Feelin' The Hate With Toby Keith Nation
Toby Keith likes to brag, "This big dog will fight when you rattle his cage." But when my reporting on the pro-lynching lyrics in his song, "Beer For My Horses," began to complicate the promo tour for his forthcoming "Southern comedy" movie of the same title, tough-talking Toby whined to the media. "The song was a hit and the words 'lynch' and 'racism' has [sic] never come up until this moron wrote this blog," he fumed to Contact Music.
When Fox News picked up Keith's comments, Big Dog Daddy's loyal fans bombarded my in-box with a deluge of indignant rants. While insisting to me that "Beer For My Horses" contained not even a hint of coded racial animus, Keith's fans simultaneously revealed their simmering resentment of Jews, blacks, and "faggy liberals."
Their hate-laden letters comprised the script for my latest video:
Toby Keith Nation Fights Back, a creative take on my hate mail
Keith claimed that "Beer For My Horses" was simply an anodyne ditty intended to evoke nostalgia for the Old West, where "bad guys" met justice at the end of a rope. "It's about the old West and horses and sheriffs ... and going and getting the bad guys. It's not a racist thing or about lynching," he said.
Why then did Keith sing so despairingly of car thieves, "corruption in the street," and terrorists who blow up buildings? Why did he invoke the swarthy boogeymen of the modern right-wing imagination right before launching into a verse about the good old days when his "grandpappy" would "take all the rope in Texas...find a tall oak tree," and "hang them high in the street, for all the people to see?" Maybe "Beer For My Horses" isn't about the Old West after all.
But since Keith has invoked that golden era of "horses and sheriffs...and going and getting the bad guys," it is fair to ask if he knows anything about the real history of lynching in Texas. Does he know that according to the Handbook of Texas, the Lone Star stood third among the states -- just behind Mississippi and Georgia -- in its total of lynching victims? Does Keith know that of the 468 people lynched in Texas, a whopping 339 were African-American (a partial list of black Texan lynching victims is here)?
Lynching was not, as Keith disingenuously claimed, a practice exclusive to gallant Hollywood cowboys played by Gene Autry (who couldn't even ride a horse) and Ronald Reagan. It was a mode of organized terror employed by groups like the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction to restore white supremacy in Texas and throughout the region.
Keith should immediately apologize for his musical monstrosity. Then I suggest he perform a cover of "Strange Fruit," the Billie Holiday anthem inspired by the anti-lynching poetry of Jewish school teacher Abel Meeropol. Holiday often cried (watch her here) as she performed her haunting dirge. On at least one occasion, she was so overcome with emotion she could not finish. With Toby Keith exploiting the South's most barbaric tradition for big bucks, Holiday's tears burn like salt on an unhealed wound.
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Oh stop already with your nonsense. We get it, you hate Toby Keith. Fine, don't listen to him. Isn't that what the left tells Right wing Christian fanatics when they don't like the sex on tv from the Left.
sex on TV from the left? How about from on top or behind?
Are you aware Toby Keith is a Democrat?
What does that have to do with anything?
I didn't see Mr. Blumenthal rant that Keith was a typical Republican. He didn't try to lay this at their door at all.
Watch Keith's video, observe and take note of the timing of certain lyrics and the concurrent images appearing on screen, and then tell us all that this was innocent on Toby's part.
LOL!
And yet Max has been trying to tie TK to republicans with what is now his THIRD tirade against TK! I guess Max just can't seem to let this one go, which is laughable!
Proof?
From Boston Globe:
******
Short-tempered country star Toby Keith doesn"t back down from anything. He has feuded with the Dixie Chicks, quarreled with ABC anchorman Peter Jennings, stood up for rednecks, bashed the Taliban, and furthered his hawk credentials by taking a swipe at terrorists in the radio hit, "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American).
But Keith has a confession to make. "People don"t realize that I"m a registered Democrat," he says. "They automatically assume that I"m a chest-banging, war-drum-pounding Republican with my military stance." Keith goes on to compare himself to Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut: "a conservative Democrat who is sometimes embarrassed for his party."
http://www
Hey, Big Dog Toby Keith! Remember how you helped ride The Dixie Chicks out of town on a rail for using their constitutionally guaranteed Freedom of Speech about Bush? Well, they were right, and you were wrong. Just like you are now. Even though you shouldn't be persecuted in America for what you write, no matter how vile it is. But, payback is a mother! Instant Karma's gonna get 'cha. You sow what you reap. What goes around comes around. Etc, etc, etc.
