Typically people don’t associate advocating for acceptance with Country music but Keith’s bar-anthem “I Love This Bar” is all about welcoming all. This song is deceptively progressive and impressively easy to find yourself singing along to.
Most of Toby Keith’s songs from this album are fun songs about drinking, women, and dreams but this one is a little bit more. This song is an interesting mix of progressive politics and classic Toby Keith Country. The backdrop for this song is a bar reminiscent of Cheers with Keith singing loving about his favorite bar but what is surprising is his attitude toward the patrons that frequent it. At first this song appears to not be any different as he mentions “smokers,” and, “boozers,” and “bikers,” but when he mentions, “yuppies” one realizes that this might go somewhere different. Some of the more unexpected people that are mentioned throughout the song include, high-techs, lovers, divorces, and hookers, however what really suggests an even more accepting atmosphere is the comparisons of opposites like, “winners and losers,” and, “a dumbass and a wiseguy”. These comparisons of opposites imply that not only those types of people are allowed in but so too are all those in between. Toby Keith really creates an image of a motley group of people.
In my mind, the strongest and most powerful part of this song is the end of the chorus, which goes, “Just walking through the front door / puts a big smile on my face / it ain’t to0 far, come as you are”. Hearing this celebratory and lighthearted song drop the line, “Come as you are,” makes me smile because I think that is how the topic of acceptance should be approached – positively. Toby Keith approaches the topic of acceptance not in an accusatory or frustrated way, but in a way that is highlights and celebrates the diversity of the bar. One can imagine themselves in this bar, walking in and seeing inviting faces, which I think is a better catalyst for change than a negative song.
If nothing else, I think that this song fits perfectly with the rest of Toby Keith’s songs on the album like “As Good as I Once Was” and “I’m Just Talkin’ About Tonight”. The fact that Keith managed to stick to his sound and produce a song with an atypical meaning is impressive. Finally, the message of acceptance in this song that is not typically associated with Country music, and I am glad that it does such an effective job at demonstrating it positively.
Throughout country music there have always been songs written about love and relationships. Within this genre you tend to hear both the positive and negative sides of love, but rarely do you hear both incorporated into one song. “Not That Different” is a song I grew up listening to because my dad used to be a big fan of Collin Raye. Ever since hearing this song, it has stuck with me throughout the years due to the fact that its message doesn’t have to be strictly related to just relationships; it can be interpreted on a broader scale of love between any two people. When you break this song down, its overall message talks about how people can have so many differences, yet we still are all the same. As you will see, Collin Raye presents a message to all of us that we should look past the differences with others into their personalities that lie underneath.
Eric Church seems to straddle the line of being classified as an outlaw without ever proclaiming himself as one.