Drunk Americans

The first single from Toby Keith's 35 MPH Town album was written by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally with Bob DiPiero. Clark and McNally have co-penned a number of hit tunes including the Band Perry's "Better Dig Two" and Miranda Lambert's "Mama's Broken Heart." DiPiero has written many country #1 hits including Montgomery Gentry's "If You Ever Stop Loving Me" and Tim McGraw's "Southern Voice."

The song finds Keith encouraging his his fellow American to forget about their differences and unite together over alcohol. He commented with a laugh about the bar stomper: "I just wanted to go kind of retro. It sounds like 'I Love This Bar' and 'American Ride' had a child, and 'Beers Ago' is their drunk uncle."

Brandy Clark told Rolling Stone Country this isn't a drinking song, but instead celebrates the way a little social lubricant can unite Americans. "We wanted to write it sort of like a modern-day 'Piano Man.' It's like, 'When we're in here drinking, who cares what we are outside of this?,'" she said. "When we finished the song [in 2012], we said, 'This would we be so great for Toby Keith.' And then he passed on it," Clark added. "Then he came back around to make another record, and the guy at my publishing company pitched it again — after the record was done — and they heard it and said, 'Oh, he's got to go in and do this.'"