I just read the lyrics for Beer for My Horses. Revolting.
So long, Toby Keith.
R.I.P. Toby Keith
Re: R.I.P. Toby Keith
At times it seemed like the right-wing provocateur thing was at least something of an act. He had spent about ten years in kind of a long line of interchangeable guys who sang about the stereotypical country song topics. He had some hits, but never really broke into the big time. His career began leveling up around 2000 and 2001, but it was his post-9/11 album that pushed him into a higher level, specifically with its lead single, "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue", which he followed up with several other war-profiteering songs, all of which became big hits. He wasn't able to sustain it for long--his megastardom lasted about three years, or two albums; after that, maybe he fumbled by doing a greatest hits album, and then the follow-up only produced one number one, "As Good As I Once Was" (a fun song, one of his best), and then after that it continued to fall off. He was still having hits, plenty of top tens at country radio, but he he didn't return to number one...except when he focused on a single lane: the right-wing provocateur. His song "Love Me If You Can" was not about winning the love of an old flame or anything; it was about the criticism he had received for his political actions; "American Ride" was a racist rant your uncle might go on after an hour watching Fox News; and "Made in America", which is about what you would guess from the title. They were his three of his final number ones. He knew what to do to get a hit. (There were two other number ones in this era, both doing the spurned lover thing.)
"Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue", in a vacuum, is an interesting cultural artifact of a specific time in American history. His politicizing of the genre, to a greater extent than it had been in the past, was damaging, and is part of the reason country music is perceived the way it is, especially as others have taken his act and run with it. (The "Try That in a Small Town" controversy from last year was a direct sequel to Keith's controversy.) His song "Beer for My Horses", released soon after "Courtesy...", is orders of magnitude worse, one of the most evil songs ever written; maybe the worst thing about it is that it is honestly a very smartly written song, written in a way to evoke old Westerns as it pushes a very racially coded narrative that turns lynching into a fun Saturday night with the boys. His song for The Mule was nice.
"Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue", in a vacuum, is an interesting cultural artifact of a specific time in American history. His politicizing of the genre, to a greater extent than it had been in the past, was damaging, and is part of the reason country music is perceived the way it is, especially as others have taken his act and run with it. (The "Try That in a Small Town" controversy from last year was a direct sequel to Keith's controversy.) His song "Beer for My Horses", released soon after "Courtesy...", is orders of magnitude worse, one of the most evil songs ever written; maybe the worst thing about it is that it is honestly a very smartly written song, written in a way to evoke old Westerns as it pushes a very racially coded narrative that turns lynching into a fun Saturday night with the boys. His song for The Mule was nice.
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Re: R.I.P. Toby Keith
You might dig up Stephen Colbert's segment on him tonight. I had vaguely the same take on Keith you did -- mostly from the Dixie Chick contretemps -- but Colbert's reminiscence suggests he had more to him than the surface would have implied.Sabin wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 10:05 pm https://people.com/toby-keith-dead-62-f ... is-8559372
Surprised nobody posted anything about this. I haven't thought about this guy in 15-20 years but as I look back on his discography I'm realizing how fucking unavoidable he was for at least five years.
I'll say if anyone who actually cares about country music wants to discuss his legacy. They're welcome to. I couldn't tell you. His pre-9/11 stuff could be politely described as not my jam. His post-9/11 stuff... wow. What can you really say? His music was pretty much everything I hated about this country. I hated "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" like I've hated few songs. Re-reading his wikipedia page about his feud with the Dixie Chicks bring me back to the eternity that was that era's politics. I thought we'd be living under a neoconservative Republican media machine forever.
Cut to twenty years later, and we're not. We're in a very different political climate. In my efforts to be more charitable towards Toby Keith, I see that had varied, less war hawkish comments about the Iraq/Afghanistan wars, that he had nice things to say about Obama, and despite performing at Trump's inaugural took a moment to thank Obama for his service. What does that amount to? Nothing much. I dismissed him at the time as a piece of shit, but maybe he wasn't. What do I know? Then again, had Twitter been around and who knows what we'd know about Toby Keiths' every thought. He was just someone that I hated during an era that I hated. There are some for whom my ire has cooled and he's one of them. Again, until today I hadn't thought about him in almost twenty years. Back during the years where he was unavoidable, that would've sounded like a blessing.
R.I.P. Toby Keith
https://people.com/toby-keith-dead-62-f ... is-8559372
Surprised nobody posted anything about this. I haven't thought about this guy in 15-20 years but as I look back on his discography I'm realizing how fucking unavoidable he was for at least five years.
I'll say if anyone who actually cares about country music wants to discuss his legacy. They're welcome to. I couldn't tell you. His pre-9/11 stuff could be politely described as not my jam. His post-9/11 stuff... wow. What can you really say? His music was pretty much everything I hated about this country. I hated "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" like I've hated few songs. Re-reading his wikipedia page about his feud with the Dixie Chicks bring me back to the eternity that was that era's politics. I thought we'd be living under a neoconservative Republican media machine forever.
Cut to twenty years later, and we're not. We're in a very different political climate. In my efforts to be more charitable towards Toby Keith, I see that had varied, less war hawkish comments about the Iraq/Afghanistan wars, that he had nice things to say about Obama, and despite performing at Trump's inaugural took a moment to thank Obama for his service. What does that amount to? Nothing much. I dismissed him at the time as a piece of shit, but maybe he wasn't. What do I know? Then again, had Twitter been around and who knows what we'd know about Toby Keiths' every thought. He was just someone that I hated during an era that I hated. There are some for whom my ire has cooled and he's one of them. Again, until today I hadn't thought about him in almost twenty years. Back during the years where he was unavoidable, that would've sounded like a blessing.
Surprised nobody posted anything about this. I haven't thought about this guy in 15-20 years but as I look back on his discography I'm realizing how fucking unavoidable he was for at least five years.
I'll say if anyone who actually cares about country music wants to discuss his legacy. They're welcome to. I couldn't tell you. His pre-9/11 stuff could be politely described as not my jam. His post-9/11 stuff... wow. What can you really say? His music was pretty much everything I hated about this country. I hated "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" like I've hated few songs. Re-reading his wikipedia page about his feud with the Dixie Chicks bring me back to the eternity that was that era's politics. I thought we'd be living under a neoconservative Republican media machine forever.
Cut to twenty years later, and we're not. We're in a very different political climate. In my efforts to be more charitable towards Toby Keith, I see that had varied, less war hawkish comments about the Iraq/Afghanistan wars, that he had nice things to say about Obama, and despite performing at Trump's inaugural took a moment to thank Obama for his service. What does that amount to? Nothing much. I dismissed him at the time as a piece of shit, but maybe he wasn't. What do I know? Then again, had Twitter been around and who knows what we'd know about Toby Keiths' every thought. He was just someone that I hated during an era that I hated. There are some for whom my ire has cooled and he's one of them. Again, until today I hadn't thought about him in almost twenty years. Back during the years where he was unavoidable, that would've sounded like a blessing.
"How's the despair?"