My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys ( song ) - Wikipedia My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys ( song ) `` My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys '' Single by Willie Nelson from the album The Electric Horseman : Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack B - side `` Rising Star ( Love Theme ) '' Released January 1980 Genre Country Length 3 : 06 Label Columbia Records Songwriter ( s ) Sharon Vaughn Producer ( s ) Sydney Pollack Larry Rosen Willie Nelson singles chronology `` Help Me Make It Through the Night '' ( 1979 ) `` My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys '' ( 1980 ) `` Midnight Rider '' ( 1980 ) `` Help Me Make It Through the Night '' ( 1979 ) `` My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys '' ( 1980 ) `` Midnight Rider '' ( 1980 ) `` My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys '' was recorded by Waylon Jennings on the 1976 album Wanted ! The Outlaws, and further popularized in 1980 by Willie Nelson as a single on the soundtrack to The Electric Horseman. `` My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys '' was written by Sharon Vaughn and Nelson 's version was his fifth number one on the country chart. The single stayed at number one for two weeks and spent a total of fourteen weeks on the country chart. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time. Content The narrator compares his child dream to become a cowboy and the reality he faces when he actually became a cowboy, and finds a strong contrast between the two. Chart performance Chart ( 1980 ) Peak position US Hot Country Songs ( Billboard ) US Billboard Hot 100 44 Canadian RPM Country Tracks Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks References Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel ( 2004 ). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits : 1944 - 2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 245. Jump up ^ Western Writers of America ( 2010 ). `` The Top 100 Western Songs ''. American Cowboy. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Jump up ^ Randall, Alice ; Carter Little ; Courtney Little ( 2006 ). My Country Roots : The Ultimate MP3 Guide to America 's Original Outsider Music. Thomas Nelson, Inc. p. 92. ISBN 1 - 59555 - 860 - 8. Jump up ^ `` Willie Nelson Chart History ( Hot Country Songs ) ''. Billboard. Jump up ^ `` Willie Nelson Chart History ( Hot 100 ) ''. Billboard. Willie Nelson singles discography 1950s and 1960s 1957 `` No Place for Me '' / `` Lumberjack '' 1959 `` Man With the Blues '' / `` The Storm Has Just Begun '' 1960 `` What a Way to Live '' / `` Misery Mansion '' `` Nite Life '' / `` Rainy Day Blues '' 1961 `` The Part Where I Cry '' / `` Mr. Record Man '' 1962 `` Willingly '' / `` Chain of Love '' `` Touch Me '' / `` Where My House Lives '' `` Wake Me When It 's Over '' / `` There 's Gonna Be Love In My House '' `` You Dream About Me '' / `` Is This My Destiny '' 1963 `` Half a Man '' / `` The Last Letter '' `` Take My Word '' / `` Feed it a Memory '' 1964 `` How Long is Forever '' / `` You Took My Happy Away '' `` Am I Blue '' / `` There 'll Be No Teardrops Tonight '' `` River Boy '' / `` Opportunity to Cry '' `` I Never Cared For You '' / `` You Left Me ( A Long Time Ago ) '' `` Pretty Paper '' / `` What A Merry Christmas This Could Be '' 1965 `` She 's Not For You '' / `` Permanently Lonely '' `` Healing Hands of Time '' / `` One Day at the Time '' `` I Just Ca n't Let You Say Goodbye '' / `` And So Will You, My Love '' 1966 `` One In A Row '' / `` San Antonio Rose '' `` Colombus Stockade Blues '' / `` He Sits at my Table '' `` I 'm Still Not Over You '' / `` I Love You Because '' 1967 `` The Party 's Over '' / `` Make Way for a Better Man '' `` Blackjack County Chain '' / `` Some Other World '' `` San Antonio '' / `` To Make a Long Story Short '' 1968 `` Little Things '' / `` Sweet Memories '' `` Good Times '' / `` Where Do You Stand '' `` Johnny One Time '' / `` She 's Still Gone '' 1969 `` Bring Me Sunshine '' / `` Do n't Say Love or Nothing '' `` I Hope So '' / `` Right or Wrong '' 1970s 1970 `` Once More With Feeling '' / `` Who Do I Know in Dallas '' `` Laying My Burdens Down '' / `` Truth Number One '' 1971 `` I 'm a Memory '' / `` Fire and Rain '' `` Yesterday 's Wine '' / `` Me and Paul '' 1972 `` Words Do n't Fit the Picture '' / `` A Moment '' 1973 `` Shotgun Willie '' ( mono ) / `` Sad Songs and Waltzes '' `` Stay All Night ( Stay a Little Longer ) '' / `` Devil in a Sleepin ' Bag '' `` I Still Ca n't Believe You 're Gone '' / `` Heaven and Hell '' `` Bloody Mary Morning '' / `` After the Fire is Gone '' ( with Tracy Nelson ) `` Sister 's Comin ' Home '' ( mono ) / `` Pick Up The Tempo '' `` Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain '' / `` Bandera '' 1976 `` Remember Me ( When the Candle Lights Are Gleaming ) '' / `` Time of the Preacher '' `` I 'd Have to Be Crazy '' ( mono ) / `` Amazing Grace '' `` If You 've Got the Money I 've Got the Time '' / `` The Sound in Your Mind '' 1977 `` Uncloudy Day '' / `` Precious Memories '' `` I Love You A Thousand Ways '' / `` Mom and Dad 's Waltz '' 1978 `` Georgia on My Mind '' / `` On The Sunny Side Of The Street '' `` Blue Skies '' / `` Moonlight in Vermont '' `` All of Me '' / `` Unchained Melody '' 1979 `` Whiskey River '' / `` Under the Double Eagle '' `` September Song '' / `` Do n't Get Around Much Anymore '' `` White Christmas '' / `` Blue Christmas '' 1980s 1980 `` Help Me Make It Through the Night '' / `` The Pilgrim, Chapter 33 '' `` My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys '' / `` Rising Stars '' `` Midnight Rider '' / `` So You Think You 're A Cowboy '' `` On the Road Again '' / `` Jumpin ' Cotton Eyed Joe '' ( performed by Johnny Gimble ) 1981 `` Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground '' / `` I Guess I 've Come to Live Here in Your Eyes '' `` Mona Lisa '' / `` Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star '' `` I 'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter '' / `` Over the Rainbow '' `` Heartaches of a Fool '' / `` Uncloudy Day '' 1982 `` Always on My Mind '' / `` The Party 's Over '' `` Let It Be Me '' / `` Permanently Lonely '' `` Last Thing I Needed First Thing This Morning '' / `` Old Fords and a Natural Stone '' `` Little Old Fashioned Karma '' / `` Beer Barrel Polka '' `` Why Do I Have to Choose '' / `` Would You Lay with Me ( In a Field of Stone ) '' `` Take It to the Limit '' / `` Till I Gain Control Again '' `` Without a Song '' 1984 `` City of New Orleans ( Unedited version ) '' / `` Why Are You Pickin ' On Me '' 1985 `` Forgiving You Was Easy '' / `` You Would n't Cross the Street '' `` Me and Paul '' / `` I Let My Mind Wander '' 1986 `` Living in the Promiseland '' / `` Bach Minuet in G '' `` I 'm Not Trying to Forget You '' / `` I 've Got the Craziest Feeling '' `` Partners After All '' / `` Home Away From Home '' `` Heart of Gold '' / `` So Much Like My Dad '' `` Island in the Sea '' / `` There Is No Easy Way '' `` Nobody There But Me '' / `` Wake Me When It 's Over '' `` Spanish Eyes '' ( with Julio Iglesias ) / `` Ole Buttermilk Sky '' `` Twilight Time '' / `` Ac - Cent - Tchu - Ate the Positive '' `` Nothing I Can Do About It Now '' / `` If I Were a Painting '' `` There You Are '' / `` Spirit '' `` Is The Better Part Over '' / `` Mr. Record Man '' 1990s `` The Highway '' / `` Spirit '' `` Ai n't Necessarily So '' / `` I Never Cared For You '' ( `` Ai n't Necessarily So '' also on CD Single ) 1991 `` The Piper Came Today '' / `` ( I Do n't Have a Reason ) To Go To California Anymore '' ( `` The Piper Came Today '' also on CD Single ) `` Ten With a Two '' / `` You Decide '' `` Graceland '' `` Still is Still Moving to Me '' / `` Valentine '' 1995 `` Turn Me Loose and Let Me Swing '' 1998 `` I Never Cared for You '' 2000s and 2010s 2002 `` Mendocino County Line '' ( with Lee Ann Womack ) / `` Maria ( Shut Up and Kiss Me ) '' ( Both single tracks released on CD and 7 '' record ) 2003 `` Wurlitzer Prize '' ( with Norah Jones ) `` Beer for My Horses '' ( with Toby Keith ) 2005 `` I 'm a Worried Man '' ( with Toots Hibbert ) `` The Harder They Come '' 2006 `` You Do n't Know Me '' `` Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other '' 2008 `` Gravedigger '' `` You Do n't Think I 'm Funny Anymore '' 2011 `` The Scientist '' 2012 `` Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die '' `` Just Breathe '' `` Come On Back Jesus '' 2013 `` From Here to the Moon and Back '' ( with Dolly Parton ) `` Grandma 's Hands '' ( with Mavis Staples ) `` It Wo n't Be Long '' ( with The Secret Sisters ) `` Somewhere Between '' ( with Loretta Lynn ) 2014 `` The Wall '' `` Bring It On '' `` Laws of Nature '' `` Who 'll Buy My Memories '' `` Summer of Roses '' / `` December Day '' 2015 `` It 's All Going to Pot '' `` Alice in Hulaland '' 2016 `` Lay Me Down '' 2017 `` Still Not Dead '' 2018 `` Last Man Standing '' Book : Willie Nelson Category : Willie Nelson This 1980 country song - related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=My_Heroes_Have_Always_Been_Cowboys_(song)&oldid=847142046 '' Categories : 1980 singles Waylon Jennings songs Willie Nelson songs Billboard Hot Country Songs number - one singles RPM Country Tracks number - one singles Songs written for films Songs written by Sharon Vaughn Columbia Records singles 1980 songs 1980 country song stubs Hidden categories : Articles with hAudio microformats Singlechart usages for Billboardcountrysongs Singlechart called without song Singlechart usages for Billboardhot100 All stub articles Talk About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 23 June 2018, at 06 : 36 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: who wrote the song my heroes have always been cowboys
Answer: Sharon Vaughn