| The Cowboy Rides Away | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | George Strait |
| Album: | Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind |
| B-Side: | Any Old Time |
| Released: | January 14, 1985 |
| Recorded: | June 26, 1984 |
| Genre: | Country |
| Length: | 3:20 |
| Label: | MCA 52526 |
| Producer: | Jimmy Bowen & George Strait |
| Prev Title: | Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind |
| Prev Year: | 1984 |
| Next Title: | The Fireman |
| Next Year: | 1985 |
"The Cowboy Rides Away" is a song written by Sonny Throckmorton and Casey Kelly, and recorded by American country music artist George Strait. It was released in January 1985 as the second single from his album Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind. It peaked at number 5 on the United States Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, and at number 3 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada. It is the song used by Strait to close out his performances. This is also the name of his final tour commencing January 18, 2013.
It was the last song he sang at his final The Cowboy Rides Away Tour concert on June 7, 2014, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas with a worldwide record setting attendance for the show at 104,000.
The song is about a cowboy riding away from a failed relationship. He and his wife/girlfriend have been through it all and they just can’t work things out.
Country music duo Brooks & Dunn covered the song from the television special George Strait: ACM Artist of the Decade All Star Concert.
Kevin John Coyne of Country Universe gave the song an A grade, calling it a song that "embraces the traditional cowboy mythos while simultaneously reinventing it."[1]