Toby Keith is a Democrat not a flaming liberal meaning he supports the troops more than damn near anyone and respects the leader of this country.
Oh here we go with supporting the troops crap again. Yeah I support the troops too that's why I want them to come home and stop dying for a lie. And I respect the Office of the Presidency but not who currently holds it.
Thank you for your Ubias"ed" view.
To lynch is to "execute without due process of law, especially to hang, as by a mob." I doubt Toby's intent was racist (though I can't say for sure). But, the song does advocate lynch people. I think this 'controversy' is tad overblown and the song is like 4 or 5 years old now so even with the movie it seems a tad contrived. I do agree with another poster however. Toby openly if not only figuratively lynched the Dixie Chics (who turned out to be right) for asking some simple questions and making a statement. I guess what goes around comes around.
I'm no Toby Keith fan but I have to say that the vitriol over this song is missplaced. And, sad to say, there is more gratuitious, in your face violence in the worst rap music than there is in Keith's song. That violence is reflected in the numerous instances of rappers being killed over music turf wars or something equally foolish and usless. Huh? Music to murder by? Was anyone incensed over rapper Lil Kim who bravely refused to identify someone involved in a shooting and went to jail, thereby strengthening her "street cred"? I use the word bravely with sarcasm by the way. And don't cry for country music, the corporate version that is. As cliched and hunk and hottie and flag obsessed as that is it can't be called serious music anymore. Chalk up another one for the glorious (sarcasm again) video era, where how you look is more important than how you sound. Emmy Lou Harris, Lyle Lovett, Lucinda Williams, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Buddy Miller, Joe Ely, Mary Gauthier, and countless others have produced some great music over the years but just aren't pretty enough or young enough for corporate country. If you don't have XM radio's Cross Country you can only hear about these people if you read about them and reading seems to be too hard for most people these days, country or hip hop fans alike.
But this is about Toby Keith, comparing his lyrics to a rap song doesn't make what he did any less bad.
Also, I'd say that no rapper talks about lynching, and no rap lyrics are worse than any scene in "Pineapple Express."
Face it. Maybe everyone who likes this song, didn't notice. But chances are- If you're a Toby Keith fan, and you like country music- Then you probably already agree with Keith OR you're too ignorant to notice.
So whats this to do with rap again? You're so racist. You don't even realize how many rappers talk about nothing of the sort- I'm sure you can name the three violent ones that you may have heard..who Snoop? JayZ? Lil Wayne? Great.
Now go listen to Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Little Brother, Nas- Then tell me again why lynching is ok.
If you have to demonize something else, to prove what you're doing is ok- What you're doing is not ok.
Good thing not too many Toby keith fans have access to a computer to respond. LOL
"Good thing not too many Toby keith fans have access to a computer to respond. LOL"
I see... so anybody who criticizes rap is stereotyping. But it's OK for YOU to stereotype Toby Keith fans.
You are such a hypocrite.
You forgot Del McCoury
And Del's onetime collaborator, Steve Earle.
Method #3 ... Distract and deflect!
It still amazes me that there was no outcry when this song went to around #1 on the country charts and between # 10 and 20 on the regular billboard charts. Myopia anyone? Kick somebody when it fits your cause, not four years ago when you couldn't garner as much attention over it. Real nice. We see who your out for now...its the attention.
Outcry that this song went #1 on the country charts?
Have you looked at the songs at the top? A bunch of thug rappers.
Keith is Mickey Mouse compared to the rappers.
How many people have rappers lynched?
As a southern raised black man who gained an unlikely ear for country music I can safely say that Billy Ray and Achey Breaky HardON signaled the death nail of the genre. Ignore these poseurs!!! All they represent is the stench of a rotting corpse!
Death "nail"? I like it, but it's death knell.
I meant what I said!!! ... or typed!!!
It's an ugly song. Vigilante "justice"? Is that like military intelligence? Who made Mr.Keith Judge and Executioner?
This is not a pursuit of truth and justice, but knee jerk reaction to problems beyond Mr. Keith's grasp.
Let's back law enforcement and leave lynch mobs to the past.
It's a song. You hate it, OK, I get that. I like it, and I don't support vigilante justice.
Repeat after me: "It's only a song... it's only a song..."
