I Should have been a cowboy

I Should have been a cowboy- The early 1990s country charts were ruled by guys named Garth and Vince and a few others, and Toby Keith wasn’t exactly welcomed with open arms when he rode in to Nashville from the oil fields. He wasn’t as young as the industry liked their new artists to be, and nobody really needed another guy from Oklahoma (which the two aforementioned stars were). It wasn’t long, though, before he connected with radio listeners in a way that few would have thought possible. Released at the beginning of 1993, the first single from Keith’s eponymous debut album launched a career that continues to be productive, while most of his peers have all but left the building. “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” became the most played country music song of the 1990s, with millions of spins at country radio. It only took him a few minutes to write it, a textbook example of how the best songs don’t have to be labored over and edited for weeks on end. Name-checking characters from Gunsmoke and legendary singing movie cowboys like Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, and including everything from six-shooters to cattle drives, Keith expertly incorporated and rhymed everything he needed for a hit song. “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” gained him an audience that is still loyal nearly three decades later.