Toby Keith had one final gift to give. Curse Hardy for making me teary-eyed on a Friday. But, the artist brought together Keith, Luke Combs, and the great late Joe Diffie in a song that's moving and also very sad.
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If this was Keith's last song (and it certainly looks like it is), then it is a fitting conclusion to his career. "Ships That Don't Come In" fits right in with some of Keith's other songs such as "American Soldier" and "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue." Keith was always supportive of the armed forces and military. He often toured throughout his career overseas for them.
Fellow fans could hardly contain their emotion at the song. One person wrote, "Anyone else crying at 7 in the morning?! What an amazing surprise hearing Toby's voice on this album. RIP Toby."
Another commented, "RIP Toby.. Your music always makes me patriotic and proud to be an American. Wether I'm overseas or back home, it always makes me proud of my decision to be apart of the greatest team. Hope heaven's beautiful?? HOOAH."
Still another wrote, "This is a beautiful song ! Nice to hear Luke, Joe and Toby together. RIP Toby Keith."
Toby Keith Talks Patriotism
The combination of Keith, Diffie, and Combs (arguably three generations of country music) just pushes this one to another level. Keith was always proud of his patriotism. In an interview with AZ Central, Keith said, "I've never been political — I thought it was cool to support the military. I had 60 Minutes after me, Fox News and CNN. I had these crazy bloggers making stuff up. It was like "What did I do to deserve this?"
He continued, "You can't go out and support the military in Afghanistan or you get all the right-wing checkmarks that come with it. I was like, "Well, I'm just gonna take 'em. Mark me down. Just check me off however you want to check me off. It never did stop me. And it never did dishearten me. I was just in a world of going "What the f--k?" (laughs) "What is this about?" Part of it is because you're rich and famous, too?"
Keith never cared what others thought. He said, "I'm sure it is. But "American Soldier" got as much grief as that did. "Beer for My Horses" got a lot of grief and it was just a Western toast. You know, people are gonna hate and you've just gotta let it roll. I just don't ask anybody I don't know to do anything with me."
