Kelsea Ballerini and Noah Kahan Break Stereotypes with ‘Cowboys Cry Too’

Kelsea Ballerini’s next musical era is upon us and it starts with “Cowboys Cry Too,” featuring GRAMMY nominee Noah Kahan. 

This genre-bending collaboration aims to break down stereotypes associated with men and showcase that tough men, even cowboys, have feelings too. While society expects them to be strong and never waiver under pressure, the artists acknowledge that everyone, including strong, rugged cowboys, experiences moments of vulnerability and deep emotions.  

The song kicks off with Ballerini’s stunning vocals on the first verse. 

“He’s as tough as the tattoos up his right arm/ And I’ve talked him down from getting in a fight or two/ He stands his ground, he’s as stubborn as the weeds in the backyard/ ‘Cause growing up, he had to go where the wind blew/ He hides his heart and hurt, guess he kinda had to/ In a world that says, ‘Saddle up and be a man’/ When the sun goes down and his hazel eyes go blue/ That’s when I understand,” she sings. 

After the first chorus, Kahan joins in on his self-written verse before they join together in harmons on the next chorus.  

“’Cause cowboys cry too/ They may not let ’em fall down in their hometown thinkin’ they still got shit to prove/ That well runs deep/ But when he’s showin’ his skin, lettin’ me in, that’s when he’s toughest to me/ I never knew cowboys cry too,” they sing. 

Ballerini originally wrote the song with producer Alysa Vanderheym and later had the idea to bring in a male voice.  

“I always just thought, I think this song could be more impactful if there was a male counterpart that would go there to just rip open his chest and bare his soul and tell his side of that story. And I’m such a fan of Noah, that whole record. He is so willing to just be so open and vulnerable,” she explained during an interview on Today’s Country Radio on Apple Music Country. ”And so I texted it to him and he was like, ‘I love writing about this concept of men being vulnerable and not being scared to go there. And can I just have a couple weeks on the road to work on a verse?’ And I was like, ‘Absolutely.’ Sent it to him with an open verse.”

Before the ACM Awards, where they joined together on stage, they got into the studio and it all came together.  

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kelsea Ballerini (@kelseaballerini)

“And he was like, ‘All right. Let’s pull up the track.’ So we did. And he was like, ‘This is just what I’ve written. Hadn’t seen it before or anything. Just let me know what you think. No worries if we want to change anything,’” she recalled. “And he sang it word for word for what his verse is. And I was so grateful because he didn’t round any edges. He was like, ‘Here’s my story, here’s my perspective.’ And I was just like chill bumps on chill bumps. I was so grateful.”

Of the concept for the song, Ballerini shared, “In our world and culture and echo chamber of highlight reels and pretty things, sometimes real feelings start to feel like something you just set aside or push down to keep up Especially the way so many men grow up, that kind of toxic masculinity mindset of ‘saddle up, brush it off’. I wanted to write my perspective and essentially celebrate the vulnerable men in my life, and Noah adding his really unfiltered perspective into it just brought it to life in a more meaningful and beautiful way.”

Kahan added, “It’s the writers who are willing to go to the awkward places that inspire me. Kelsea is one of those, and I knew if we could find something we both believed to sing, it would expand how we look at the way we live, what society decides and we should reject. ‘Cowboys Cry Too’ is everything I believed our collaboration could be.”

“Cowboys Cry Too” follows Ballerini’s wildly successful Rolling Up The Welcome Mat, an emotional project sinpired by the emotions she felt before, during, and after her highly publicized divorce. A release date for her next project has yet to be confirmed.