THE MOST POWERFUL PATRIOTIC SONG IN COUNTRY MUSIC. HE WROTE IT IN 20 MINUTES. HE NEVER WANTED YOU TO HEAR IT. “My daddy served in the Army, where he lost his right eye…” Toby Keith wrote “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” completely alone — on the back of a Fantasy Football sheet, scribbling around the edges. It began with his father. H.K. Covel lost his right eye serving in the Army — and never once complained. He flew the flag in his yard every day until he died in a car crash, March 2001. Six months later, the towers fell. All that grief and all that anger came out in 20 minutes. Toby refused to record it. He only played it for the troops — the first time at the Pentagon, alone with his guitar, for Marines heading to Afghanistan. Then a Marine commander stopped him: “That’s the most amazing battle song I’ve ever heard in my life.” He told Toby releasing it was another way to serve. It hit No. 1 in 2002 and became his signature until the day he died. “That’s the reason I wrote the song,” Toby said. “For him.” Some songs are written for the radio. This one was written for one man who never got to hear it — and it ended up speaking for a nation.
The Most Powerful Patriotic Song in Country Music: The Story Behind Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue”…