Remembering Toby Keith: A Tribute to His Impactful Music

"She took my new sunglasses and my old jean jacket and she never even bothered to ask…" That line always makes me smile because it reminds me of my wife (in a good way). She’s constantly borrowing my things without asking and I love her for it.

As I was scrolling through my social media feed last week, the news of country music icon Toby Keith’s death hit me like a ton of bricks. Probably best known for his anthem to 9/11, “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue” which had every red-blooded young American male singing at the top of their lungs post 9/11. That song provided a way for one to channel the overwhelming emotion felt about the impending justice of those who took so many lives.

His later work tended to glamorize drinking and partying (as much country music tends to do) but his early to mid-90s music often pulled at my heartstrings as a young man growing up and looking to find his place in the world.

Songs like “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” romanticize that urge most young men have of dropping everything, shirking responsibility and going off the grid. Through Keith’s song, we could live vicariously through that picture of adventure without possibly ruining our lives.

My all-time favorite song of his is “Dream Walkin’” which I referenced earlier. It’s about a man who meets this incredible woman and he can’t get her out of his mind. As a teenager who was trying to understand feelings and relationships, this was always a song that helped me process those emotions.

Another favorite was “How do you like me now?” This song hit in 1999 and it’s about unrequited loved. The singer has become famous and he laughs at the life of his ex, who had made fun of him earlier. It’s a classic “revenge” song where the jilted lover gets the last laugh. Anyone who has been dumped can relate to this one.

And then, no song can bring me to tears like “American Soldier.” The line, “And I will always do my duty no matter what the price, I’ve counted up the cost, I know the sacrifice, Oh, and I don’t want to die for you, but if dying’s asked of me, I’ll bear that cross with honor, ’cause freedom don’t come free” is one of the best ever written that speaks on the subject of honor, commitment and dedication. This is a message that our entire world needs to continually hear.

Keith was outspoken about “leaning” on his faith during his last days. I never read any reference to Jesus, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one somewhere. He clearly believed in God, whoever that is to him. When facing a terminal diagnosis such as stomach cancer, I don’t know how anyone gets through those times without leaning on the Solid Rock of Christ.

But today I take time to mourn the loss of a man who has many songs floating around in my memories (that I’ve introduced to my own children) and whose songs while, sometimes glamorizing vices, also taught godly morals about sacrifice, commitment, and paying the ultimate price of dying for one’s friends; the price that was perfectly displayed on the cross, courtesy, not of the red, white and blue…but of the red blood of Jesus.

“I’m on a roll now, I gotta know how this dream ends…”