“Should’ve Been a Cowboy” is one of Toby Keith’s most enduring songs, so it might be a surprise to learn how quickly it came together.<\/p>\n
Toby wrote it during a pheasant hunting trip to Dodge City, Kansas, which he says was, quote, “staged for the old ‘Gunsmoke’ series” at the time.<\/p>\n
One day after the hunt, he and his friends went to a bar. One of the guys, still in his hunting clothes, asked a girl at another table to dance, and she turned him down.<\/p>\n
“On the way back to the table, we were laughing, and one of the guys hollered, ‘John, you should’ve been a cowboy.'”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
That night, Toby shut himself in his motel bathroom, sat on the edge of the tub, and wrote “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” in 20 minutes.<\/p>\n
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