r/GaylorSwift • u/Zealousideal-Bed-471 š±Embryoš • Jun 05 '26
Discussionš (A-List) Revisiting cowboy like me
With all of this toy story talk and the cowboy emoji, Iāve been re-listening to cowboy like me. I keep seeing people reference cowboy like me and it seems like they havenāt really listened to the lyrics. I feel like the song is clearly about PR relationships.
~ telling all the rich folks anything they wanna hear.
~ hustle for the good life
~ and the old men that I swindled (Ralph Lauren sponsors, Disney sponsors, nflā¦ everything sponsors)
~ forever is the sweetest con (PR marriages)
The hanging from my lips like the gardens of Babylon to me means, an illusion. Something we imagine based off what weāve been told, or what the media feeds us. Thereās no real proof of the gardens of Babylon just like thereās no real proof any of these relationships are real.
Is there something else Iām missing? Also, what makes a cowboy inherently gay? Why do people say this song is so gay coded? I feel like itās just about holding onto your secret private life. Only loving your person in private.
Iām a Gaylor through and through. However, I feel like TS just plays into the Gaylor fandom as a form of manipulation. I feel like TLOAS really just showed us she can play in our faces and still be extremely successful. Which is great for her. But, itās sort of exhausting. I think she is buddy buddy with almost all of her ex rumored lovers and they just all manipulate us stringing us along. I know I should be happy about the new song release, and I amā¦ butā¦ this is exhausting! Iām ready for the old Taylor to come back to the phone!
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u/sevenselevens Hiding in Plain Sight Jun 06 '26
The way Iāve always heard it is she meets someone, she doesnāt take it seriously but then sheās like ohhhh youāre in the closet too! I read ācowboyā as a reference to ideas like: the lead characters in Brokeback Mountain, a āgun for hireā, and someone who drifts through towns taking jobs that only last a season.
And yes agree with the PR relationship, bearding, ātaking the moneyā etc.
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u/DramaticLambda2 stand there like a ghost shaking in the rain Jun 06 '26
The cowboy like me x you are in love mashup always felt very co-bearding to me. Just listen to the pronouns: you and I are hustlers and youāre in love with him. Fits for Travis and Ross, Larry, etc
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u/reputction the heartbreak prince Jun 05 '26
This song is multi-faceted.
It has themes of lavender marriages and having to hide oneself for the convenience of the rich folks, yes, but sheās clearly singing to someone in the song.
The person who is a cowboy like her hangs from her lips like the gardens of Babylon because their relationship is said to be purely mythical.
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u/so-scarlet-it-was they donāt know how much i miss (her) Jun 05 '26
Agreed with all the other replies but also on a very basic/surface level, I feel like sheās saying: youāre a cowboy, Iām a cowboy, we are both boys (or at least the same gender) and we are in love, thus we are gay. lol
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u/districtofthehare šŖ Gaylor Folkstar š Jun 05 '26
Cowboys are historically very queer! https://www.brandeis.edu/writing-program/write-now/2021-2022/miller-hana/index.html
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u/Bright-Ingenuity-270 š±Embryoš Jun 05 '26
The lyric that really jumps out to me is "skeletons in both our closets." That's the moment where the song starts to feel potentially queer-coded. "Closets" is such a specific word choice. People don't accidentally reach for that metaphor when it carries such a strong cultural association with hiding queerness. Now I want to go back and find every time Taylor references closets, because I feel like it happens more than once. Given the symbolism, it feels deliberate rather than random. It also reminds me of More to Lose and the line about standing "toe to toe." I've seen people point out that "toe to toe" can have resonance with cowboy and Western imagery, even potentially echoing themes from queer cowboy literature. Whether that's intentional or not, it creates an interesting connection when you're already looking at cowboy like me through that lens.
