What Beaches Does Garth Brooks Sing About in Cheyenne?
It's a sad truth that Cheyenne doesn't have much water. I mean, the biggest body of water in the city is at Lions Park. So, I've always wondered - what "beaches" is Garth Brooks singing about in "The Beaches of Cheyenne?"
Where Are the "Beaches of Cheyenne?"
If you're from Cheyenne or Wyoming, chances are you know the lyrics to this song. If you don't, it's time to fix that. "Beaches of Cheyenne" is one of Garth's top songs - it charted at No. 1 on Billboard in 1996 as Brooks' 15th Billboard charting song in his career. Here's the famous line that has continued confusing Cheyenne natives and visitors ever since 1995, when the song was released:
"If you go down by the water, you'll see her footprints in the sand
'Cause every night she walks the beaches of Cheyenne'Cause every night she walks the beaches of Cheyenne"- "Beaches of Cheyenne" by Garth Brooks, Dan Roberts, and Bryan Kennedy.
There are plenty of theories about what beaches Garth is singing about. I've heard locals say it's a metaphor for the rodeo arena sand. Other people have pointed to the rolling buttes outside the city - you know, the ones that the Terry Bison Ranch sits on. And there's always the group that thinks it's about the shore of Sloan Lake (technically, it does have sandy beaches.)
Garth, at one point, said in a TV special that the song was initially meant to be "funny" and about a man, but that's not how it ended up. In an interview with The Boot back in 2014, songwriter Dan Robers said the version we all know came about by accident when Garth sang "Every night SHE walks the beaches of Cheyenne" instead of "HE walks..." So the song became about a heartbroken woman instead.
But what does that have to do with Cheyenne's non-existent beaches? Roberts said in the interview, "it's just like Garth to do a mystery and a ghost..." and never clarified where exactly people can find those mysterious beaches.
So, the jury is out on what "beaches" Garth is singing about. What do you think? Are they the beaches of the rodeo arena or the rolling buttes of the prairie? Or did the woman in the song once stroll around Sloan Lake with her love? The world may never know...