Cowboys and Angels

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Cowboys And Angels was a song written and performed by George Michael and released on Epic records in 1991.

Although it was critically acclaimed as a masterful piece of low-tempo mood and melody, it became the first - and, as of 2005, only - single released by George in his career which did not make the Top 40 of the UK singles chart. It peaked at #45 on release in March 1991.

The song's lowly sales figures were not a surprise as it was the fifth single to be released from the Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 album. Each single had finished lower than its predecessor and Cowboys And Angels was continuing the spiral, although the other four had all made the threshold of the Top 40.

Cowboys And Angels was also George's longest single to date, at seven minutes 14 seconds in duration.

"Cowboys and Angels" is also a veiled reference to George Michael's latent homosexuality. The cowboy in the song title refers to a unnamed man that George was pursuing at the time but was in turn not interested in him, while the angel is Kathy Jeung, his then girlfriend, who was aware of his homosexuality but was indulgent of it. Taken in that context, the lyrics of this song make clear what exactly George is singing about.