How do we KNOW Toby intended a racist message here? Yes it's a dumb song. Yes it has very little musical value, except maybe to boozers in some old bar. But how do we know that he intentionally sat down and said, " I'm gonna write me a racist anthem."? When do we stop jumping at every little shadow and just live?
I don't think Max ever said explicitly that his intent was to create a racist song. Clearly, Max perceives there to be racist undertones to the song. If he heard it and was offended, there was probably someone on the opposite end of the spectrum who thought "Man, I wish I could go get those darkies with Toby like back in the 'Good Ole Days.'" Neither of them feeling that way proves that Toby Keith sat down and wrote a "racist anthem" or even intended there to be a racial element to the song. The problem is the ignorance and naivete practiced by both Toby Keith and other people (like those in the Colbert Report audience, and I'm assuming Willie Nelson as well since he duets on the song) who fail to understand the racist implications of lynching.
Just like a person who puts up the Confederate flag because of "Southern pride", Toby Keith was either unaware or purposefully indignant of the racial undertones of lynching. If the purpose of the song was to tell a story about the Old West, why not write a song about a sheriff's posse instead of a lynch mob?
It's a mistake to judge history by today's standards.
At any rate, if you really want to get into nuance, often there was little difference in a sheriff's posse and a lynch mob.
I'm no fan of today's mainstream country music and don't know these lyrics by heart, but I seriously doubt Toby Keith or anyone connected with composing, recording, or distributing the "Beer..." song thought it racist or intended it to be some sort of slur against blacks or minorities, or some sort of veiled call to rally the KKK .
The disturbing aspect of the song is that it revels in and promotes this Wild West "shoot first and ask questions later" myth perpetuated by Hollywood and popular culture. It promotes the bellicose and belligerent attitude that the Bush Administration has elevated into official policy.
Furor over this song exposes the cultural disconnect between the "Two Americas"---those who consider themselves rural-oriented, plain-spoken, and politically conservative, and those who consider themselves erudite, cosmopolitan, and politically moderate to liberal.
Continuing to harp on its racial implications, which at best are based in subconscious cultural dynamics and historical ignorance, will only serve to widen the divide. Critics would do well to skip the race card this time. Too much nuance, even for many of us who "do nuance".
Did you even read the article? 339 of 468 recorded lynchings in Texas in that era were black people. That's 72%. The mythological world of his "grandpappy" is a LIE. But I'll give you that the song isn't really overtly racist so much as arrogantly ignorant with racist overtones. The fact that Toby Keith is so enraptured with the lies of his daddy and grandaddy and so unrepentant when faced with the reality of his song's outright stupidity and misunderstanding of history is enough for me to never give Toby a second look or listen ever again.
"The mythological world of his "grandpappy" is a LIE."
Yes, it's true the song is about the mythological West. So what? There are many songs that take idealized looks at many different topics. It's just a song.
"the song isn't really overtly racist so much as arrogantly ignorant with racist overtones.
No, that's you inserting your bias.
"enough for me to never give Toby a second look or listen ever again."
I'm sure he's very upset about that.
Not everything in music is historically true. Sometimes songwriters make stuff up.
Sometimes they even make up words. Like "Pompadous," for example.
"When do we stop jumping at every little shadow and just live?" That's what some Jews said early on in Nazi Germany and by the time they realized it wasn't "little shadows" it was too late.
LOL!
So now TK is comparable to NAZIs?
We're equating Toby Keith with Nazis now?
Get a grip.
And that proves Godwin's Law.
Generally liked the post, except, and I don't know how to break this to you, Max, so I'll just say it: Swarthy bogeymen actually did blow up buildings. They are not figments of the modern right-wing imagination. Really. I saw it happen here in NY, about seven years ago.
White bogeymen do it too. Just ask Oklahoma City.
Seems to be covered in the song:
"Somebody blew up a building..
You miss the point. Keith claims the song to be all about the old West, not about international terrorists. But as we all know Keith will toss a line about killing swarthy boogymen into a song any time his record company tells him he needs another hit.
The disappointment here isn't Keith, it's Willie. He prostituted himself to get a piece of a hit song. VERY disappointing.
"The disappointment here isn't Keith, it's Willie. He prostituted himself to get a piece of a hit song. VERY disappoint
Oh, get over yourself. And the song is about the idea of taking an Old West (idealized, yes) approach to modern life.
