Soundtrack

Heartland

George Strait

Sophie comes home to La Conquistadora

“Through the open window the New Mexico sky was already that high, clean, heartbreaking blue that she had missed every single day she’d been gone.”

I’m in a Hurry (And Don’t Know Why)

Alabama

The remuda thunders in at dawn

“This morning’s wrangler let out a howl as he crested the rise behind the herd, pure abandon, pure joy. Connor, back from the war.”

American Honey

Lady A

Sophie & Louisa drive the pink Olds to town

“Sophie and the Olds barreled across the back compound, flew over the cattle guard, spun past the maintenance shop and chuck wagon shed, to arrive in triumph at the north gate to the lawn of Casa Blanca, where her mother stood awaiting her chauffeur and chariot.”

Feels So Right

Alabama

Louisa & Degarrin’s golden afternoon by the creek

“The sun filtered through the cottonwood leaves and dappled their skin, and the sound of the creek was the only sound in the world besides theirs.”

Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)

Big & Rich

Sophie’s runaway — she drives Bogota straight up the Antelope Hills

“Kicking and spurring and screaming, Sophie sent a startled Bogota right straight up into the Antelope Hills. Like one possessed, she had lost all sense of caution.”

Check Yes or No

George Strait

Sophie and Adam at the weighing scales

““Is your dance card all filled up for tonight?” he asked her. . . . “My dance card still has a space or two left,” she said.”

Tennessee Whiskey

Chris Stapleton

Sophie and Adam dance all night at the VFW Hall

“There was nothing but the music and the way Adam’s hand felt at the small of her back and the way he looked at her when he thought she wasn’t paying attention. She was always paying attention.”

The Thunder Rolls

Garth Brooks

Adam and Laramie flip in the storm

“Adam conceded this fact and realized that his luck had finally run out.”

Whiskey Lullaby

Brad Paisley & Alison Krauss

Danny Parks’s death in the branding pen

“In that corral on the prairie, bathed in a golden haze of dust, there was the stunned silence of disbelief. Then, as stubborn disbelief reluctantly gave way, the dust and dirt on every face was washed away in a pour of tears.”

(Ghost) Riders in the Sky

Johnny Cash

Sophie accepts Joe’s proposal, listens to the radio

““A ghost rider, that’s what Adam is,” Sophie thought. “Only he’s riding through my heart and through my mind.””

Good Old Boys Like Me

Don Williams

Old Juan remembers the girls at the corral

“You go to her while she is still what she is.”

A Country Boy Can Survive

Hank Williams Jr.

Kyle and Jason arrive at La Conquistadora

““This is not just a ranch. This place is huge. . . . This is not a ranch. It’s a goddamned kingdom!””

The Man Comes Around

Johnny Cash

Adam Connor arrives and ropes on Teddy Blue

““That is the world champion calf roper. That’s Adam Connor.””

Friends in Low Places

Garth Brooks

Larry’s naked shower on the prairie; the prank on Jason

““I believe,” George said, “that is the palest cowboy I have ever seen.””

The House That Built Me

Miranda Lambert

Sophie counsels Amy at La Cantina, stares at the old photographs

“The girl in the photograph had a face so open, so unguarded, that Sophie barely recognized her. That girl could feel everything, and Sophie could not remember what that was like.”

Don’t Blink

Kenny Chesney

Toby announces the chuck wagon is being retired

““When this old wagon goes by the wayside, it will be the end of an era.””

Amarillo by Morning

George Strait

The stampede; Cochise jumps the rimrock; Bob Turner’s speech

“There was nothing in their experience to equal racing across an endless land, borne on pounding hooves, with the wind on their faces and the sun in the air.”

Heads Carolina, Tails California

Jo Dee Messina

Tammy’s record barrel run; Kyle calls Amy

““I love you so much, Kyle, that if you ever leave me, I’m going with you.””

The Dance

Garth Brooks

Adam lies under the stars, taking stock of his life

“The road had been good to him, but the road was for younger men with younger feet and hearts that hadn’t yet learned what they were missing.”

He Stopped Loving Her Today

George Jones

Sophie and Adam reunite — and say goodbye for the last time

““I’ve loved you every day for twenty-three years. Every morning, every night, every mile of road between here and wherever I happened to be. It never went away, Sophie.””