Cowboy Style

"Cowboy Style"
Single by Kylie Minogue
from the album Impossible Princess
B-side "Love Takes Over Me"
Released 18 August 1998
Format
Recorded London, England
Genre Country, folk pop
Length 4:44
Label Mushroom
Writer(s)
Producer(s) Brothers in Rhythm
Kylie Minogue singles chronology
"Breathe"
(1998)		 "Cowboy Style"
(1998)		 "GBI: German Bold Italic"
(1998)

"Cowboy Style" is a song by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue, taken from her sixth studio album Impossible Princess (1997). It was written by Minogue, Steve Anderson and Dave Seaman, and production was handled by Brothers in Rhythm. Minogue had co-written the track while she was on holiday with her boyfriend Stéphane Sednaoui, who had taken her on a series of trips around Southeast Asia and North America. Like the rest off the parent album, the trips encouraged Minogue to write songs based on her celebrity status.

The lyrical content talks about Minogue's relationship with Sednaoui, introducing a variety of metaphors and similes to compare and contrast her relationship. She had personally credited him for her to explore more of her personal creativity and allowing to show more emotion towards the parent album and "Cowboy Style". Musically, "Cowboy Style" is a country-inspired pop song that utilizes electronic music and celtic music music.

Critically, the song received favorable reviews from most music critics, who praised the production. Many critics appointed the composition and experimental production and has been signified as an album highlight. Commercially, the song peaked at number twenty-nine in the Australian Singles Chart and failed to chart higher, becoming her lowest solo entry and lowest single overall in her native Australia until it was surpassed by her 2011 single "Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love)" and was eventually surpassed by her Towa Tei collaboration "GBI: German Bold Italic", which was released two months after the song.

An accompanying music video was produced for the singles release and featured Minogue performing the track on her Australian and UK tour Intimate and Live, in which the track was dubbed over the performance. Along with its debut performance in Australia and UK, the song has been performed in two more concert tours; Fever Tour and the most recent tour Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour in 2006

Background

Minogue began writing lyrics for her sixth studio album Impossible Princess in 1996 during trips with boyfriend Stéphane Sednaoui to the US and China. When she returned, Minogue was constantly writing down words, exploring the form and meaning of sentences.[1] She had written lyrics before, but called them "safe, just neatly rhymed words".[2] Minogue initially had a hard time embracing her past, looking back on it as a time of pain and confused embarrassment.[3] Confronting her past helped her improve her confidence; she said "it was like I'd climbed Mount Everest, or jumped out of a plane. So many things that I had avoided for so long were right there. That was what Nick (Cave) was saying to me. 'It'll be brilliant. It'll confront all of your past, all in one fell swoop'. And he was right."[4]

Minogue had greater freedom to make Impossible Princess sound as she wanted it to. Deconstruction Records' A&R representative, Pete Hadfield, fell terribly ill for a year, so all creative production was handled by Minogue and the producers Brothers in Rhythm.[5][6] According to music press, Minogue wanted to establish herself as an indie artist. However, she denied, telling Mixmag: "I have to keep telling people that this isn't an indie-guitar album. I'm not about to pick up a guitar and rock."[7]

To promote the album, she released the lead single "Some Kind of Bliss", but was only chosen due to a bias decision by Deconstruction as she personally favored "Limbo".[8] The song attracted negative commentary from most music critics in 1997 and under-performed severely in international countries, mainly in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, where it peaked inside the top twenty and top fifty respectively.[9][10][11] The following single "Did It Again" was positively received from most music critics and although it only charted in Australia and UK, it managed to be successful and was certified gold by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for exceeding sales off 35,000 units.[12] The third and final single from her label Deconstruction, "Breathe" was released in February 1998 and received positive reviews. The song, however, performed moderately in Australia and the UK, both peaking inside the top thirty in both countries.[13][14]

Composition

"Cowboy Style" was written by Minogue herself alongside longtime collaborator Steve Anderson and Dave Seaman.[15] The song was produced by Brothers in Rhythm along with the programming of the composition.[15] The song introduced more instruments that were absent from the previous album singles and introduced bass guitars by Greg Bones and Anderson, a fiddle handled by Johnnie Hardie and drums were played by Anderson.[15] "Cowboy Style" was recorded at Real World Studios, Sarm West and DMC Studios in London, England and was mixed by Alan Bremner at Real World.[15] "Cowboy Style" was one of the first songs to be recorded with Anderson at the Box Sessions as a demo version.[16]

"[I]ts basically about meeting my boyfriend. [...] He made me think about a lot of different things, kind like the cowboy coming into town, a bit like a monk, a bit like this cyber-creature. So, this is basically about him coming into my life."

