Country icon Willie Nelson has released his own song version of an epic gay cowboy romance in the line of Brokeback Mountain.

Cowboys are Frequently, Secretly (Fond of Each Other) was released on Valentine's Day through iTunes stores and seems to be being released to coincide with the heightened interest in the subject created by the film Brokeback Mountain.

Nelson said: "The song's been in the closet for 20 years. The timing's right for it to come out. I'm just opening the door."

David Anderson, Nelson's homosexual long-time manager revealed how he felt about the song: "This song obviously has special meaning to me in more ways than one," Anderson told the Dallas Morning News. "I want people to know more than anything -- gay, straight, whatever -- just how cool Willie is and ... his way of thinking, his tolerance, everything about him."

Reportedly, the Broken Lizard comedy troupe will be creating a video for the song, which includes the lines "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 song has been released exclusively through the Apple iTunes store.