Cowboy Like Me - Song Analysis

Two con artists who fall in love, what can possibly go wrong?

Cowboy Like Me is a song written by Taylor Swift. The song, released in 2020, is considered as one of her lyricism peaks. It is a part of the album Evermore, and it is my personal favorite because it tells an extraordinary story in an extraordinary way.

The song tells the story of two con artists. They are used to tricking others by pretending to be in love. When they meet, they intend to use their skills on each other. In the end, they find out it wasn’t a trick at all: they fall in love. 

The story Taylor tells us begins in some event, where the two firstly meet and begin tricking each other:

And you asked me to dance

But I said, “Dancing is a dangerous game” 

Oh, I thought

This is gonna be one of those things

Now I know

I’m never gonna love again

However, very quickly, their twisted love game becomes more real, as she realizes that they are actually in love. She is “waiting by the phone, sitting in an airport bar”.  She is falling for him, waiting and hoping he will decide to call her.

Still, we don’t know much about who the narrator and her love interest is. In the chorus, Taylor is linking the two by referring to him as a “cowboy like her”. They are both con artists, they both trick people into unreal love. They both “got some tricks up their sleeve”. The song details a lot about what being a “cowboy” means:

Never wanted love just a fancy car

Telling all the rich folks anything they wanna hear

Like it could be love

I could be the way forward

Only if they pay for it ”

“ You're a bandit like me

Eyes full of stars

Hustling for the good life

A cowboy fakes love to get what they want: wealth, a “good life”. They have no conscience, they are professional cheaters.

In the bridge, the big bad of their love story is revealed: “the skeletons in both our closets plotted hard to fuck this up”:

And the old men that I've swindled

Really did believe I was the one

And the ladies lunching have their stories about

When you passed through town

Their own past might ruin their love. All of the people the two deceived and tricked over the years. The aftermath of their actions. It seems like things are not going to end up well between the two con artists, but since they had true feelings for each other, they managed to “lock it down”. For now, they are together.

However…

Now you hang from my lips

Like the Gardens of Babylon

The Gardens of Babylon is one of the seven wonders of the world. There is a debate about whether they even existed. This line leaves me wondering, was their love real? Was she swindled as well? 

Another theory is that the line references how they’re romantically involved (hanging from my lips means he’s hers and only hers). Also, the line is also a reference to the fact that the gardens of Babylon were allegedly hanging.

Although both theories are acceptable, I choose to believe that their love story is indeed another trick. 

With your boots beneath my bed

Forever is the sweetest con

His cowboy boots are still there. He is still a cowboy, a cheater that “never wants love”. Also, “Forever is the sweetest con” could reflect the cowboy’s avoidance of commitment and love. He chooses tricks and lies to get what he wants, he doesn’t want or need a true, pure relationship.

The song ends with the lyrics “I'm never gonna love again”. She was swindled. She thought she was in love, but it turned out to be another classic “cowboy” move. The tricker, the cheater tasted the feeling of feigning love. And she’s never gonna love again.