Perhaps Toby Keith should learn how to play songs that have more than 3 chords before claiming to be a musician.
On behalf of all punk rock, I say pthhhhhhhh
I have not heard a new country music singer who has a voice. Those days with Marty Robbins,
Elvis, Jim Reeves are gone. All these new singers have a loud voice, nothing distinct, don't even
carry a nice, catchy melody. Toby Keith is one of the worst.
Elvis wasn't country. Elvis was that accelerated gospel/blues hybrid known as "rock & roll."
Oh so we can toss out people like Lou Reed and Woody Guthrie too then, right?
I'm no Keith fan but how many chords you can play has nothing to do with how good a musician you are. The quality of musical expression has to do with content. Robert Johnson knew about three chords and he revolutionized the blues. The band Yes knew many more and produced a lot of, IMHOP, pretentious twaddle with zero content. I aggree with Economike. Lou Reed and Woody Guthrie are excellent examples. Classical music from India has nothing but a drone. Is RAvi Shankar not a musician?
can you say Ramones?
Hang 'em high in the street, Toby. For all the people to see.
Don't turn away, Toby.
Look.
Howa bout we start with your family first, brave Red Stater?
Toby Kieth is 47, which would make his father between 67-97 presumably and his "grandpappy" (most likely R.I.P.) but in the range of 87-117.
This certainly doesn't place his "grandpappy" in the old west with Wyatt Earp or alive anywhere near the indian wars, etc.
But that WOULD place his grandpappy squarely in the middle of what many refer to as "The Lynching Era" of 1880-1930.
Not about racism, eh Keith?
Or seeing as Toby is from Oklahoma: The Tulsa Race Riots of 1921.
Where is the atonement for that atrocity?
It's interesting to note when individuals use subliminal racist language to excite some almost subconscious racist tendancy, they scream from the rooftops that they are not racist.
Methinks they protest too much!
If rap lyrics are OK, why not Toby Keith's. I don't care for either but is there another one of those double standard things going on?
Bingo. Hey Blumenthal how many columns have you posted about racist, sexist, mysogynist, homophobic rap songs / lyrics?
And as others have pointed out, this song is several years old. What's the big deal now?
This is a diversionary tactic. That there are bad rap lyrics does not excuse Toby Keith. If a mainstream rap artist wrote a song longing for the days when he could get away with, oh, I don't know, raping white women, then the correlation would have validity. As it stands, your argument is lacking.
All rap lyrics are not bad.
Also were you born yesterday. If you weren't you would've read plenty of articles on Huffpo about certain bad rap lyrics and other forms of entertainment.
No one is indicting Johnny Cash, Charlie Pride, Lorreta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Charlie Daniels, or any other Country Music artist -- just the man who gets his horse drunk and longs for the good old days, when good ole' boys, used to like to stand around looking up and admiring their handywork as they posed for pictures with no shame -- you know, the days of grandpappy!
You are correct chronic, this is not a generalization but a focused indictment.
I can point to supremely questionable lyrics in practically any genre of music--"Don't Stand So Close To Me" and "My Sharona," for example, are about sex with underage girls. However, you have to remember the target demographic of country music: the dirt-poor landlocked rural types who have basically been instructed every generation to maintain an overromanticized circa-1850s status quo by being happy with what you have and deferring to established, potentially hereditary authority. They see how rapidly society is changing before them, especially how the old rules for success have fallen by the wayside in the face of a more cutthroat Ubermenschian attitude that doesn't acknowledge ethnicity or religion, and it scares them. Toby Keith panders to that fear.
"Suburban Music" stars like Keith (you can't call them 'country' there's nothing 'country' about what is called 'country' music these days) wouldn't make a pimple on Merle Haggard's wrinkled old ass. George Strait and Alan Jackson are the only singers today you can call "country". I never liked "Beer for My Horses" since the first time I heard it, and was disappointed to hear Willie on it. Guess he needed the money. And Willie will sing a duet with anyone. I hear Snoop Dogg is next.
Yep.
Snoop has some good chronic to aid in the contemplation of royalties.
Provide the chronic and folks like Keith & Nelson will be there.
I was listening to a rebroadcast of an interview with Don Felder on the radio this morning, and they commented that the Eagles would be considered country today based on "Desperado
Someone once described modern country music today as "Every bad Eagles song that never made it onto an album in the 1970s".
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