LISTEN: This 1960 country bop is an accidentally hilarious ode to men who love cowboys
Gunsmoke and “Cheyenne,” which was another program on ABC throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s.The man that Lee is pining for spends the song rebuffing her advances, blowing off dates, and refusing to see her, as he is apparently only interested in these “Western guys.” In the tune, Lee croons mournfully, “Oh my baby came to my house last night oh yeah / I thought maybe he would hold me tight oh yeah / But my baby had to watch Cheyenne said it left his head in a spin.”With ‘Strange Way Of Life,’ the western is having its long-overdue coming out party.Later in that same verse, she sings, “Well my baby likes all the western guys oh yeah / He ain’t got no use for me tonight oh yeah,” a refrain she repeats over and over, as if she’s having a hard time believing it.
She’s a beautiful woman, but he’s not interested in “holding her tight”—how could that be?For a listener back in the early ‘60s, what Lee is singing about is clear thanks to her specific references.
But gay fans at the time might have grasped a subtext that may or may not have been intentional, which has only become more important as the years have passed.
If this track was released today, it would certainly come with a completely different meaning, one which Lee and her collaborators likely didn’t mean to sell… but which comes through loud and clear for those of us who also like all the Western guys.Here’s a dirty dozen gay cowboy movies that prove how the west was won by the queers..
