Internet Venom, Toby Keith’s Death, . . . and Grace from Willie Nelson

Many used Toby Keith’s death to make political statements, but the man and the reality were complicated, best summed up by Willie Nelson.

Not long after I joined Twitter (which is now “X”) in 2010, a lot of folks were tweeting about Charlie Sheen. In early 2011, Sheen was in rehab and fired from his role on the TV show Two and a Half Men. Sheen appeared to have some type of breakdown, making claims about his “tiger blood” and about “winning.” The Internet had a field day.

While enjoying the Internet humor, I came across a Tweet that changed my perspective. I don’t recall who sent it, but the person basically said in a kind way, “I understand why everyone is saying what they are saying, but it might be good to remember that Charlie Sheen is a real person with a substance abuse problem and that his family, including his dad Martin Sheen, are also real people seeing what we are saying.”

And then I understood something that should have been obvious. It was s0mething many of us lose sight of in the excitement of an Internet flurry. Famous people are real people and maybe we should not say things about people that we would not say to their face in real life.

I have tried to maintain that philosophy in my Internet presence, although I’m sure I’ve failed at various points.

Internet Comments On Toby Keith’s Death

I thought back to Charlie Sheen the morning we got the news that Toby Keith had died. I had last seen him, his once powerful figure now frail from cancer, performing “Don’t Let the Old Man In” at the 2023 People’s Choice Country Awards. After his death, I went to Twitter/X as a resource to find out more about his passing, but was surprised mainly to see a lot of hostility. And even though I sympathized with some of the criticisms on other days, I was taken aback at how harsh it was at the time of his death. It made me think of Keith and his family.

So, on the day his death was announced, Twitter was divided about Toby Keith’s legacy. Although in subsequent days the discussions about Keith were more balanced, on the day where his death was news, I found that trending more than “Toby Keith” was “Dixie Chicks” and “Kris Kristofferson.” In the initial response to Keith’s death, there seemed to be mostly Tweets indirectly and directly celebrating his death and making jokes, referencing some combination of real and made-up history about his career.

The real history was that in the wake of 9/11, after Toby Keith released the song “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American),” he engaged in some back-and-forth with the Dixie Chicks’ Natalie Maines, who had criticized President Bush and the Iraq War. The feud started when Maines also criticized Keith’s song as “ignorant” and making country music sound “ignorant.” Keith responded by criticizing Maines’s songwriting skills, and then began using a doctored photo of her with Saddam Hussein on his tour. Maines then wore a t-shirt at an awards show with the letters, “F.U.T.K.” thought by many to be a message of “F You Toby Keith.”

But made-up history on Twitter also added to Keith’s transgressions, including claims that he had threated Natalie Maines (confusing the real horrible fact that she had actually been threatened by music fans for her statements). And it also ignored that later Toby Keith regretted the whole feud.

The made-up history also included a lot of references to a Rolling Stone essay by actor Ethan Hawke, who had claimed that at an event celebrating Willie Nelson’s birthday he heard Toby Keith warn Kris Kristofferson not to say any “lefty shit.” And then Kristofferson responded by dressing down and humiliating Keith, who had not served in the military as Kristofferson had. Keith angrily disputed the story at the time. And even though most involved (except Hawke) questioned Hawke’s account, it again became a major story again in light of Keith’s death. (Personally, I think what is most likely is that if there were any truth to the tale, Keith most likely said something in jest and Kristofferson responded in jest too. Or maybe there was some alcohol involved.)

Now, before you think I’m a Toby Keith apologist, I should reveal that from the start I’ve always been Team Dixie Chicks (now Chicks). And I love the music and respectd the life of Kris Kristofferson, a legend. I also never liked the endorsement of violence and boots-in-asses in Keith’s song “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue” as well as to a lesser extent his duet with Willie Nelson on “Beer for My Horses” (“Take all the rope in Texas, find a tall oak tree, / Round up all of them bad boys, hang them high in the street”).

But, even though I bought Dixie Chicks albums and never owned a Toby Keith album, I do think Keith was a talented songwriter and singer from the hits I’ve heard. Many of his hits songs expressed a delightful sense of humor. And while like many others, I have my problems with the message of “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue,” I also recognize that it captured a feeling among many in America after the humiliation and tragedy of 9/11. Along those lines, it is helpful to know that Keith initially did not intend to release the song but only use it in concert. And he had written the song with the subtitle “Angry American” reflecting it was a tribute to his late father’s perspective as an old veteran.

Further complicating the anger directed at Keith is that Keith’s politics were always more complicated than portrayed. Yes, he supported the military and took pro-America stances. But one may imply too much from that information. He had been a registered Democrat at the time of his “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue” song until 2008, later changing to be an Independent (i.e., never a Republican). And while he did perform at a pre-inauguration event for President Donald Trump, he explained it not in terms of support for Trump but in terms of helping any U.S. President who asked. He earlier had voted for Bill Clinton for president and had given a lot of praise to President Barack Obama.

