The Oscar-nominated country song “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs absolutely piqued the social interests and catch our attention among other loud and blowhard ballads. Written by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, this soft and narrative cowboy song like two walking men in farmland who move slowly but leave us fatalism by their yodeling voices, trigger our curiosity of getting inside of cowboys’ mind.  The frontier ballad is gloriously honored as 2019 nominee of the 91st Academy Awards said by Welch and Rawlings, “We are eternally grateful to Ethan and Joel Coen for giving us the opportunity to write a cowboy duet between the living and the dead, and to Willie Watson and Tim Blake Nelson for bringing it to life.”

According to Rolling Stone, Gillian Welch even debut the original story behind the birth of the songs. This ballad was originally the assignment from Cohen Brother but ended up being real and creative.

• “They [The Coen Brothers] gave David and I the script, and they gave us the script of maybe two other of the shorts in the collection so we could gauge the darkness [laughs]… And then there was just a really basic conversation [with Joel Coen]. He was like, “Look, there’s the singing cowboy — he’s been around for a while. Now here comes the new guy. He’s cuter, he’s faster and he sings better. He’s just better. It’s the new model. He’s coming for him.”… Joel just said, “Here’s the specifics of it. They have to be able to sing it together. They have to be able to sing it once Tim has been shot and is dead and is floating up to heaven.”

Interviewed by Variety, she kept revealing the writing process:

• “The more peculiar restraints you put upon a song, the more fun it is, so this was kind of a dream assignment,” Welch says. “And they didn’t tell us to do this, but if you’re writing a gunfight song between two singing cowboys, who wouldn’t love the opportunity to put some yodeling in?”

Instead of riding the range out west and herding cattle for a living, the cowboys in this song sure enjoy their time on their ranch. Cohen lighted up the direction for this pair that he wants to hear two cowboys’ story. And this is not the first collaboration of Welch and Rawlings, they paired up eight-album times before, their telekinesis and well-coordinated teamwork prove us their talents serve for each other. The pair confirmed they will perform the song at the 91st Academy Awards on Sunday, February 24, 2019.