Cowboy Take Me Away

Album: Fly (1999)
Charted: 27
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Martie Maguire (then Martie Siedel), wrote this song with Nashville scribe Marcus Hummon ("Born To Fly") about her sister and bandmate Emily Robison's boyfriend, Charlie. On the VH1 show Storytellers, Martie stated, "[Emily] had been dating a bunch of guys I didn't approve of, and then she met Charlie and I sort of pictured him whisking her off into the sunset."

    Emily and Charlie eventually married in 1999, the same year the single dropped, but divorced in 2008. Emily married musician Martin Strayer in 2013. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Katie - Woodland Hills, CA
  • This song made a huge impact on the pre-teen Taylor Swift. Writing in a 2019 Elle UK essay about the role that pop music has played in her life, Swift recalled:

    "To this day, when I hear 'Cowboy Take Me Away' by the Dixie Chicks, I instantly recall the feeling of being 12 years old, sitting in a little wood-paneled room in my family home in Pennsylvania.

    I'm clutching a guitar and learning to play the chords and sing the words at the same time, rehearsing for a gig at a coffee house."
  • The song's title came from a well-known slogan used in commercials for Calgon bath lotion.
  • Pop-rock singer Lissie covered this on her 2019 album When I'm Alone: The Piano Retrospective. She told Songfacts why the song was special to her: "In high school I listened to a lot of country music, and I went and saw [the Dixie Chicks] play in the arena in the area I lived, and 'Cowboy Take Me Away,' I just remember that song coming out and loving it. Also at the time, there was a guy I liked and he had a kind of cowboy vibe. I grew up in a small city, but there were kids who were rural, a lot of people with pickup trucks and country music. There's that idea of being out in open spaces away from the city with this man to sweep you off your feet."

Comments: 4

  • Steff Rury from 54, TxCharlie & Emily have been divorced probably around 5 years by now.
  • Pj from Ryan, IaMarite wrote it, too
  • Kimberly D. Perry from Nashville, TnThis song is written by Marcus Hummon.
  • Violet from Santa Barbara , CaThis is such a cute song.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Elton John

Elton JohnFact or Fiction

Does he have beef with Gaga? Is he Sean Lennon's godfather? See if you can tell fact from fiction in the Elton John edition.

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions Answered

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions AnsweredSong Writing

10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces

Rick Astley

Rick AstleySongwriter Interviews

Rick Astley on "Never Gonna Give You Up," "Cry For Help," and his remarkable resurgence that gave him another #1 UK album.

Band Names

Band NamesFact or Fiction

Was "Pearl" Eddie Vedder's grandmother, and did she really make a hallucinogenic jam? Did Journey have a contest to name the group? And what does KISS stand for anyway?

90s Music Quiz 1

90s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

First question: Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson appeared in videos for what artist?

Mick Jones of Foreigner

Mick Jones of ForeignerSongwriter Interviews

Foreigner's songwriter/guitarist tells the stories behind the songs "Juke Box Hero," "I Want To Know What Love Is," and many more.