Toby Keith is rocking with his new single “Don’t Let The Old Man In.” The song speaks of persevering despite one’s age and limitations. So it makes a certain amount of sense that Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood was the inspiration for the song.
Speaking with Audacity’s Superstar Power Hour, Keith opened up about the song. It turns out that Eastwood inspired the song during a golf tournament. Keith felt emboldened by Eastwood’s busy work schedule.
I’m Clint Eastwood’s partner at his golf tournament. He’s 93 this year, by the way,” Keith said. “Several years ago at the first event I played with him… I [asked], ‘What keeps you going at your age?’ He said, ‘I try to get up every day and be productive — not let that old man in.’”
He continued, “So I came home and said, ‘I’m going to write him a song.’ I didn’t know I was going to have to live those words in a few years.”
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Keith previously opened up about how Eastwood inspired the song. At the time, Eastwood had been filming The Mule, which impressed Keith given his age. Eastwood ended up being a fan of the song and even decided to include it in the film.
“It’s an interesting story, how this song came to be,” Keith said in a video on Instagram. “Clint Eastwood, when asked by me, what he was gonna do on his birthday, he said he was gonna go shoot a movie. He was 88 years old, and I said, ‘what do you do to keep yourself going?’ He said, ‘I try to get up and be productive, and don’t let the old man in.’ So, I wrote (the song, and) sent it to him. He put it in that movie, The Mule, and then it exploded on NBC when I sang it on the People’s Choice [Country] Awards when I was getting the Icon (Award).”
Keith has had to pick himself up in recent years and not let the old man in. The singer has battled stomach cancer for the past two years, but more recently, he has returned to performing.