dad keeps saying to me “Cowgirls don’t cry” and “You got to get back upon her again” the strange thing is he didn’t even hear the song till later on in the week. You got to be tough in life and don’t shy away from things. I’ll be back on top of her again. This song really means alot to us.

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