—Minogue talking about "Cowboy Style".[17]

Musically, "Cowboy Style" is influenced by country music and folk pop. Nick Levine from Digital Spy examined the musical composition for the song and wrote that "Oh, and in ['Cowboy Style'], it has a track that manages to sound a little bit Celtic and a little bit Middle Eastern. Petey W must have wept!"[18] Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine commented that ["Cowboy Style,"] features a tribal percussion break and a string quartet that sounds more Celtic than country."[19] A reviewer from the online publication Sputnikmusic examined the musical composition and added that the song is "a funky western jam that might possibly get country fans to do a line dance [...]"[20] Online music critic Adrian Denning had commented that the song was reminisent to the work of Icelandic recording artist and songwriter Bjork.[21]

Lyrically, the song uses multiple metaphors to contrast Minogue's relationship with then-boyfriend Stéphane Sednaoui, who had directed the artwork and photoshoot for Impossible Princess. According to Minogue's long-term friend and collaborator William Baker, he wrote; "In her songs she often described him using the metaphors of Eastern mysticism," referencing the lyrics "From the temple, won't you stay a while..."[22] He compared it to the lyrical content of "Sometime Samurai", a song she collaborated with Towa Tei and wrote; "The song ['Sometime Samurai'] [...] has never been released but included the lines 'Man of the moment, possibly all time, sing to me a lullaby.' 'Cowboy Style' echoed and expanded her sentiments: 'Shed my skin when you came in, Where do you end and I begin [...]"[22]

Reception

Release

After Minogue announced her departure with Deconstruction, she released "Breathe" after Deconstruction were afraid of bankruptcy and were prompt to terminate Minogue's contract due to low sales.[23] Many critics and public criticized the phase of "Indie Kylie" and felt it "scared" the public.[24] Further singles that were supposed to be promoted by Deconstruction had been ceased indefinitely. After performing in Australia on her Intimate and Live show, fans of Minogue's had praised heavily of the "Cowboy Style" performance. This prompt Minogue to release "Cowboy Style" as the final single in Australia and New Zealand by her Australian label Mushroom Records.[22] Only one single release was issued, being a card sleeve single with an single version of the unreleased track "Love Takes Over Me" and the music video.[15]

The single cover was shot during the Intimate and Live tour that Minogue commenced while in her native Australia, shot by Simon Emmert.[25] The cover shot featured Minogue with a leather bra on with a cowboy hat.[25] Another shot was used as a flyer for her tour that same era. Idolator had listed the artwork as one of "Kylie's Best Single Covers", saying "Leather bra and a cowboy hat. Enough said."[26] An unedited shot of the single cover was then featured in her Kylie photo album book, released in August 1999 that was produced by Minogue herself.[27]

Critical reception

"Cowboy Style" had received favorable reviews from most music critics. Chris True from Allmusic had said that the review threw the album that it is "stronger in a natural way". He had highlighted the song for her 1998 album Impossible Princess.[28] Cinquemani described the track as having "a tribal percussion break and a string quartet that sounds more Celtic than Country (but is effective nonetheless)."[29] Michael R. Smith from Daily Vault was heavily positive, comparing the song that was re-released on the parent album in 2002 to American singer Madonna's song "Don't Tell Me", writing; "“Cowboy Style” is everything a country-tinged song like Madonna’s “Don’t Tell Me” should have been. It’s the one track that left me wanting more of the same - extended remixes, at the very least."[30]

A reviewer for Sputnikmusic had highlighted the song as an album highlight and said "Kylie’s creativity to mix her style with a genre that can be a put off to the masses is a surprise [...]"[20] John Mangan from The Age was generally positive in his review, saying that the song is a "funky hoe-down sound."[31] A reviewer from the publication TheBacklot listed the song at number 11 on their "Kylie Minogue's Best Songs, In Honor of Her Birthday" and said "This stylistic mishmash (featuring a deep Celtic sound that, maybe, Alison Krauss could fiddle along with) is a hard-driving, adrenalized, sexualized quest for freedom. How do you deal with the fact that Kylie sings, “I am frightened / I’m aroused / I’m enlightened to the now” and totally sells it?"[32] Online critic Adrian Denning from his website Adriandenning.co.uk was positive towards the songs introduction of the album, saying "["Too Far"] flows well into the impressive, eastern flavored 'Cowboy Style'. Either one of these two songs would have made better singles than the ones eventually chosen, by the way.[21]

