The song is about the work of a drover in a cattle unit.
Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington wrote this as the main theme of the CBS television show Rawhide, which ran from 1959 to 1966. The program began the career of Clint Eastwood, who starred with Eric Fleming as a cowboy in a cattle collection. Since the show had a western theme, composer Tiomkin and the lyricist Washington were asked to write the music, since they had written songs for some famous western films, such as High Noon and Wild Is The Wind.
The song simulates the sounds of a cattle unit, since the rancher is calling instructions and breaking his whip. Rawhide is an animal skin that has not been treated and turned into leather; It is commonly used to make whips.