Maybe I’m just old fashioned, but insinuation of fornication in a church? That’s pretty low even for Toby’s standards.

I’d venture to say that the release of Toby’s “White Trash with Money” album marked the end of his career as an artist. Since then, his presence is becoming more and more of that of a “has-been” with too much to say that really doesn’t make the listener feel a thing emotionally.

Take a listen to “Whose That Man”. I’d venture a guess you wouldn’t even equate the Toby who sang those lyrics with the Toby who released “She’s a Hottie” some months ago.

I contend that the very basic theme, a maturing youth (often female) moving towards independence, is a common life experience that’s illustrated in a number of country songs (“Wide Open Spaces” and “Don’t Forget to Remember Me”, for example). The young woman in “Upstairs” is a representative character, with a background of humble beginnings, an attachment to her home and a stubborn pursuit of dreams all noted in the verses. She may not be fully-developed, but I would still argue that her character is expounded upon more than in “God Love Her” or any number of Keith songs. I’d argue that, as cliché as it sounds, living through those experiences taught her lessons that may not prove fruitful immediately, but could reap rewards eventually. A certain beauty lies in many story songs we encounter daily. Three minutes only provides a slice of life, and we’re left to imagine what becomes of the characters involved.

But of course, in these days of instant gratification, songs are designed to die right after the last note. And in that sense, “God Love Her” works (as you noted very well) because it’s a blunt instrument meant to entertain for a short period of time. It’s very possible that this particular woman’s life is lived out of her own convictions and decisions, but of course, that idea isn’t fully fleshed out at all in “God Love Her.” She’s seeking independence and springs from humble beginnings, but she’s not developed any further. Heck, the reason given for her uprooting is youthful insanity, at least at the beginning stages of the courtship. You argue that the audience will connect with this song, and I agree, but for entirely different reasons. The song is catchy and paints a simplistic picture that listeners can latch onto and easily dispose of before the next block of radio commercials. But as for the song having an appeal to the female audience the only choice the lead female character makes revolves solely around her attraction (love?) towards this mild rebel. In fact, the final part of the second verse shifts quickly to how she’s affected him, implying that she’s simply a reactionary figure in his life. I just can’t see her being quite the appealing character as in the song mentioned above or any number of country songs depicting women. If this is the transition/life change to which women are connecting, that’s an unsettling truth about females who follow country music.

Bottom line: this song, along with “Whiskey Girl,” “She’s a Hottie,” etc. are designed as ditties that provoke strong, but short bursts of enjoyment with no nutritive value, and they’re not attempts at a strong attachment to the plotline or the characters involved. The woman in “God Love Her” isn’t following her own path, she’s following the path of the narrator, as evidenced by the lack of details about her as a person and the other choices and sacrifices she’s made along the way. If, as you say, Keith is defining the “everywoman”, here she is motivated solely by romantic desires and rebelliousness against a seemingly rigid childhood. Is that who women are? Is that who they want to be?

While the “yearning-for-freedom” youth is not explored in any of Keith’s other songs (to the best of my knowledge), the general focus on female characters has often been explored. Women were generally viewed as peers, not precious sex objects, in his past material. Women are presented as laudable for their unwavering love (“A Woman’s Touch ”), deserving of respect (“He Ain’t Worth Missin’”) and worthy of equal footing in romantic relationships (“Me, Too”). You’re absolutely right in your statement is “God Love Her” is lightweight lyrically, but Keith’s creative enough to keep an average theme from making an atrocious song, and all in all it’s not so disagreeable. But it’s disappointing to know he’s been so much better in the past.

Unfortunately, I know women who fall into both categories, the ones who end up back home for awhile and ones who bear down and push through. I think it’s a generality to say that women are prone to do just one or the other, since it’s more about personality rather than gender.
Ultimately, though, I agree that Toby songs aren’t necessarily ever forward thinking when it comes to characteristics of women–not now and not then–though I’m not a Toby Keith scholar either.

It also paints her as somewhat naive and ill-prepared, and at the end of the song she’s gained nothing–which is, if we’re talking about this in a literary context, one of the primary criteria for defining character development. How has the character grown or changed? How is the character a different or better person than she was at the outset? What lessons has she learned?

None of that happens in “Upstairs, Downtown”–the character just goes home.

Further, I don’t think what happens in “Upstairs, Downtown” is a common life expierience–to the contrary, I think most young woman in that situation will bear down and do what they have to do to make things work. That’s strength, even if born out of pride, when you put your feet against the pavement and do what you have to do to pay the bills. That’s a real, rounded, powerful character. And I think a more accurate depiction of the modern woman than is drawn in the song you’re referring to.

So I think you’re misreading “Upstairs, Downtown,” and I don’t think there are a significant number of other Keith songs that paint female characters in the light that you’re implying, although I admit to not being fully up-to-speed on Keith’s early-career catalog.

Now, I don’t think “God Love Her” is a literary masterpiece, but it does show someone who is following her own path, making her own choices, and living with them. It’s not easy, and she’s probably made some bad ones, but they’ve brought her to where she is today. And that’s why it works.

See, Keith is speaking directly to his audience–these are the same women who are caught up in a point of transition between their wilder younger days and the more settled women they are becoming. They’ve made a lot of choices in their time, they’ve lived through a lot of tough times.

And that’s why they’ll sing along with this when they hear it on the drive home–never forget that there are two reasons why we listen to music: self definition and self elaboration. This serves both of those purposes for the women in question…it is all at once who they are and who they want to be (because most of them probably aren’t as “wild” as the character in this song, though that doesn’t meant they wouldn’t, perhaps, like to be).