But still, a lot of folks used the opportunity of Keith’s death to show how funny and cool they were by oversimplifying the history.

Willie’s Wisdom

Which all brings me to Willie Nelson. As discussed above, following Keith’s death from cancer, which must have been very difficult for both him and his family, there was the initial dueling outpouring on Twitter of the critics using his death for their jokes and others praising Keith as an “American,” including his songs and his work helping soldiers.

But in the midst of it all was a Tweet from Willie Nelson, who knew Keith, did a hit song with him, and was allegedly present during the Kristofferson encounter. Willie said simply “Rest in Peace Toby” and “I’ve had a lot of fun singing with Toby. He’s one of us…”

And that said it all for me, “He’s one of us.”

One may read it as Willie merely saying Toby Keith was a fellow singer or fellow country musician. But I think his point was broader than that. Toby Keith was human, just like us. And like us, he made mistakes, regretted some of his mistakes, lived his life, and had loved ones.

And like all of us humans do eventually, often with some suffering, he died.

And because we all struggle through this life with our own ups and downs and challenges, maybe we should try to avoid delighting in the pain of others, whether it be death or drug addiction and talking about “tiger blood.” Maybe we should err on the side of trying to understand others.

It is a difficult message these days as we face a country that is very divided politically. But Willie has been around a long time, and maybe we should give some weight to his advice. He is not the first one to say such a thing, but he gave us a timely reminder of what we used to call the Golden Rule.

Many moons I have lived;
My body’s weathered and worn;
Ask yourself how would you be,
If you didn’t know the day you were born.

Try to love on your wife;
And stay close to your friends;
Toast each sundown with wine;
Don’t let the old man in.

“Don’t Let the Old Man In,” Toby Keith.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Memorial Day, a holiday to remember men and women who died while serving in the military, originated not long after the Civil War where so many had died. The day became an official holiday in 1971, originally called Decoration Day (and like me you may know some folks who still use that name).

    One of the best songs in recent decades about a soldier dying in war is “Travelin’ Soldier,” which was made popular by the Dixie Chicks when it appeared on their 2002 album Home. Texas singer-songwriter Bruce Robison wrote the beautiful song that unfortunately became overshadowed when some people got mad at the Dixie Chicks at the time the song was released.

    “Travelin’ Soldier” tells the story of a shy man going off to Vietnam who meets a woman not long before he leaves. He asks her if he can write to her, and he does. At the end, the woman is at a football game when they make an announcement about soldiers who had died and, well, give it a listen if you have not heard the song. Below is a 2005 version by Natalie Maines, backed up by the songwriter Bruce Robison and his wife Kelly Willis.

    We wish everyone everywhere a safe Memorial Day weekend.

    Photo by Chimesfreedom. Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Dylan’s Late-Career Classics: Mississippi

    Dylan Mississippi
    Stayed in (the) Mississippi Too Long

    On May 8, 1541, explorer and conquistador Hernando de Soto became one of the first Europeans to reach the Mississippi River. A little more than a year later on May 21, 1542, still on a search for silver and gold in what would become the southern U.S., de Soto died from a fever on the banks of the Mississippi River. His men, not wanting the Native Americans to discover that de Soto was not divine, buried his body in the river.

    Blinded by his search for precious metals, the Spaniard could not have foreseen the real value of the water with a name that came from an Ojibwe word for “Great River.” And de Soto could not have predicted that a state would take its name from the river.  And he would not know that it all eventually would lead one of the land’s greatest songwriters, born in a state that hosts the headwaters of the mighty river, to use “Mississippi” as the title of one of his late career classics.

    Bob Dylan’s “Mississippi”

    We continue our series on Bob Dylan’s Late Career Classics with a listen to “Mississippi,” from Love and Theft (2001). Dylan continues to write outstanding songs, but in this series we consider songs that are classics in the sense they are not only identified with Dylan but appear in excellent cover versions, much like many songs from his early catalog.

    I am not the only fan of Dylan’s “Mississippi.” Rolling Stone has proclaimed that “Mississippi” is the seventeenth best song of the 2000s, comparing it favorably with Dylan’s “Tangled Up in Blue.” Further, the magazine ranks it 260th out of the greatest songs of all time.

    Dylan must have sensed something special in the song because he made several versions of the song while trying to get it right. He initially recorded it for Time Out of Mind (1997).  But he eventually left it off that album because he did not like Daniel Lanois’ arrangement.

    So “Mississippi” first appeared on an official release several years later on Love and Theft. Here is Bob Dylan performing the song live in 2002.

    Sheryl Crow’s Cover

    Because of the delay in Dylan releasing his own version, someone else released a cover version of “Mississippi” before Dylan released the song. Dylan first gave it to Sheryl Crow, who recorded it for her 1998 album The Globe Sessions.

