text: cowboy style " cowboy style " is a song recorded by australian recording artist and songwriter kylie minogue , for her sixth studio album impossible princess ( 1997 ) . the song was released as the fourth and final single on 18 august 1998 through mushroom . minogue co - wrote the track with steve anderson and dave seaman while brothers in rhythm produced it . backed by guitars , synthesisers and drum instruments , " cowboy style " is a celtic pop track in which minogue sings about her relationship with stephane sednaoui . critical response to " cowboy style " was positive ; some critics praised the song 's composition , minogue 's song writing and highlighted it as a career stand out track . released in australia and new zealand , the song charted at number thirty - nine on the australian singles chart . minogue promoted " cowboy style " by performing it on her intimate and live tour from june to august 1998 . one of the live performances , directed by michael williams , was used as the music video . she later performed it on her fever tour ( 2002 ) and showgirl : the homecoming tour ( 2006 ) . the song was later included in the track list of minogue 's compilation albums confide in me ( 2002 ) and confide in me : the irresistible kylie ( 2007 ) . background " cowboy style " was written by minogue , steve anderson and dave seaman , and was one of the first songs composed for the album . minogue wrote the song prior to being in a relationship with french photographer stephane sednaoui with different lyrical context , but it was completed while she was dating . of the song , minogue said " the way you start a new relationship with someone , they can bring out so many emotions within you and makes you question yourself a bit more . " the title " cowboy style " comes from when she first met sednaoui in person , where she recalled him looking " unusual " and felt like he was " the new cowboy coming into town " . following the weak commercial performance of her previous single " breathe " , minogue left deconstruction records . while performing on her intimate and live concert tour in australia , minogue confirmed that she would release " cowboy style " as the fourth single in australia and new zealand by mushroom records . the single 's artwork was shot during the intimate and live tour by simon emmert , which featured minogue with a leather bra and a cowboy hat on . idolator listed the artwork as one of " kylie 's best single covers " , saying " leather bra and a cowboy hat . enough said . " an unedited shot of the cover was featured in her kylie photo album book , released in august 1999 . composition " cowboy style " was recorded at real world studios , sarm west and dmc studios in london , england and was mixed by alan bremner at real world . instrumentally , greg bones and anderson played the guitar , johnnie hardie played the fiddle , and all other instrumentals played by anderson . " cowboy style " is a celtic pop song that lasts a duration of four minutes and forty - four seconds . sal cinquemani from slant magazine commented that " cowboy style features a tribal percussion break and a string quartet that sounds more celtic than country . " online music critic adrian denning compared the song to the work of icelandic recording artist and songwriter björk . nick levine from digital spy said " oh , and in ' cowboy style ' , it has a track that manages to sound a little bit celtic and a little bit middle eastern . pete waterman must have wept . " reception critical response " cowboy style " received favorable reviews from music critics . chris true from allmusic highlighted the song as an album stand out . michael r. smith from the daily vault compared the song in retrospect to american singer madonna 's song " don 't tell me " , writing ; " " cowboy style " is everything a country - tinged song like madonna ’ s " don ’ t tell me " should have been . it ’ s the one track that left me wanting more of the same - extended remixes , at the very least . ” a reviewer from who magazine was positive towards the track , stating " an almost eastern feel under a free - flowing melody . classic poppy kyles . " c. adams from herald sun commended the track by saying " cowboy style manages to border from country music and remain cool . " gary james from entertainment focus praised all her written tracks and selected " say hey " , " too far " , " cowboy style " and " limbo " for her being able to portray an " sense of claustrophobia and uncertainty . " john mangan from the age was positive in his review , saying the song is a " funky hoe - down sound " . a reviewer from the publication the backlot listed the song at number eleven on their " kylie minogue 's best songs , in honor of her birthday " and said " this stylistic mishmash ( featuring a deep celtic sound that , maybe , alison krauss could fiddle along with ) is a hard - driving , , sexualized quest for freedom . how do you deal with the fact that kylie sings , " i am frightened , i ’ m aroused , i ’ m enlightened to the now ' and totally sells it ? " online critic adrian denning from his website said " too far flows well into the impressive , eastern flavored cowboy style . either one of these two songs would have made better singles than the ones eventually chosen , by the way . ” sputnikmusic highlighted the track as an album stand out , commenting " cowboy style a funky western jam that might possibly get country fans to do a line dance , this is the mother to madonna ’ s " don ’ t tell me " . kylie ’ s creativity to mix her style with a genre that can be a put off to the masses is a surprise and one of the albums highlights . " commercial performance " cowboy style " entered at thirty - nine on 18 october 1998 , the lowest single that week . it is the lowest charting single from the impossible princess album . " cowboy style " was minogue 's lowest charting single overall until her towa tei collaboration " gbi ( german bold italic ) " , which was released two months after , at number fifty on the chart . it was also her lowest charting solo single in australia until it was surpassed by her digital single " put your hands up ( if you feel love ) " from aphrodite ( 2010 ) at fifty , and her physical single " into the blue " from kiss me once ( 2014 ) which peaked at number forty - six , her worst performing lead single there . promotion and live performances the music video for " cowboy style " was directed by michael williams and taped at a sound check at one of the intimate and live shows in june 1998 . the music video was dubbed with the radio edit , and it was featured on the cd single . the music video was released on the dvd version of greatest hits 87 – 99 in june 2003 . minogue performed " cowboy style " on the australian morning tv series hey hey it 's saturday . this was her fourth consecutive performance that had aired on the tv series that featured performances of all her impossible princess singles . minogue included the song on the set list for her 1998 concert tour intimate and live . the performance was recorded on 30 june and 1 july at capitol theatre in sydney , and appeared on the related cd and dvd . the live version also appeared on her promotional single " dancing queen " . " cowboy style " was included on her 2002 australian and european tour fever tour . the performance featured minogue standing on a level of staircases and has minogue in a bright - pink sleeveless jacket with white cargo pants . the performance was recorded on 4 may 2002 at manchester arena in manchester , england , and was released on 4 november that same year . the song 's most recent performance was on the showgirl : the homecoming tour in 2006 . the performance was recorded on 12 november 2006 in sydney , australia and was released as a double cd set . other usage " cowboy style " was released in mid - 1997 in the uk on a cassette tape with all other album tracks as part of a promotional release and a cd sampler . " cowboy style " has been featured on many of minogue 's compilation albums . its first appearance was on her 2002 bmg greatest hits compilation album confide in me , a compilation consisting majority off her singles and tracks from her deconstruction period ; heather phares from allmusic praised the impossible princess tracks including " cowboy style " . it then appeared on her 2003 compilation album greatest hits : 87 – 99 , and her 2004 album artist collection , which included most of her impossible princess era . it appeared on the first disc of confide in me : the irresistible kylie released in july 2007 by uk independent label music club and her k25 : time capsule by warner music australia . formats and track listings these are the formats and track listings of major single releases of " cowboy style " . cd " cowboy style " ( radio edit ) – 3 : 51 " love takes over me " ( single version ) – 4 : 09 " cowboy style " music video promotional cd " cowboy style " ( radio edit ) – 3 : 51 " love takes over me " ( single version ) – 4 : 09 digital music video download " cowboy style " ( music video ) – 3 : 51 personnel credits adapted from the album 's liner notes . kylie minogue – vocals , songwriting , vocal production steve anderson – songwriting , guitar , drums , keyboards david seaman – songwriting , guitar , drums greg bones – guitar alan bremner – engineer , mixing production paul wright – engineer johnnie hardie – fiddle stephane sednaoui – photographer , designer farrow design – cover sleeve programmer charts