Every No. 1 Single of the Nineties: Toby Keith, “Me Too”

“Me Too

Toby Keith

Written by Chuck Cannon and Toby Keith

Billboard

#1 (1 week)

March 8, 1997

Radio & Records

#1 (1 week)

February 28, 1997

Toby Keith shows his sensitive side.

The Road to No. 1

After “Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine On You” went to No. 1, “A Woman’s Touch” went top ten.  The third and final single from Blue Moon returned Keith to the top.

The No. 1

Toby Keith has spoken often about how Mercury Records straitjacketed him into being a sensitive ballad singer, and he couldn’t let his personality fully shine through until he signed with DreamWorks.

His later work definitely showed more of his humor and attitude, but he was a damn good sensitive ballad singer on his first major label run.

“We Too” is one of the best of his hit ballads, a tender number that lists all of the different ways he shows his partner that he loves her, even though he can’t say the words “I love you” out loud.

It speaks to a fairly common situation when two partners come together and were raised in households that expressed love differently.  “Me Too” reminds us that the way we express love might be different, but the feelings inside are still similar.

The Road From No. 1

Toby Keith’s last No. 1 single of the nineties is up next.

“Me Too” gets an A.

Every No. 1 Single of the Nineties

Previous: Rick Trevino, “Running Out of Reasons to Run” |

Next: Deana Carter, “We Danced Anyway”

3 Comments

  1. I know I’ve probably already mentioned it more than once throughout this feature, but I love the sensitive 90’s Toby! This song is just one more reason why.

    I agree with Kevin that it’s a great song about how certain people may not be good at verbally expressing their love for somebody, but they show it in their actions. One of my favorite lines in the chorus is “It might go unsaid, but it won’t go undone.” Actions do speak louder, after all. It actually kind of reminds me a bit of my step dad. He was good at saying “I love you” when I was little, but when he got older, he was more of the kind of person who showed that he loved us by the things he did for us. Looking back, I can now see how very lucky we were to have him in our lives, and I’ve learned that I’d much rather be with someone who may not be good at saying “I love you” but shows it in the things they do, than somebody who says it all the time but never does anything to back up their words.

    For someone who would become more known for his humorous macho personality in the next decade, Toby was sure great at singing these sensitive ballads. It’s a side of him that I wish was still heard on the radio in the 2000’s after “Angry American,” but unfortunately, most of the excellent ballads he did continue to cut (“Knock Yourself Out,” “Your Smile,” etc.) often remained buried as album cuts. I love his tender performance on this particular song, and I especially love its clean and smooth production. I’ve especially always liked the sound of the background vocals on this one and other Toby songs produced by Nelson Larkin. Also, I’ve always liked how unique the steel guitar sounded on the chorus of “Me Too,” which is one thing that made it stand out on the radio for me back then.

    This was one of my new favorite songs on the radio around early 1997 when I was still in fifth grade. It was actually going through my head one morning when my parents were checking up on me because I was sick and had to stay home from school. Around that same time when I was still sick, I would often see the music video for “Me Too” on GAC, as well. This song also reminds me of playing Tekken 2 at the little arcade section that was in the Red Robin that my dad and I usually ate dinner at. I actually remember hearing it on the radio after we left the Red Robin one Saturday night.

    As mentioned above, the “Me Too” video was one I’d see regularly during my GAC watching days in ’97. Besides “Blue Moon,” this was another one of the first videos of his I’d ever seen. It’s funny how he was already wearing a hat during this time in his career, yet because he is often seen hatless in his earlier videos, I never thought of him as a “hat act” until the How Do You Like Me Now era. I always liked how some of the lyrics are written on the chalkboard in the background, and the beautiful Fall setting with the falling leaves was a perfect fit for the song. When I was seeing this video in early ’97, there’s no way I would’ve guessed he’d eventually turn into the more brash, in your face artist we’d see in the following decade.

    Btw, I’m REALLY looking forward to the next Toby entry, which may be my all time favorite of his ballads.

  2. Keith is one of the best vocalists of his era; he can self-righteously roar and he can be truly tender. I think in his own way, Keith has always been a thoughtful singer. You may not like what he is thinking but he always passes the sincerity test with me. It is totally understandable why Mercury wanted to push this aspect of his music. He is so damn good at being tender and tough. Colin Raye was similarly uncomfortable with his balladeer reputation but he never could muster the muscle Keith innately has in both his singing and personality.

    This song always stood out on Keith’s “Blue Moon” album. It deserves its “A” grade, with honours even!

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