    In this video Sheryl Crow explains how Dylan contacted her to ask if she wanted to record the song:

    Dylan’s Slow Acoustic “Mississippi”

    Dylan has released alternate versions of “Mississippi.” For my money, the best version is Dylan’s slower acoustic performance of “Mississippi.” This version leads off Dylan’s 2008 album of late-career lost songs and alternate takes, Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8, which as a 2-CD set included two versions of the song and as a 3-CD expensive deluxe version included three “Mississippi’s.”

    There are a few good covers of this slower version, including one from “Blues From a Hammock.” And in this cover, Scottish singer-songwriter Rob Naokes does nice job covering the wonderful acoustic version.

    Other artists have performed the song too. The Dixie Chicks, like Crow, make a rocking version of the song:

    What is “Mississippi” Really About?

    Many have speculated about the meaning of Dylan’s “Mississippi.” One writer claimed the song is influenced by the poetry of Henry Rollins. Rolling Stone claims it is “both a romantic promise and a hint of doom.”

    The lyrics reveal past regrets (“So many things that we never will undo / I know you’re sorry, I’m sorry too”). But at the same time, there are moments of humor and hope (“I know that fortune is waiting to be kind / So give me your hand and say you’ll be mine”).

    The singer recalls there is only one thing he did wrong, he “stayed in Mississippi a day too long.” Yet, what happened in Mississippi remains a mystery to the listener.

    Dylan knows that sometimes it is best to let the listener fill in the blanks. “Mississippi’s” magic is in one’s imagination, more powerful than the imaginary gold and silver that led de Soto to his grave in the great river.

    What do you think “Mississippi” is about? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Know the Song, But Not the Writer: Darrell Scott Edition

    darrell scott aloha from nashville Darrell Scott is a talented musician who has written some popular country songs, so even though you may not know his name, you might know some of his songs. He has released his own albums, including Long Ride Home (2011), but you might know him best for songs covered by other artists.

    “It’s a Great Day to Be Alive,” written by Darrell Scott and recorded by Travis Tritt. Here is Scott singing his version of the song.

    Here is the cover by Tritt:

    “Long Time Gone” and “Heartbreak Town” were written by Darrell Scott and recorded by the Dixie Chicks.

    Here’s the Dixie Chicks singing “Long Time Gone.”

    Those are some catchy country tunes. While I like the glossy covers, Scott does a nice job in the small live performances too. Scott continues to write and perform, and he has a new live album out with Tim O’Brien, We’re Usually A Lot Better Than This.

    What do you think of Darrell Scott’s songs? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Paradise Lost: West Memphis 3 Released

    Paradise Lost On Chimesfreedom, we have often noted the power of movies, and one example of that occurred today when Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley walked out of an Arkansas court today as free men. Known as “the West Memphis 3,” the three were convicted in 1994 of killing three young boys. One of the three victims was mutilated, making some suspect a Satanic ritual killing, which cast suspicion on Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley, partly because Echols practiced Wicca. When they were convicted in 1993, Echols was eighteen and the other two were under eighteen. The conviction was based in large part on an inconsistent confession that police obtained from the borderline mentally retarded Misskelley after twelve hours of interrogation.

    In 1996, directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky released the award-winning documentary Paradise Lost – The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills about the case. I remember seeing the film years ago and being intrigued by the disturbing case. The documentary raised serious questions about the guilt of the three youths convicted of the crime. (Below is part one of the first film.)

    In 2000, a sequel Paradise Lost 2: Revelations raised further questions about the evidence and focused on continuing efforts to prove Echols and the other two were innocent. Watching the movies, one begins to suspect another person featured in the films may have been involved in the murders. The movies helped gain support for the West Memphis 3 from a number of celebrities, including Eddie Vedder and Natalie Maines (Dixie Chicks), who were at the court hearing in Arkansas this morning. A third movie on the case is scheduled for a January release.

    Today, following the discovery that DNA evidence did not connect the three to the crime, prosecutors allowed the three to plead guilty and maintain their innocence. Through the plea deal, the three were released for their time already served in prison.

    Are they innocent? It is difficult to tell with a plea deal like this, and there is some evidence against them while there are also serious questions about much of the evidence. Either way, though, they have each spent seventeen years in prison, with Echols having spent part of that time on death row when he initially was sentenced to death. In light of today’s news, it is quite fortunate that he was not executed. Hopefully, some justice was done in the case. But paradise cannot be regained, as their time in prison cannot be returned, and the lives of the murdered boys cannot be brought back.

    The release of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley is due largely to the work of their attorneys and supporters, but it is fair to wonder whether or not they would have gained this attention and received the quality of legal representation they did without the notoriety that came from the films. Movies can make us happy, they can make us cry, they can comfort us, they can make us angry, they can inform us, and maybe they can correct injustices.

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