Music Review: Carrie Underwood "Cowboy Casanova"

Carrie Underwood

Cowboy Casanova

Album: Play On

Year: 2009

          Carrie Underwood warns a friend to stay away from a bad boy in the  adamant “Cowboy Casanova.”

           A frenetic guitar opens the single, setting a protective tone. Her friend returns back to the table and squeals. She exclaims she just finished talking with most handsome guy. Underwood sips her beer and asks who it was. She tilts her head towards the jukebox and Underwood’s jaw drops. She immediately starts shaking her head, telling her no. She explains she has to listen to her. The guy will ruin her life. She will spend most of her time dodging his mood swings. His mind games will leave her exhausted. Next time, she sees him she will end it. However, his soft gaze will hypnotize her, reeling her in again. He will hold her in his arms, whispering “I love you.” In her mind, she’ll find excuses for his behavior. (“You better take it from me/That boy is like a disease/You’re running, you’re tired, you’re trying to hide/And you’re wondering why you can’t get free/He’s like a curse, he’s like a drug/You get addicted to his love/You wanna get out but he’s holding you down/‘Cause you can’t live without one more touch.”)

           In the chorus, she tells her friend he’s not worth it. He coasts on his charisma, using it to get numerous women. He’s known for sleeping around with every woman he meets. She’ll be just another notch on his belt. He’ll only cause her grief. (“He’s a good time cowboy Casanova; leaning up against the record machine/He looks like a cool drink of water but he’s candy coated misery/He’s the devil in disguise, a snake with blue eyes and he only comes out at night/Gives you feelings that you don’t wanna fight/You better run for your life.”)

          Her friend stares at him, smiling as he tips his hat to her. She shoots him a nasty look, hoping he’ll get the hint to leave her friend alone. She turns her friend to face her and says she’s speaking from experience. She went out with him for a couple months. Every time she called him out, he responded with a sob story. He then would blame her and say she destroyed the entire evening for him. It would make feel her bad at first. But over time, she stopped believing it was her and realized it was him. She tells her friend she’s only trying to stop her from making the same mistake she did. (“I see that look on your face, you ain’t hearing what I say/So I’ll say it again ‘cause I’ve been where you’ve been and I know how it ends, you can’t get away/Don’t even look in his eyes, he’ll tell you nothing but lies /And you wanna believe, but you won’t be deceived if you listen to me and take my advice.”)

            The chorus is sung again.

              In the bridge, she continues to tell her friend that although he told her he would like to have a serious relationship with her and that she was marriage material; it was only to get her to like him.  She later found out he was cheating on her. It took her some to believe that she hadn’t done anything wrong. She, too, thought his reputation preceded him.  (“Run, run, run away don’t let him mess with your mind/He’ll tell you anything you wanna hear/He’ll break your heart it’s just a matter of time/But just remember.”)

               The chorus is sung again.

              She says “oh you better run for your life” twice to end the single.

 
               Underwood’s vehement vocals steer and turn, trying to keeping her friend’s focus on her and not on the good-looking guy in the corner. She doesn’t want to see her friend hurt and bitter. Unintentionally, though, she makes him into an enigma. Someone that awful must have some redeeming qualities.

            The stern “Cowboy Casanova” fuels curiosity surrounding the bad boy and what exactly happened in her failed relationship with him.