About The Song
The first single from Toby Keith’s 15th studio album finds him celebrating a proud American patriot. He debuted the song on June 8, 2011, at the CMT Music Awards in Nashville after which it was immediately released to radio and for digital download via iTunes.
The song was written and produced by Keith with a co-writing credit for his frequent collaborator, Nashville singer-songwriter Bobby Pinson.
American actor and country music singer Gregory Scott Reeves is also credited. He is known for his roles as Ryan McNeil on The Young and the Restless (1991–2001) and Dr. Steven Webber on General Hospital (2009–present). Reeves also makes up one half of the country duo Blue County.
Keith explained the song’s meaning to The Oklahoman: “It’s not really political statement, but it’s just about a couple that raised this boy who’s in the song and it just talks about all of the ways they support their country and how patriotic they are with the way they live every day,” he said.
The release of the patriotic anthem coincided with the US military completing its 10-year mission of tracking down Osama bin Laden. “It’s kind of like spitting in a swinging jug,” he said of the timing to The Oklahoman. “But there’s a plant at Shawnee – a clothing plant – and this guy’s wanting me to make jeans and T-shirts that are actual made-in-America products. And it’ll reopen that plant at Shawnee if (the deal) comes through. And so that’s kind of where we got the idea to write a song about people that only buy American-made products to support the economy.”
Keith admitted to Billboard magazine that when he first wrote and recorded this song, his first inclination was to leave it off Clancy’s Tavern. “About a year and a half ago, me and Bobby Pinson were writing that song and I said, ‘Man, I might have to put this thing on the back burner for awhile,” he said. “I’ve got ‘Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue,’ ‘American Soldier,’ I just did ‘American Ride’ (in 2009)…a lot of America songs. They’re just coming daily; if I did ’em all, that’s all I’d record. I thought I should leave about three or four years between ’em and let the last one breathe a little, y’know? I figured (‘Made in America’) could wait for the next (album).” It was the reaction from the musicians and engineers in the studio, as well as those at his label, which convinced him otherwise. “I was in the booth singing the scratch vocal, and everyone was going, ‘God, what a smash. That is awesome, pal!’ he recalled. “Everyone was high-fiving and carrying on. I wasn’t about to pop everyone’s bubble and say, ‘I ain’t putting it on the album.’ So I said, ‘Alright, y’all win. Put it on there.'”
Keith clocked up his 20th Country chart-topper with this patriotic anthem. His run of #1 hits dates back to June 5, 1993 when his debut single “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” galloped to the summit.
Video
Lyrics
My old man’s that old man,
Spent his life livin’ off the land
Dirty hands, and a clean soul
It breaks his heart seein’ foreign cars
Filled with fuel that isn’t ours
And wearin’ cotton we didn’t grow
He’s got the red, white,
And blue flyin’ high on the farm
Semper fi tattooed on his left arm
Spends a little more in the store for a tag
In the back that says U.S.A.
He won’t buy nothin’ that he can’t fix
With WD Forty and a Craftsman wrench
He ain’t prejudice he’s just, made in America
Loves his wife, she’s that wife
That decorates on the fourth of July
But says, “Every day’s Independence Day”
She’s golden rule, teaches school
Some folks say it isn’t cool
But she says the Pledge of Allegiance anyway
He’s got the red, white, and blue flyin’ high on the farm
Semper fi tattooed on his left arm
Spends a little more in the store for a tag
In the back that says U.S.A.
He won’t buy nothin’ that he can’t fix
With WD Forty and a Craftsman wrench
He ain’t prejudice he’s just, made in America
Born in the heartland, raised up a family
King James and Uncle Sam
Got the red, white, and blue flyin’ high on the farm
Semper fi tattooed on his left arm
Spends a little more at the store for a tag
In the back that says U.S.A.
Won’t buy nothin’ that he can’t fix
With WD Forty and a Craftsman wrench
He ain’t prejudice he’s just, made in America
Made in America, made in America
Yeah my old man’s that old man,
Made in America
