I don’t know which is wilder, the song or the music video…
Toby Keith might be the king of quirky and out-there songs (and perhaps even offensive depending on who you talk to).
He’s got “Red Solo Cup,” “Trailerhood,” “As Good As I Once Was,” “The Taliban Song,” “I Wanna Talk About Me,” “I Like Girls That Drink Beer,” “Weed With Willie,” “Wacky Tobaccy”… Should I continue?
While the meaning and subject of the above songs vary in a huge way, it proves he’s not afraid to say just about anything in a song. Funny, stupid, corny, even if it’s not exactly PC (I mean, “The Taliban Song”? C’mon dude…)
Another example?
“American Ride”
Written by Joe West and Dave Pahanish, the corny tune about the state of the country hit on all kinds issues in America at the time.
The song was released in 2009, but somehow, almost none of these problems have been solved, and some would argue that they’re worse…
Let’s look into the most relevant lyrics.
“Winters getting colder, Summer gettin warmer
Tidal wave comin cross the Mexican border
Why buy a gallon it’s cheaper by the barrel
Just don’t get busted singing Christmas carols”
Pretty much every single issue mentioned in the first verse is still very much a topic of public debate today: Climate Change, the Border Crisis, Gas Prices and shortages.
While there’s still a few videos that will go viral around the holidays with someone screaming one way or another about which greeting to use, but I think the Merry Christmas wars are pretty much over, so good job, America…
“Kids on the YouTube learnin how to be cool
Livin’ in a cruel world, pays to be a mean girl“
Kids (and let’s be honest, fully grown adults) still get all their trends, and fashion and whatever else online. YouTube is big, but switch it out for TikTok and yeah…
For the mean girl line, the video references a “revealing” picture that blew the world up, a trend that has not stopped (J-Lo and Shakira’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, WAP, Lizzo, etc.)
“Got herself a record deal, can’t even sing a note”
No secret there’s a lot of people who get to where they’re at, in music or elsewhere, for no apparent reason and with no appreciable talent. In country, I think it’s getting better, but it’s still around…
“Spill a cup of coffee, make a million dollars.
Customs caught a thug with an aerosol can.
If the shoe don’t fit, the fits gonna hit the shan”
Lawsuits haven’t gone anywhere and every time I get on a plane I’m subjected to who knows how much radiation from the full body scanner. If that machine can literally see inside my body, in all my crevasses, than why do I need to take my shoes off?
Someone please explain that to me, I am begging.
And while these lyrics are wild, Toby didn’t stop there.
He put out an insane, equally as corny, music video to accompany the song, which mostly animated the lyrics, but also includes some other issues not mentioned, like family farm foreclosures, big business running over small business and the news not adding anything useful to the conversation, just stirring the pot.
Funny enough, three successive presidents were shown, but only two of which were on purpose.
George Bush is shown giving a piggy back to televangelist Pat Robertson, Obama is being carried and celebrated by Wall Street workers and then, long before he threw his hat into politics, Donald Trump is shown kicking Miss America out of the competition he owned.
If nothing else, you got to appreciate the brazenness.
But with the song now over a decade old, and nothing about the circus that were living in having changed… is it time for a sequel?
