Cowboy Casanova
Encyclopedia
"Cowboy Casanova" is a country
song by American recording artist Carrie Underwood
. The song was written by Mike Elizondo
, Brett James
and co-written by Underwood herself. It was released on September 14, 2009 by Arista Nashville
as the lead single from her third studio album, Play On. The song sold 1,697,000 copies making it the 3rd biggest single of her career behind "Jesus, Take the Wheel
" and "Before He Cheats
".
The song received positive reviews from critics and became the fastest climbing country single of 2009. It also became Underwood's eighth number one country single in the United States
. The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on January 1, 2010. The song gave Underwood the title of solo female artist with most top ten country hits in the 2000s, which is tied with Reba McEntire
.
", in February 2009, Underwood began writing songs for her new album Play On. She collaborated with a number of producers which included Brett James
, one of the three co-writers of her hit single "Jesus, Take the Wheel
", and Mike Elizondo
, who had collaborated with Eminem
and Dr. Dre
. Elizondo came up with the main melody of the song, to which James and Underwood set the lyrics. James then suggested the title "Cowboy Casanova" off a list of potential titles that he had, and the lyrics talk about a male character who is a "devil in disguise." In an interview with CMT
Underwood said,
An unfinished version of the song leaked online on September 2, 2009 after receiving airplay from KMPS-FM in Seattle. The label then rush-released the official version to Carrie Underwood's YouTube
channel on September 3, 2009. It was officially made available for download on September 14, 2009.
-inspired guitar
riffs in the introduction
and verses, and also the violin and banjo
-esque qualities which travel into the refrain
. The song is composed in D minor
, set in common time
with a tempo of 120 beats per minute. Underwood's vocals span from A3 to D5.
" such an impact record. Blessed with a versatile set of pipes that make the best of any tune, Underwood shines on this steamy upbeat number". Matt Bjorke of Roughstock also gave a favorable review, saying, "Although the song borrows familiar melodic themes, the production is sparkling; Carrie sings the verses with rapid-fire precision and the hook is just infectious. This may very well be my favorite Carrie Underwood single yet." The 9513 critic Jim Malec gave it a thumbs-down in his review, describing Underwood's voice as "lucid" and "commanding" in comparison to her vocal performances on Carnival Ride
, but calling the song's subject matter "dead weight." Kevin Coyne of Country Universe said that on “Cowboy Casanova”, Underwood makes a strong attempt but doesn’t quite pull it off. We’re left with just a decent single that doesn’t feel quite country enough or quite pop enough to make it a keeper, therefore giving her a grade of B-.
and Martina McBride
each with nine.
So far, 1,697,000 copies of "Cowboy Casanova" were sold in the USA.
. It premiered during CMT
's Big New Music Weekend on October 2, 2009.
The video was directed by Theresa Wingert and it features Underwood and an entourage of attractive female dancers all wearing flapper
party gowns. She warns the video's audience, as well as her entourage, about smooth-talking attractive men and their true intentions. An attractive man sporting a fancy outfit that consists of an overcoat
and a fedora gazes at the scene with interest. The man, a well representation of the song's topic, seemingly has designs on Underwood and as the video progresses the dancers become dressed in revealing clothing, consisting of garters
and corsets. Eventually Underwood, along with her empowered entourage, have a showdown with the man in a back-alley and defiantly spurn his advances, leading him to give up and walk away. The video also became Underwood's first choreographed
video.
| align="center"|2010|| align="center"|"Cowboy Casanova" ||align="center"| Song of the Year ||
| align="center"|2010 ||align="center"| "Cowboy Casanova" ||align="center"| Video of the Year ||
|-
| align="center"|2010 ||align="center"| "Cowboy Casanova" ||align="center"| Female Video of the Year ||
| align="center"|2010 ||align="center"| "Cowboy Casanova" ||align="center"| Female Music Video of the Year ||
|-
| align="center"|2010 ||align="center"| "Cowboy Casanova" ||align="center"| Female Single of the Year ||
| align="center"|2010 ||align="center"| "Cowboy Casanova" ||align="center"| Music Video of the Year ||
| align="center"|2010 ||align="center"| "Cowboy Casanova" ||align="center"| Triple-Play Songwriter (along with "Temporary Home
", "Undo It
") ||
chart for the week of September 19, 2009. "Cowboy Casanova" was also marked as Underwood's fastest climbing song in the chart, climbing to #11 only one week after its official release and reaching #1 in only ten weeks. The song only took ten weeks to rise to the peak position. The song made its debut on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at #96, making a jump to #11 in its second week. The song became Underwood's eighth number one hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week of November 21, 2009, and her sixth top twenty Hot 100 chart.
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
song by American recording artist Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood
Carrie Marie Underwood is an American country singer-songwriter and actress who rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol, in 2005...
. The song was written by Mike Elizondo
Mike Elizondo
Michael "Mike" Elizondo is a well-known songwriter, bassist, keyboardist, and hip hop music producer.-Musical career:Mike Elizondo is especially known for his collaborations with internationally successful producer Dr. Dre and rapper Eminem. He has played the bass for many of Dr...
