Angela & Uncle Jerry analyze "cowboy like me" from Taylor Swift's 2020 album evermore, focusing on its use of the dramatic monologue form, the function of clichés, and the indeterminate ending.
Key Insights
Uncle Jerry identifies the song as a dramatic monologue — a single narrator telling a story to or about another person who does not speak — and frames it as a detective story for the reader. He notes the heavy use of clichés may reflect the unsophisticated character voice of the narrator trying to fit into an affluent world she doesn't belong in. The Gardens of Babylon simile is highlighted as the song's most complex literary moment because the gardens are the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World without confirmed archaeological evidence, adding a layer of mythical uncertainty to the relationship. Angela & Uncle Jerry disagree on the ending: Angela reads it as hopeful and permanent, while Uncle Jerry leans toward the reading that the relationship doesn't work out, making this a classic indeterminate ending.
Literary Analysis
Uncle Jerry applies the framework of the dramatic monologue (citing Robert Browning's My Last Duchess and Porphyria's Lover as touchstones) to the entire song, arguing the reader's job is to determine the situation, the characters, and the resolution from a single narrator's partial account. He identifies the opening 'And' as an in medias res technique (citing The Odyssey) that creates immediate tension by dropping the listener into the middle of an ongoing story. The cowboy conceit is analyzed as an extended metaphor built on the figure of the loner, the heroic American image, and the con artist. Uncle Jerry discusses the song's time progression, past tense to present ('now') to future ('never gonna love again'), and notes the proximal deixis patterns (I/you alternation) as linguistically interesting. The indeterminate ending is framed as a hallmark of the best dramatic monologues, where the reader's own emotional state determines interpretation. The clichés are analyzed as potentially intentional character voice but remain a point of critique.
Concepts Explored
Literary Devices
References
Literary Quotes Referenced
"Come back! Mama loves you! I love you!" — from the film Shane. "Why do you think?" and "I like them all" — Edward Albee during a talkback for his play Malcolm. "Santa Maria Estrela do Dia
Mostranos via pera Dios senos guia" — Cantigas de Santa Maria
number 100. "The boys I mean are not refined" — e.e. cummings poem title. "I sing of Olaf glad and big" — e.e. cummings poem title. "I am the pirate king" — from Gilbert and Sullivan.
People & Figures Mentioned
Connections Across the Work
Shared themes appear across the archive
Motifs traced in this song
Recommended Reading
My Last Duchess; Porphyria's Lover; The Most Dangerous Game; the boys i mean are not refined; i sing of Olaf glad and big
In the Archive
In the archive:
cowboy like meView song →4 themes traced
14 motifs traced
19 literary devices explored
6 literary references noted