After "Bullets in the Gun" it remained to be seen if Toby Keith would be able to release an album that would top it. Well, with "Clancy's Tavern," he has done just that. While "Bullets in the Gun" sounded as if the artist was trying something different, "Clancy's Tavern" sounds like the Toby Keith we're used to.
The album kicks off with the No. 1 single, "Made in America." It's a song about an old man who lives in the country and is saddened when he sees people driving foreign cars, filled with foreign fuel and "wearing cotton we didn't grow." He lives with his wife who's a schoolteacher that still says the Pledge of Allegiance, even though "some folks say it isn't cool" and raised his family to love this country as much as he does.
The next song is "I Need to Hear a Country Song." This number follows a broken hearted cowboy sitting in a bar and needing to hear a song that is a blue and lonely as he is. After that, fans will hear the title track. "Clancy's Tavern" is a song Keith described as a "reading of the minutes in my grandmother's bar" (fans will know this is the same grandmother Keith mentions in his hit song "Honkytonk U"). The song talks about the 5 pm rush at the bar, when "the regular Joes of the world" come to unwind after work. It talks about the waitress named Lilly, the cook named Elmo who work in the bar and the band that plays every night. The song ends with Clancy counting her money, driving her Chrysler back home before starting all over again tomorrow.
The next song is a comical one called "Tryin' to Fall in Love." The first line says it all: "If women come a dime a dozen, I ain't got a penny." This number is about a guy who has been out with several women and every time, the relationship has ended in some weird, unexpected way. Whether it be the girl falling for someone else, or the girl not having a visa to get over from Mexico, this is definitely one of the albums lighter numbers.
Next, the albums slows down with "Just Another Sundown." This is a slow, lonesome ballad about a guy who's girl left him an now he sits in a barstool, trying to meet "just another she ain't you." She said she'd love him forever, "but baby, didn't forever get here fast."
But the CD picks right back up again with "Beers Ago." This is a rowdy, good time song that chronicles the antics of a kid with a hand me down pickup truck, buying Skoal and going out with the "second runner up of the 4H pageant." And although this seems like yesterday, it was actually "1,653 beers ago" (give or take).
The next song, "South of You" talks about a guy who decides to sail the seas, leaving his girl behind. He doesn't know where he's going, he doesn't care and is trying "to reach peace of mind and live my life somewhere south of you." Next is "Club Zydeco Moon," which is the "Creole Woman" of this album. It chronicles a man who goes to Club Zydeco Moon and falls under the spell of a beautiful dancer. He later reveals that this happened 20 years ago and he still sees this woman wherever he is. He can't even sleep without seeing her and smelling the smoke and incense of the club.
"I Won't Let you Down" is a slow ballad about a guy telling his girlfriend that he's never had a woman stick around as long as she has and that he wouldn't let her down if she didn't expect too much of him. And the final track, "Chill-axin'," is a slow song about a guy who goes to the beach and tries to decompress and get away from it all.
But the highlight of the album is the next to last track. Described by Keith as the stupidest song he's ever cut, is "Red Solo Cup." "It's so stupid, it's good" is the way that TK best describes thing homage to the famous plastic drink container. Keith also slurs his speech and seems to get drunker as the song progresses. This is definitely a great party song and just an all around fun number about everyone's best friend, the red Solo cup. "Thank you for being my friend." (If you haven't seen the video yet, check it out here. You'll laugh your butt off).
The deluxe edition of "Clancy's Tavern" also includes four live "Incognito Bandito" tracks recorded by Toby. Waylon Jenning's "It's High Time (You Quit Your Low Down Ways), Lynard Skynard's "Truck Drivin' Man," Three Dog Night's "Shambala," and Johnny Rivers' "Memphis."
Toby Keith has definitely done it again. This album, which is a homage to his grandmother, Keith has said that this is some of his "favorie work." This CD has everything. Slow songs, fast, fun songs, the patriotic standard that fans have come to expect from TK, a song that pays tribute to his grandmother and his childhood and even a three minute song about a plastic cup. Fans of Toby Keith should definitely pick this album up next time they see it. It will not disappoint.