, Brett James
Brett James
Brett James Cornelius is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Signed to Career Records as a solo artist in 1995, James charted three singles and released a self-titled debut album that year...
and co-written by Underwood herself. It was released on September 14, 2009 by Arista Nashville
Arista Nashville
Arista Nashville is an American record label that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment, operated under the Sony Music Nashville division. Founded in 1989, the label specializes in country music artists, including Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood...
as the lead single from her third studio album, Play On. The song sold 1,697,000 copies making it the 3rd biggest single of her career behind "Jesus, Take the Wheel
Jesus, Take the Wheel
"Jesus, Take the Wheel" is a song written by Brett James, Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson. It is the second single from Carrie Underwood's debut album, Some Hearts....
" and "Before He Cheats
Before He Cheats
"Before He Cheats" is a song written by Chris Tompkins and Josh Kear and the third wide-release single from Carrie Underwood's debut album, Some Hearts. It was the fifth release from the album overall. It was named the 2007 Single of the Year by the Country Music Association...
".
The song received positive reviews from critics and became the fastest climbing country single of 2009. It also became Underwood's eighth number one country single in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on January 1, 2010. The song gave Underwood the title of solo female artist with most top ten country hits in the 2000s, which is tied with Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire
Reba Nell McEntire is an American country music artist and actress. She began her career in the music industry as a high school student singing in the Kiowa High School band , on local radio shows with her siblings, and at rodeos. As a solo act, she was invited to perform at a rodeo in Oklahoma...
.
Background
After the end of her "Carnival Ride TourCarnival Ride Tour
The Carnival Ride Tour is the first headlined tour by country music singer Carrie Underwood. The tour is in support of her second album, Carnival Ride. The tour began February 18, 2008 in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania and ended December 14, 2008 in Gainesville, Florida.-Opening Acts:*Josh Turner The...
", in February 2009, Underwood began writing songs for her new album Play On. She collaborated with a number of producers which included Brett James
Brett James
Brett James Cornelius is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Signed to Career Records as a solo artist in 1995, James charted three singles and released a self-titled debut album that year...
, one of the three co-writers of her hit single "Jesus, Take the Wheel
Jesus, Take the Wheel
"Jesus, Take the Wheel" is a song written by Brett James, Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson. It is the second single from Carrie Underwood's debut album, Some Hearts....
", and Mike Elizondo
Mike Elizondo
Michael "Mike" Elizondo is a well-known songwriter, bassist, keyboardist, and hip hop music producer.-Musical career:Mike Elizondo is especially known for his collaborations with internationally successful producer Dr. Dre and rapper Eminem. He has played the bass for many of Dr...
, who had collaborated with Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
and Dr. Dre
Dr. Dre
Andre Romelle Young , primarily known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records...
. Elizondo came up with the main melody of the song, to which James and Underwood set the lyrics. James then suggested the title "Cowboy Casanova" off a list of potential titles that he had, and the lyrics talk about a male character who is a "devil in disguise." In an interview with CMT
Country Music Television
Country Music Television, or CMT, is an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming includes music videos, taped concerts, movies, biographies of country music stars, game shows, and reality programs...
Underwood said,
An unfinished version of the song leaked online on September 2, 2009 after receiving airplay from KMPS-FM in Seattle. The label then rush-released the official version to Carrie Underwood's YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
channel on September 3, 2009. It was officially made available for download on September 14, 2009.
Composition
"Cowboy Casanova" is a moderately paced country song. It incorporates elements of rockCountry rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
-inspired guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
riffs in the introduction
Introduction (music)
In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. In popular music this is often abbreviated as intro...
and verses, and also the violin and banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
-esque qualities which travel into the refrain
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
. The song is composed in D minor
D minor
D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. In the harmonic minor, the C is raised to C. Its key signature has one flat ....
, set in common time
Common Time
"Common Time" is a science fiction short story written by James Blish. It first appeared in the August 1953 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and has been reprinted several times: in the 1959 short-story collection Galactic Cluster; in The Testament of Andros ; in The Penguin Science Fiction...
with a tempo of 120 beats per minute. Underwood's vocals span from A3 to D5.
Critical reception
The song has been met with generally favorable reviews. Billboard reviewed the song favorably, stating that it "gives [Underwood] the chance to display the sassy side of her musical persona, which made previous hit "Before He CheatsBefore He Cheats
"Before He Cheats" is a song written by Chris Tompkins and Josh Kear and the third wide-release single from Carrie Underwood's debut album, Some Hearts. It was the fifth release from the album overall. It was named the 2007 Single of the Year by the Country Music Association...
" such an impact record. Blessed with a versatile set of pipes that make the best of any tune, Underwood shines on this steamy upbeat number". Matt Bjorke of Roughstock also gave a favorable review, saying, "Although the song borrows familiar melodic themes, the production is sparkling; Carrie sings the verses with rapid-fire precision and the hook is just infectious. This may very well be my favorite Carrie Underwood single yet." The 9513 critic Jim Malec gave it a thumbs-down in his review, describing Underwood's voice as "lucid" and "commanding" in comparison to her vocal performances on Carnival Ride
Carnival Ride
Carnival Ride is the second studio album from American country pop artist Carrie Underwood. It was released in the United States on October 23, 2007. It has been certified 3x Platinum by the RIAA. The album includes the singles "So Small", "All-American Girl", "Last Name", "Just a Dream", and "I...