Commercial response

"Cowboy Style" only charted in Australia and entered at number thirty-nine for only a sole week on the week end date 18 October 1998, making it the lowest entering single that week.[33][34] The song also suffered for being the lowest charting single from the Impossible Princess, surpassing the album's lead single "Some Kind of Bliss" which peaked at number twenty-seven.[35]

The song became both Minogue's lowest solo charting single and lowest single overall in her native Australia until it was surpassed by her 2011 digital single "Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love)" and was eventually surpassed by her Towa Tei collaboration "GBI: German Bold Italic", which was released two months after the song.[36] The chart positions where then surpassed by her 2014 single "Into the Blue" which peaked at number forty-six for a sole week, becoming her worst performing lead single to date.[37]

Promotion

Music video

The music video for "Cowboy Style" was taped during a sound check at one of the "Intimate and Live" shows. While the original performance on the tour was performed live, the music video was dubbed to include the studio version audio instead of the live vocals. The video wasn't released worldwide, and was only shown in Australia and New Zealand.[38]

Live performances and other appearances

To promote the single, Minogue had performed the track on the Australian morning TV series Hey Hey It's Saturday. This was her fourth consecutive performance that had aired on the TV series that featured performances of all her Impossible Princess singles.[39][upper-alpha 1]

Minogue had performed the song on three off her international tours. During the Intimate and Live tour in 1998, Minogue performed "Cowboy Style". Minogue would come from the right side of the stage in a pink and black strapless dress with a cowboy hat on with a pink "K" behind her. Like the rest off the costumes on the tour including the performance off "Cowboy Style", it features Minogue with a lot of "princess"-inspired outfits.[41] The performance was part of the concert in the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, Australia, which was recorded and released on CD and DVD.[42][43] "Cowboy Style" managed to feature on her 2002 Australian and European tour Fever Tour.[44] The performance featured Minogue standing on a level of staircases and has Minogue in a bright-pink sleeveless jacket with white cargo pants. The song was featured on the DVD release off the tour.[45] The songs most recent performance was on the Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour in 2006.[46]

"Cowboy Style" has been featured on many of Minogue's compilation albums. The songs first appearance was on her 2002 BMG greatest hits compilation album Confide in Me, a compilation consisting majority off her singles and tracks from her Deconstruction period, and Heather Phares from the publication praised the Impossible Princess tracks including "Cowboy Style".[47] It then appeared on her 2004 compilation album Artist Collection, that consisted majority off her Impossible Princess era.[48] It's most recent appearance was on her second disc off Confide in Me: The Irresistible Kylie released in July 2007 by UK independent label Music Club.[49]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[15]

Song credits

Cover credits

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Cowboy Style".

  1. "Cowboy Style" (Radio Edit) – 3:51
  2. "Love Takes Over Me" (Single version) – 4:09
  3. "Cowboy Style" music video
  1. "Cowboy Style" (Radio Edit) – 3:51
  2. "Love Takes Over Me" (Single version) – 4:09

Charts

Chart (1998) Peak
position[50]
Australian ARIA Singles Chart[51] 39

Notes

  1. ↑ Minogue had previously performed "Did It Again" on the show twice.[40]

