The Daddy of ‘Em All.
Cheyenne Frontier Days is underway up in Wyoming, kicking off last week and featuring 10 days packed with not only the best rodeo cowboys and cowgirls in the world, but a massive slate of concerts, a carnival and midway, parades, and plenty of celebrations of Western culture.
I spent the weekend up in Cheyenne, my first time attending Frontier Days, and after getting to experience it myself it’s easy to see why it’s such an iconic event not only in the rodeo world but in American culture as a whole. When you step into Frontier Park, you can feel the rodeo culture, the 130 years of history, and the deep respect and reverence for the American west. It’s a bucket list trip that everyone needs to make at least once.
Of course with its prominent place in American history and rodeo culture, it’s no surprise that there have been plenty of country songs about Cheyenne Frontier Days. Some of them take place at the event, some pay tribute to the legendary rodeo, and of course there are some that simply mention it as the best known rodeo in the world.
Regardless, here are 6 of the best songs that feature (or mention) Cheyenne Frontier Days:
“I Can Still Make Cheyenne” – George Strait
While this is probably the best known of the songs about the Daddy of ‘Em All, it still surprises me how many people I’ve talked to that don’t fully understand this George Strait classic. (Just today I was telling somebody that I was at Frontier Days, and they said they’d never heard of it, but then I pointed out “I Can Still Make Cheyenne” and they had never made the connection. Blows my mind).
Obviously the song is about a woman breaking up with her “rodeo man,” but rather than trying to win her back, he takes it as his sign to head to Cheyenne in time to compete at Frontier Days:
“She said don’t bother coming home
By the time you get here I’ll be long gone
There’s somebody new and he sure ain’t no rodeo man
He said I’m sorry it’s come down to this
There’s so much about you that I’m going to miss
But it’s alright baby, if I hurry I can still make Cheyenne”
“Cheyenne” – Ian Munsick
It would only make sense for the Wyoming native to have a song paying homage to one of the state’s most well-known events. Ian is an incredible ambassador for western culture, and last year he became the first Wyoming native to headline the main stage at Cheyenne Frontier Days.
His song “Cheyenne” finds a resident of the rodeo town looking forward to July every year, not just for Frontier Days but because it brings his cowgirl into town for two weeks – but every year she inevitably rides back out of town once the rodeo ends:
“Out here in Cheyenne
Tumbleweeds roll through town
In July I am her man
But August is something we dance around
She’ll ride in Cheyenne
And then she’ll ride on out
‘Cause nobody stays in Cheyenne
Except a few broke downs and her damned old rodeo clown”
“Beaches of Cheyenne” – Garth Brooks
I have to get this off my chest: Garth Brooks is a liar. I spent three days in Cheyenne and there wasn’t a single beach in the whole city.
Of course the song isn’t actually about a beach in Wyoming, but a woman who’s haunted by the memory of her husband who lost his life during the rodeo – and her last words to him before he left:
“When he told her he was ridin’ she said, ‘Then I don’t give a damn
If you never come back from Cheyenne?
They say she just went crazy screamin’ out his name
She ran out into the ocean and to this day they claim
That if you go down by the water you’ll see her footprints in the sand
‘Cause every night she walks the beaches of Cheyenne”
“July In Cheyenne (Song for Lane’s Momma)” – Aaron Watson
This tearjerker from Texas country superstar Aaron Watson pays tribute to rodeo legend Lane Frost, the 1987 PRCA World Champion who tragically lost his life during Frontier Days in 1989 after being struck by a bull after his ride. Frost was memorialized by the movie 8 Seconds in 1994, and Watson says he was inspired to write the song for Lane’s mother, Elsie, because he saw an interview where she mentioned that she was upset that the movie left out the bullrider’s faith:
“This was before I had any relationship with her, and it said, ‘Lane was a world champion bull rider, but that was not his greatest achievement in his life. His greatest achievement came a year before he died, when he asked Jesus to become his savior.’
I was touched by the boldness and simple truth of that. …
The end of the song says, ‘If you’re washed in the blood, someday you’ll see him again, and it won’t be in the rain and the mud in July in Cheyenne.’
It’s a gospel song. It’s one that applies to my family as well.”
I’ll be honest, that line gets me every time.
“Photo Finish” – Chris LeDoux
One of only two artists (along with Chancey Williams) to ever both compete in the rodeo and perform on the main stage at Cheyenne Frontier Days, the legendary cowboy’s song “Photo Finish” is about a distratrous journey to make it in time to compete in the rodeo:
“At seven this mornin’ I got on the phone
And said to hold my Bronc as long as you can
My car broke down in Billings and they just got it put back together
I’ll be photo finishing in to old Cheyenne”
“These Boots” – Eric Church
Obviously Frontier Days isn’t the main setting for this one, but Eric Church’s classic “These Boots” pays tribute to the rodeo as he’s recalling everything that his boots have been through – including a ride in Cheyenne:
“These boots had to spur that beast in Cheyenne
Thought that bull’d make me a real man
I still drag that leg sometimes”
Man…I miss Cheyenne already.