, but calling the song's subject matter "dead weight." Kevin Coyne of Country Universe said that on “Cowboy Casanova”, Underwood makes a strong attempt but doesn’t quite pull it off. We’re left with just a decent single that doesn’t feel quite country enough or quite pop enough to make it a keeper, therefore giving her a grade of B-.
Commercial reception
"Cowboy Casanova" was released on September 14, 2009 for digital download. The song logged a first week sales of 110,236 copies in downloads. The song also made Underwood the only solo country artist in 2009 to debut a digital single above the 100,000. The song also became the fastest climbing single in Underwood's career and also the fastest-climbing single of 2009 in the country music genre. Additionally, the song gave Underwood the most Top 10 hits on the country chart this decade - ten top ten singles followed by Faith HillFaith Hill
Faith Hill is an American country singer. She is known both for her commercial success and her marriage to fellow country star Tim McGraw. Hill has sold more than 40 million records worldwide and accumulated eight number-one singles and three number-one albums on the U.S...
and Martina McBride
Martina McBride
Martina McBride is an American country music singer and songwriter. McBride has been called the "Céline Dion of Country Music" for her big-voiced ballads and soprano range....
each with nine.
So far, 1,697,000 copies of "Cowboy Casanova" were sold in the USA.
Music video
The music video was filmed on September 2, 2009, in New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
. It premiered during CMT
Country Music Television
Country Music Television, or CMT, is an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming includes music videos, taped concerts, movies, biographies of country music stars, game shows, and reality programs...
's Big New Music Weekend on October 2, 2009.
The video was directed by Theresa Wingert and it features Underwood and an entourage of attractive female dancers all wearing flapper
Flapper
Flapper in the 1920s was a term applied to a "new breed" of young Western women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior...
party gowns. She warns the video's audience, as well as her entourage, about smooth-talking attractive men and their true intentions. An attractive man sporting a fancy outfit that consists of an overcoat
Overcoat
An overcoat is a type of long coat intended to be worn as the outermost garment. Overcoats usually extend below the knee, but are sometimes mistakenly referred to as topcoats, which are short coats that end at or above the knees. Topcoats and overcoats together are known as outercoats...
and a fedora gazes at the scene with interest. The man, a well representation of the song's topic, seemingly has designs on Underwood and as the video progresses the dancers become dressed in revealing clothing, consisting of garters
Garter (stockings)
Garters are articles of clothing: narrow bands of fabric fastened about the leg, used to keep up stockings, and sometimes socks. Normally just a few inches in width, they are usually made of leather or heavy cloth, and adorned with small bells and/or ribbons...
and corsets. Eventually Underwood, along with her empowered entourage, have a showdown with the man in a back-alley and defiantly spurn his advances, leading him to give up and walk away. The video also became Underwood's first choreographed
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
video.
45th Academy of Country Music Awards
|-| align="center"|2010|| align="center"|"Cowboy Casanova" ||align="center"| Song of the Year ||
CMT Music Awards
|-| align="center"|2010 ||align="center"| "Cowboy Casanova" ||align="center"| Video of the Year ||
|-
| align="center"|2010 ||align="center"| "Cowboy Casanova" ||align="center"| Female Video of the Year ||
1st American Country Awards
|-| align="center"|2010 ||align="center"| "Cowboy Casanova" ||align="center"| Female Music Video of the Year ||
|-
| align="center"|2010 ||align="center"| "Cowboy Casanova" ||align="center"| Female Single of the Year ||
French Country Music Awards
|-| align="center"|2010 ||align="center"| "Cowboy Casanova" ||align="center"| Music Video of the Year ||
2010 CMA Triple-Play Awards
|-| align="center"|2010 ||align="center"| "Cowboy Casanova" ||align="center"| Triple-Play Songwriter (along with "Temporary Home
Temporary Home
"Temporary Home" is the title of a song written by Zac Maloy, Luke Laird and co-written and recorded by American country artist Carrie Underwood. It is the second official single from her third studio album, Play On, and was released to country radio the week of December 14, 2009. Before being...
", "Undo It
Undo It
"Undo It" is the title of a song written by Kara DioGuardi, Martin Frederiksen, Luke Laird and co-written and recorded by American country artist Carrie Underwood. It was made available to digital retailers on October 27, 2009, and was released as an official single on May 24, 2010...
") ||
Chart performance
"Cowboy Casanova" debuted at #26 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country SongsHot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
chart for the week of September 19, 2009. "Cowboy Casanova" was also marked as Underwood's fastest climbing song in the chart, climbing to #11 only one week after its official release and reaching #1 in only ten weeks. The song only took ten weeks to rise to the peak position. The song made its debut on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at #96, making a jump to #11 in its second week. The song became Underwood's eighth number one hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week of November 21, 2009, and her sixth top twenty Hot 100 chart.
Charts
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... ) |
Platinum | 1,628,000 |