"As Good as I Once Was" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer

Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (July 8, 1961 – February 5, 2024) was an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and businessman. Keith released his chart-topping debut single, "Should've Been a Cowboy", in 1993. During the 1990s ...

. It was released in May 2005 as the second single from Keith's album '' Honkytonk University''. Keith wrote the song with

Scotty Emerick Walter Scott Emerick (born July 11, 1973, in Hollywood, Florida) is an American country music artist, known primarily for his work with Toby Keith. In addition to penning several of Keith's singles, Emerick has also written for Sawyer Brown, Geo ...

Content

The narrator, a man approaching or in

middle age Middle age (or middle adulthood) is the age range of the years halfway between childhood and old age. The exact range is subject to public debate, but the term is commonly used to denote the age range from 45 to 65 years. Overall This time span ...

and apparently sitting in a bar, is put into situations that test his masculinity. Having outlived his glory days, he insists he now is no longer "as good as eonce was" in his younger days, but although he no longer has the stamina to do what he used to do all the time, he can still be "as good, once, as eever was." Examples given include a set of twins who want to draw him into a

threesome In human sexuality, a threesome is "a sexual interaction between three people whereby at least one engages in physical sexual behaviour with both the other individuals". While the term ''threesome'' typically refers to sexual activity involvin ...

and a fight against two rednecks and a "big fat biker man" to bail his buddy, Dave, out of a botched

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hustle.

Music video

The music video was directed by

Michael Salomon Michael Salomon (born in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, United States) is an American music video/film director, who has directed many music videos, including many of Toby Keith's music videos. He directed the video for Metallica's "One", which was no ...

and premiered on CMT on May 16, 2005. It follows the narrative of the song and features Annie Sorrell and Alicia Loren as the frisky twins. At the beginning of the video, Keith is sat at the bar where he meets Bobbie Jo who invites him "for a rodeo" with her twin sister Betty Lou. Then, Keith's best friend Dave gets into a fight with a "couple of redneck boys", the beer starts sloshing, causing the music to fail, Keith yells in slow motion before the chorus resumes. As he goes to help Dave, Keith gets punched in the face by a tall bouncer. In the next shot, Keith was in an ambulance with a broken nose, as well as an intravenous drip. At the end of the video, the ambulance drives off into the night.

Critical reception

"As Good as I once Was" has since become one of Keith's signature songs, as well as one of his most successful. Matt Bjorke writing for

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly The Mining Company, About.com and Dotdash) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, hom ...

stated "the song is a good one, so good that it rivals anything off of Toby's "How Do You Like Me Now?!" album. It's a fun track about getting older, and how we don't have as much "energy" as we once had." ''Sputnik Music'' called it "a testament to how much old age sucks" while

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

declared the song was "wonderfully self-depreciating".

Chart performance

"As Good as I Once Was" debuted at number 37 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of May 21, 2005. The single peaked at number one on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart for the week of July 23, 2005, staying for six weeks. This song and his 2003 single "

Beer for My Horses "Beer for My Horses" is a song recorded by American country music artists Toby Keith and Willie Nelson. It was written by Keith and Scotty Emerick for Keith's seventh studio album, '' Unleashed''. The song was released as the album's fourth and f ...

" are both his longest-running number one hits, each having spent six weeks at number one. Following Keith's death on February 5, 2024, the single would re-enter the Hot Country Songs chart at number 19 on the chart week dated February 17, 2024, being one of five Toby Keith songs to re-enter the chart that week. The song was named BMI's Song of the Year for 2006.

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:As Good As I Once Was 2005 singles 2005 songs Toby Keith songs Songs about old age Songs written by Scotty Emerick Songs written by Toby Keith Song recordings produced by James Stroud DreamWorks Records singles Music videos directed by Michael Salomon