Synopsis

Paula Cole performs directly to camera while her band plays behind her in a dark, grainy setting. The straightforward performance footage is intercut with shadowy glimpses of people walking, sitting at a table, riding in a car and traveling on horseback. The spare imagery mirrors the song's uneasy blend of longing, fantasy and disappointment, contrasting its nostalgic Western imagery with a more uncertain emotional atmosphere. Rather than presenting a literal storyline, the video leaves the narrator's unhappy romantic expectations open to interpretation.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video is deliberately understated, relying on performance footage, silhouettes and brief observational images instead of a conventional narrative.

• Its grainy texture and partially obscured figures complement the song's shifting perspective, which moves from romantic fantasy toward disillusionment.

• The video received a nomination for Best Female Video at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards. Jewel's "You Were Meant for Me" won the category.

• During the song's breakthrough, the video was featured heavily on MTV and VH1. VH1 selected Cole as its first "Inside Track" artist of 1997.

• The song's ironic treatment of traditional gender roles was often misunderstood by listeners. The video's restrained presentation does little to resolve that ambiguity, leaving the lyrics to carry much of the satire.

• Cole later revisited the song with a new recording and a contrasting video centered on a happy, functional relationship between middle-aged partners. The remake was released in connection with the 20th-anniversary era of *This Fire*.

• "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" became Cole's only Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 8 in 1997.