The original lineup included three lead vocalists — Danny Hutton, Chuck Negron, and Cory Wells — along with Michael Allsup on guitar, Jimmy Greenspoon on keyboards Floyd Sneed on drums and Joe Schermie (from the Cory Wells Blues Band) on bass.
Three Dog Night recorded some tracks with Beach Boys producer, composer, vocalist, and instrumentalist Brian Wilson before signing with Dunhill Records and at the time went under the name Redwood. The band changed their name based on an article describing how Australian Aborigines slept with their dogs for warmth on cold nights, the coldest being a "three-dog night."
Cowboy
Three Dog Night Lyrics
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Steel and concrete closing in on me.
City faces haunt the places i roam alone.
Cowboy, cowboy, can't run, can't hide, too late.
To fight now, to die to try.
Winds that once blew free now scatter dust to the sky
To fight now, to die to try.
The lyrics of Three Dog Night's song Cowboy are a commentary on how modern society is taking over and encroaching upon the natural world. The opening line is a powerful image of how the land is being taken over by man-made structures. The cold, gray buildings juxtaposed with the absence of a hill where one should be creates a sense of sadness and loss, as if something fundamental has been taken away from the land. The second line continues this theme with the suggestion that the modern world is "closing in" on the singer, as if he is being suffocated by the concrete and steel that surround him.
The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "cowboy, cowboy, can't run, can't hide, too late" which is a rallying cry to the failing spirit of the cowboy. The cowboy represents freedom in the face of modernity, a champion of the natural world against the cold, sterile world of modern architecture. The repeated line "to fight now, to die to try" implies that the cowboy has been pushed to his limits and must choose between giving up his way of life or fighting to protect it. The final lines of the song describe how even the once free winds have been tamed by modernity, leaving the cowboy with no place to turn and no place to escape.
Line by Line Meaning
Cold gray buildings where a hill should be.
The cityscape has replaced nature, with tall, bleak buildings that overshadow and stand in place of what used to be hills.
Steel and concrete closing in on me.
The urban landscape is everywhere, enclosing and crowding in on me, leaving no room for escape, no space to breathe.
City faces haunt the places i roam alone.
The people of the city are everywhere, and even when I'm alone, I can feel their presence, their eyes on me, their judgment and expectations weighing down on me.
Cowboy, cowboy, can't run, can't hide, too late.
I'm trapped here, with no way out or chance to escape from this urban jungle. It's too late to try and run or hide, my fate as a cowboy is sealed.
To fight now, to die to try.
The only choice I have left is to fight against the overwhelming forces of this city, even if it means risking death. It's better to go down fighting than to live a life without freedom.
Winds that once blew free now scatter dust to the sky
The natural forces that once governed the land have been replaced by the cold, dusty winds of the city, making it impossible to find any real sense of freedom or connection to the earth.
Cowboy, cowboy, can't run, can't hide, too late.
No matter how hard I try, there's no way to escape the confines of the city. As a cowboy, my options are limited, and my fate is sealed.
To fight now, to die to try.
Despite the risks, fighting for my freedom and individuality is the only option left to me. Death is preferable to a life without freedom.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Walt Disney Music Company
Written by: JONATHAN SACKS, RANDY NEWMAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Christine Shire
on My Impersonal Life
Who sang vocals for this