Toby Keith once said his most important song was not his best song. That sounds strange, right? For him, “important” meant something different. It meant survival. Before he was a star, he had lost a high-paying oil field job and was struggling. He was an outsider in Nashville, and he needed one song to break through. He needed one song to prove he belonged.
That one song finally came from a simple moment in a bar. He watched a friend get turned down for a dance, only to see a young cowboy sweep the same girl off her feet. Someone joked that his friend “should’ve been a cowboy.” That single line lit a fire. Toby went to his hotel bathroom that night and wrote the whole song in 20 minutes.
Toby Keith on the most important song he wrote
Hearing this story makes fans love the song even more. Many say it is the “perfect” country song because it came from a real, funny moment. One person commented that you can just feel the fun he must have had writing it. Another said it is amazing how a 20-minute idea in a hotel room turned into one of the biggest songs of all time.
The song he wrote in that hotel room was “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.” It became his very first single, and it went straight to number one. This was the song he was talking about. It did not just get on the radio, it gave him a career.
Toby Keith – Should’ve Been A Cowboy (Official Music Video)
When you watch the music video, you see why it worked. It is pure fun and storytelling. The song dreams of a simpler life, riding with Jesse James and singing with Gene and Roy. It is a song about escape, and it is a feeling everyone understands. The black-and-white video feels like a classic movie you grew up with.
This was Toby Keith’s gift. He was a master storyteller who always felt real, whether he was singing a party anthem or a quiet ballad. His amazing journey started with one song, written in one night, that changed everything. Follow Toby Keith on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to explore the music of a true original.