References

  1. ↑ Baker & Minogue 2002, p. 111
  2. ↑ Walsh, John (November 1997). "Lucky in Luck". Vogue (Condé Nast Publications). Retrieved on 17 September 2013. ISSN 0042-8000.
  3. ↑ Baker & Minogue 2002, p. 112
  4. ↑ (September 1997) "Kylie Defeats Her Demons". The Australian (News Corp Australia). Retrieved 17 September 2013. ISSN 1038-8761
  5. ↑ Baker & Minogue 2002, pp. 113–114
  6. ↑ "That's Impossible, Princess!!". Rolling Stone (Wenner Media). January 1998. Retrieved 17 September 2013. ISSN 0035-791X.
  7. ↑ Petridis, Alex (October 1997). "Kylie Chameleon". Mixmag (Development Hell Ltd). Retrieved 4 October 2012. OCLC 780074556
  8. ↑ "::: Sweet Music ::: Music for Music Lovers - Music news :". Freewebs.com. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
  9. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Kylie Minogue - Some Kind of Bliss". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
  10. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Kylie Minogue - Some Kind of Bliss". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
  11. ↑ Kylie by Sean Smith. Pg. 138-139.
  12. ↑ "1998 Accreditations". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  13. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Kylie Minogue - Breathe". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
  14. ↑ "Kylie Minogue - Breathe". Chart Stats. 1998-03-21. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 Liner notes off Impossible Princess by Kylie Minogue, November 1997. Deconstruction Records.
  16. ↑ Kylie by Sean Smith. Pg. 135.
  17. ↑ Liner notes from An Interview with Kylie Minogue, provided by Deconstruction Records. November 1997.
  18. ↑ Levine, Nick (20 March 2015). "Kylie Revisited: Album 6 - Impossible Princess". Digital Spy. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  19. ↑ Cinquemani, Sal (19 November 2003). "Kylie Minogue: Impossible Princess". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Kylie Minogue – Impossible Princess". Sputnikmusic. 17 July 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Denning, Adrian (March 14, 2015). "Kylie Minogue Albums". adriandenning.couk. p. 1. Retrieved July 17, 2009.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Kylie: La La La Liner Notes. Pg. 107-108.
  23. ↑ Deconstruction Records Press Statement. June 1998. Retrieved on August 15, 2014.
  24. ↑ Flick, Larry (17 June 2000). "Minogue travels in 'Light Years' with EMI". Billboard 110 (14): 17. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Kylie 1999. Published in 1999.
  26. ↑ "Kylie Minogue "Did It Again" Single Cover Art 1997". Idolator. Buzz Media. Archived from the original on 4 September 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  27. ↑ Kylie. August 1999, by Minogue, Kylie.
  28. ↑ "Cowboy Style". Allmusic. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  29. ↑ "Kylie Minogue: Impossible Princess | Music Review". Slant Magazine. 2003-11-19. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  30. ↑ R. Smith, Michael (March 20, 2015). "Impossible Princess (review)". Retrieved May 24, 2008.
  31. ↑ John Mangan. "Review of Impossible Princess". The Age. 1998.
  32. ↑ "The Top 50 Best Kyie Minogue Songs in Honor of her Birthday!". The Back Lot.com. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  33. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Australia chart portal". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
  34. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Kylie Minogue - Cowboy Style". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
  35. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Kylie Minogue - Some Kind of Bliss". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
  36. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Towa Tei feat. Kylie Minogue - GBI (German Bold Italic)". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
  37. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Kylie Minogue - Into the Blue". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
  38. ↑ "Cowboy Style by Kylie Minogue (Music Videos)". NZ iTunes Store. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  39. ↑ "Kylie Minogue - 'Cowboy Style ' - Hey Hey It's Saturday Live". Youtube. March 21, 2015. Retrieved April 18, 2008.
  40. ↑ "Kylie Minogue - Did It Again (Hey Hey It's Saturday OZ)". Youtube. March 20, 2015. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  41. ↑ "Kylie Minogue - Some Kind Of Bliss [Intimate and Live Tour]". Youtube. March 14, 2015. Retrieved July 9, 2009.
  42. ↑ Intimate and Live (Live album liner notes). Kylie Minogue. Parlophone. 1998.
  43. ↑ Kylie Minogue (2002). Intimate and Live (DVD). Warner Vision.
  44. ↑ Hassan, Annaz (March 21, 2015). "Kylie Minogue ‘Fever 2002 – Live in Manchester’ Review". PopDirt. Retrieved December 28, 2002.
  45. ↑ Liner notes off Fever Tour 2002 by Kylie Minogue. Parlophone.
  46. ↑ Liner notes off Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour (CD) by Kylie Minogue. Parlophone. November 2006.
  47. ↑ Phares, Heather. "Confide in Me (Album) – Kylie Minogue". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  48. ↑ Liner notes off Artist Collection: Kylie Minogue by Kylie Minogue, September 2004. BMG and Deconstruction Records.
  49. ↑ Liner notes off Confide in Me: The Irresistible Kylie by Kylie Minogue, July 2007. Music Club.
  50. ↑ "World Chart Positions". SloKylie.com: The Slovenian Kylie Page. Retrieved 11 July 2006.
  51. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Kylie Minogue - Cowboy Style". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2012-02-10.

External links