< Toby Keith's 'Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue' lives on in MAGA country

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

Country music star Toby Keith died earlier this month, but his memory definitely lives on at certain kinds of political rallies through one of his most popular and controversial hit songs. Here's NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben.

DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN, BYLINE: At a recent Trump rally in South Carolina, "Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue" played three times. The song was written in response to 9/11, but today, that's not all it signifies.

TONYA HELM: It didn't have as much meaning to me because it was right after the Twin Towers. Now it's got more of a meaning to me because our country just sucks.

KURTZLEBEN: That's Tanya Helm, who was pumping her fist to the song.

HELM: Biden needs to go. And what better sound to do it to you than to Toby Keith's "Red, White And Blue?"

KURTZLEBEN: "Courtesy" now lives on in MAGA-adjacent politics. It's a mainstay at Trump rallies, and it's arguably a new political anthem and in-your-face cousin to Trump's walkout music, "God Bless The USA." The song is maybe best known for a lyric about where America would kick its enemies.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COURTESY OF THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE")

TOBY KEITH: (Singing) 'Cause we'll put a boot in your a**, it's the American way.

KURTZLEBEN: "Courtesy" was originally written for USO tours, according to Nadine Hubbs, a professor at the University of Michigan and author of "Rednecks, Queers, And Country Music."

NADINE HUBBS: After 9/11, he had written and was singing it for these working-class kids overseas, many of whom were about to go into harm's way. It is a very specific song directed to a specific audience at a very specific moment.

KURTZLEBEN: Those troops urged Keith to record "Courtesy," and it was immediately polarizing, becoming part of an early-2000s culture war. There have long been patriotic country songs, and "Courtesy" was part of a wave written post 9/11. But the song stands out, says Brian Mansfield, managing editor of trade publication Country Insider.

BRIAN MANSFIELD: I don't know that you had many of them that aggressive, but you also didn't have attacks on American soil very often.

KURTZLEBEN: Keith's politics were complicated. He praised both Republicans and Democrats. Likewise, he both criticized Trump and played at a Trump inauguration celebration. But Keith's politics are now beside the point because "Courtesy" has a life of its own, resonating with a crowd spoiling for an election fight. Rally attendee Cora McGrath cheered when the song played.

CORA MCGRATH: This song applies to Trump because it won't apply to Biden. He's made us weak. There's no country song came out in support of this country talking about Biden.

KURTZLEBEN: Today, "Courtesy" fits neatly into a pissed-off political moment in the view of Country Insider's Mansfield.

MANSFIELD: There are large segments of the population that have gone from anger as a response to a specific event to anger as just a way of seeing the world.

KURTZLEBEN: Indeed, "Courtesy's" subtitle is "The Angry American," and there's something distinctly Trumpian in the defiance of loving a song that originally upset so many, particularly liberals. Still, Hubbs, at the University of Michigan, sees irony in Trump using a pro-military tune.

HUBBS: The former president who dodged the draft, who has mocked Gold Star families, who mocked Nikki Haley, asking where Major Michael Haley, her husband, was. The level of disconnect is staggering.

KURTZLEBEN: It's not clear how Keith would have aligned in this election, but Trump diehards like Tonya Helm hear "Courtesy" and see Keith as one of them.

HELM: We lost a legend, and I said we lost a vote. Like he says, he's going to put a boot in their a**. It's the American way.

KURTZLEBEN: It's a tune that will live on, especially as long as anger is central to American politics. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing) Oh, brought to you courtesy of the red, white...

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