Adam Weinstein
English 101
1 November 2007
Toby Keith, Love Me If You Can
In Toby Keith’s song Love Me If You Can Toby is the one singing the song, but he is speaking for all of the people that believe that there are certain things that have to be done, but on the other hand there are times when you have to go against what you believe in. In this song Toby does not sing about one particular idea or event, but he focuses on several things that Americans deal with fairly regular. When the song begins the first four lines of it show an example of two of the events.
“Sometimes I think that war is necessary
Every night I pray for peace on earth
I hand out my dollars to the homeless
But believe that every able soul should work” (www.metorlyrics.com)
These four lines of the song are talking about the way that a number of people feel about the way things are gone about. In the first two lines war is being talked about and the song is saying that sometimes war is necessary, but if everything could ever work out between everyone, peace on earth would be the best possible situation. This idea is a common one throughout America because almost everyone wants there to be peace on earth, but some people say that in order to obtain peace wars have to be fought to resolve the problems. Then lines three and four leave the issue of peace and war and they talk about the homeless. These two lines are saying how there is a large population of people that contribute to giving money to the homeless, but many of these people do not necessarily agree with what they are doing. Many people feel that if a person is able to go out, get a job, and earn a living then those people should not get money given to them because they are able to make their own money. This thought is shared by many people in America because there are many times when you are either in a conversation or hear of a conversation about the number of homeless people in America and how many of are actually able to go out and earn their money, but they do not because of laziness or lack of motivation. As the song continues it goes on to talk about other situations.
“I stand by my right to speak freely
But I worry ‘bout what kids learn from TV
And before all of debating turns to angry words and hate
Sometimes we should just agree to disagree” (www.metrolyrics.com)
The first two lines of this verse discuss American’s right to freedom of speech, but it is sometimes taken to far on TV and there are inappropriate things shown on TV that are not viewable for all age groups. This has recently been a very popular debate because there are some people that use their right to speak freely and sometimes go a little too far with it, and the opposing side says that there is a limit to how far you can take your rights. Therefore these lines also pertain to ideas and events going on in America. The next two lines talk about how people sometimes get a little to mad at each other and take things to far when they should really just agree that both of them show valid points so the should just forget about it. This happens to almost everyone every day and if people did just “agree to disagree” things would be a lot better between many groups of people. The chorus of this song displays a message that shows how a person who thinks like this would feel.
“I’m a man of my convictions
Call me wrong
Call me right
But I bring my better angels to every fight
You may not like where I’m goin’
But you sure know where I stand
Hate me if you want to
Love me if you can” (www.metrolyics.com)
In this chorus “a man of my convictions” means that he is a man of what he believes in. The song continues to go on and say that no matter what other people think of these beliefs, he will continue to think like this, and he does not really care if it causes a problem. This is also a similar belief that many Americans share because like it says earlier in the song “sometimes we should just agree to disagree” and this is said because many American believe firmly in their beliefs and they usually are not quick to change their beliefs.
In this song Toby Keith deliverers messages that many people can relate to in several ways. However, there are some parts of the song that may cause one not to understand the messages that the song is supposed to be portraying. He has a tendency to make several hypocritical remarks, which may be the way the he wants to get his message across, but I see this as a confusing way to do it because at first glance this song may be seen as a song that just goes back on everything that is said.
In conclusion, Toby Keith’s song Love Me If You Can Toby is representing the people that believe things, but know that they can not always follow their beliefs like they want to because there are sometimes circumstances that call for you to do something that you are not completely in agreement with. If you look at this song at a quick glance you may not be able to get the message because this song has an interesting way of presenting its message.
Works Cited
Toby Keith Love Me If You Can Lyrics. Metro Lyrics. 30 October 2007. <http://www.metrolyrics.com/love-me-if-you-can-lyrics-toby-keith.html>.
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