| Walking the Cow | |
| Artist: | Daniel Johnston |
| Album: | Hi, How Are You |
| Released: | 1983 |
| Genre: | |
| Length: | 3:35 |
| Label: | Stress |
"Walking the Cow" is a song written and recorded by singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston from his 1983 album Hi, How Are You. The title was inspired by an illustration on a wrapper for Blue Bell ice cream depicting a young girl attempting to lead a reluctant cow by its reins.[1]
Johnston recorded an updated version of the song on his 2010 album Beam Me Up![2] [3]
Austin band The Reivers included their version of the song as a bonus track on the 1988 CD release of Translate Slowly, their 1984 debut album.[4]
During Johnston's wave of popularity in the early 1990s, several musicians released covers of "Walking the Cow". Mike Watt's group Firehose included a version on Flyin' the Flannel (1991). Kathy McCarty of Glass Eye included it on her 1994 Daniel Johnston tribute album Dead Dog's Eyeball.[5] Also in 1994, the Austin surf-rock band Whirled Peas released a version on their second and final album, War and Peas. In October of that year, Pearl Jam covered the song in a performance at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit concert, and this subsequently became available on the bootleg album In Rock We Trust.[6]
Watt performed the song on a 1995 solo tour; a recording opens his live album Ring Spiel Tour '95, released in 2016. Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder used the song to open every show of his 2008 solo tour.[7]
It was covered by A Camp on their 2001 album A Camp.[8]
On the 2004 tribute album , TV on the Radio contributed their cover of the song.
On September 11, 2020 — the one-year anniversary of Johnston's death — Electric Lady Studios released a video tribute album, Honey I Sure Miss You, via YouTube. It included a cover of "Walking the Cow" by the indie-pop band Lucius.[9]