Don't Let the Old Man In (song)

“Don't Let the Old Man In” is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Toby Keith, and released for the soundtrack of the film The Mule (2018). The song was written by Keith in mid-2018, and released as a single on December 6, 2018. It peaked at No. 45 on the Hot Country Songs and No. 41 on the Country Airplay chart. It received highly positive reviews from critics, many citing Keith’s writing and vocal performance.

Background

Toby Keith wrote the song after he played at Clint Eastwood's charity golf tournament in Pebble Beach, California in July 2018. The encounter led Eastwood to share with Keith that he would be starting to work on an upcoming film, The Mule in a few days, which also happened to be the actor's 88th birthday. Inspired and shocked by Eastwood’s relentless energy at such an old age, Keith asked Eastwood what “keeps him going” and according to Keith:

“He said, ‘I just get up every morning and go out. And I don’t let the old man in,’ And I thought, I’m writing that.”

In an interview with Billboard Magazine Keith stated that he started working on the song after he returned home from the Eastwood’s golf tournament:

“People were talking to me and they would say, ‘Did you hear what I just said?’ And I was like, ‘No,’ because I wasn’t listening to any conversations. I was consumed by ‘‘Don’t Let the Old Man In.’’ I worked so hard on it, when I finally sang the line, I thought, it’s got to be dark, it’s got to be a ballad and it’s got to be simple.”

Keith reportedly phonecalled Clint Eastwood after finishing writing the song, and asked if it could be used in the actor/filmmaker’s new film The Mule, and Eastwood agreed immediately.

Content

“Don’t Let the Old Man In” is a slow tempo country song that features Toby Keith’s vocals, and a slow, acoustic guitar. While Keith originally planned on giving the song a “harder, more rocking” sound, similar to many of his other songs, after hearing this version, Keith and his studio, Show Dog Universal agreed to use the acoustic version.

Lyrically, the song talks about age and getting older. The song has no specific chorus, though it does repeat several lines throughout the song, most notably the title and “ask yourself how old would you be if you didn’t know the day you were born”.