Willie Nelson sings gay cowboy song

Willie Nelson

It turns out the makers of Brokeback Mountain are not the only ones who think Cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other - country music icon Willie Nelson has recorded a song with that title.

With lyrics like "What did you think all them saddles and boots was about?" the song may raise the hackles of those who see cowboys as the iconic American heterosexual male.

The song was written more than 20 years ago by songwriter Ned Sublette but was largely unknown until Nelson, who contributed a song to the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack, decided to release it this week for download on iTunes.

"The song's been in the closet for 20 years," Nelson said in a statement. "The timing's right for it to come out."

Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, the story of two ranch hands in Wyoming who fall in love, has won a string of awards and is a front-runner for the best film Oscar next month.

Nelson, whose hits include Always on My Mind and My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys, sings in the new song: "A small town don't like it when a cowboy has feelings for men, and I believe to my soul that inside every man there's the feminine."

Another verse goes as follows: "The cowboy may brag about things that he's done with his woman. But the ones who brag loudest are the ones who are most likely queer."

The Dallas Morning News said the song had a personal connection for Nelson because his longtime tour manager, David Anderson, revealed his homosexuality to Nelson two years ago.

- REUTERS