My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys - Willie Nelson (1979-1980)

"My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" is the title of a song from the soundtrack to the 1979 film The Electric Horseman, and which was released as a single in 1980.
The song was written by Sharon Vaughn and performed by Willie Nelson and would become his fifth #1 on the country chart.
The single stayed at number one for two weeks and spent a total of fourteen weeks on the country chart.



I grew up a-dreamin' of bein' a cowboy,
Lovin' the cowboy ways.
Pursuin' the life of my high-ridin' heroes,
I burned up my childhood days.
I learned all the rules of the modern-day drifter,
Don't you hold on to nothin' too long.
Just take what you need from the ladies, then leave them,
With the words of a sad country song.
My heroes have always been cowboys.
And they still are, it seems.
Sadly, in search of, but one step in back of,
Themselves and their slow-movin' dreams.

Cowboys are special with their own brand of misery,
From being alone too long.
You could die from the cold in the arms of a nightmare,
Knowin' well your best days are gone.
Pickin' up hookers instead of my pen,
I let the words of my years fade away.
Old worn-out saddles, an 'old worn-out memories,
With no one and no place to stay.

My heroes have always been cowboys.
And they still are, it seems.
Sadly, in search of, but one step in back of,
Themselves and their slow-movin' dreams.