Introduction
“The Cowboy Rides Away” is a poignant country ballad penned by songwriters Sonny Throckmorton and Casey Kelly and recorded by American country icon George Strait. Released on January 14, 1985, it served as the second single from his fourth studio album, Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind, issued in September 1984.
The song resonated strongly with fans, peaking at #5 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in the U.S. and achieving #3 on Canada’s RPM Country Tracks chart .. At its heart is a narrative of heartbreak and resignation: a cowboy realizes that his relationship cannot be salvaged, and so he must ride away—an emotionally charged retreat from a love long gone astray.
Critics have praised the track for gracefully balancing the classic cowboy imagery with modern emotional depth. Kevin John Coyne awarded it an A grade, lauding its ability to “embrace the traditional cowboy mythos while simultaneously reinventing it”.
More than just a single, the title eventually became emblematic—serving as the closing anthem for Strait’s live shows. It lent its name to his farewell concert tour, The Cowboy Rides Away Tour, which began in early 2013 and concluded with its final show on June 7, 2014, at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. That closing performance drew a record-breaking crowd of 104,793 fans—a testament to the song’s enduring emotional connection.
In 2019, Strait released the official lyric video, featuring vintage Western film clips from legends like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers—perfectly matching the song’s nostalgic narrative and enhancing its timeless appeal