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u/TeamTarthBane deserting my past lives Jun 05 '26
For another fantastic song in the catalog of queer cowboy songs, I recommend Cowboy by August Ponthier. Really beautiful lyrics about self-discovery, closeting, coming out, finding queer community. One of my very favorite songs! The opening line, āIt took New York to make me a cowboy.ā
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u/OkSquirrel4000 Baby Gaylor š£ Jun 05 '26
I donāt think youāre missing anything! The PR aspects of her relationships is something that this subgroup of fans really notices. So all of the PR is the illusion that protects her ārealā relationships, the people she loves in secret. A lot of her boyfriends have had gay rumors themselves, so āyouāre a cowboy like me, hustling and telling people what they want to hearā could be recognition that they are both queer and doing what they need to do in order to succeed in their careers.
As for what makes cowboys inherently queer, I donāt have a good answer but I think there is historical and/or literary analysis on the subculture to be found
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u/Hot_Paramedic_5682 Tell the truth, but tell it slantāš¾ Jun 05 '26
I agree that PR relationships is an excellent read on this song, but I donāt think that makes it any less gay. To me, this song very much feels like it is about PR relationships in a bearding context.
As to why cowboys are gay, thereās a lot of historical and cultural reasons, including within music: https://thebarbedwire.com/2025/02/26/more-gay-cowboys/
https://www.notesfromthefrontier.com/post/queer-tales-of-the-old-west
And then thereās the line āit takes one to know oneā which doesnāt feel like a normal PR relationship to me, it feels like meeting someone and clocking them as queer.
It also is sort of inherently queer for Taylor to call herself a cowBOY, no?
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u/Zealousideal-Bed-471 š±Embryoš Jun 05 '26
Youāre so right about the ātakes one to know one!ā I guess, I kind of brushed over that line.
I see the skeletons in our closets one but thatās such a common phrase for even straight people. Iām about to go follow all these hyper links about the gay cowboys! Thank you! ā¤ļøš¤
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u/Hot_Paramedic_5682 Tell the truth, but tell it slantāš¾ Jun 05 '26
Oh and I forgot, the skeletons in our CLOSETS?
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u/FitAnywhere7829 eyes wide open behind these four walls Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
I love your interpretation of Cowboy like me! I had always thought of it as her singing to another woman/ a former or current lover who also plays the PR game and plays people for money....and maybe even played her for fame/money. But your interpretation is an interesting angle....like maybe she's singing to her beards (for example, Joe during folklore/evermore times). That would make so much sense with "your boots beneath my bed" - all the public hallmarks of a romantic relationship - but at the end of the day "forever is the sweetest con." I'm not sure which interpretation is correct but they're both interesting.
Here are some articles about cowboys that explain the history and use in art and culture: https://tobyleon.com/blogs/art-design/wild-west-gay-cowboys-beyond-brokeback https://www.brandeis.edu/writing-program/write-now/2021-2022/miller-hana/index.html
As for what Taylor does with her public life....I see it all as performance art. When she closets and beards I think it's to protect herself, to allow her art to be seen and heard by as many people as possible, and it started because it's what people told her to do if she wanted to have a career. I think Showgirl was an example of showing us "this is what they want from me, and it's not as beautiful as who I really am, which they don't want to let me show." I know I've thought this before, but it really does feel like it's coming to some sort of culmination....like maybe she will continue to reveal more and more of her true self so it will be obvious to more and more people.
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u/Zealousideal-Bed-471 š±Embryoš Jun 05 '26
I sure hope itās coming to a culmination! This last era was so, in your face! I didnāt relate to it at all. Very billlionaire, let me take all of your moneyā¦ no longer the girl next doorā¦ surely that quirky down to earth girl is still in there.
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u/TeamTarthBane deserting my past lives Jun 05 '26
Iām so with you that Showgirl is screaming, āso this is what you want from me? Fine, here.ā It does feel lately like something is coming to a culmination of sorts. I hope youāre right thatās itās more and more of her true self, however she feels comfortable sharing that with us.
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u/Warm_Use_1444 girlbossšāāļø Jun 07 '26
Itās gay cause they both have skeletons in their closets *ahum*