Toby Keith was known for big, brash songs: “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” “How Do You Like Me Now?!” and, most famously, “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American).” But one of the biggest hits of his career showed a completely different side of him. It was soft, reflective and simple, and it came from someone else’s pen.
A list under a paperweight
“My List” was written by Nashville songwriters Tim James and Rand Bishop. It tells the story of a man who keeps a list of things to do each day, the endless chores and obligations that fill up a life. As the song goes on, he starts to see that the most important things are not on that list at all: a walk, a prayer, a game of catch, calling his folks, sitting on the porch with the woman he loves. In the end, he decides that really living is the next thing he needs to do.
Toby recorded it for his 2001 album Pull My Chain. It stood out on the record for more than its tone. Most of the album’s songs were written or co-written by Toby, but “My List” was one of the few he had no hand in writing.
A song for a changed country
Then the country changed. After the September 11, 2001, attacks, a song about slowing down and holding on to the people you love suddenly felt very different.
On November 10, 2001, Toby performed “My List” in a guest appearance on the TV drama Touched by an Angel, in an episode called “Most Likely to Succeed.” DreamWorks Nashville then released it as the third and final single from Pull My Chain, right at the turn of the new year.
The music video made the connection to 9/11 directly. Filmed in Ridgetop, Tennessee, after the attacks, it opens with a husband and wife watching news coverage of that day. At the end, the video reveals that the husband is a firefighter as he suits up to go fight a fire. Toby appears in the video as a firefighter riding to the station. For millions of viewers, it became a tribute to the first responders who had given everything in New York.
Five weeks at No. 1
“My List” debuted on the Billboard country chart and climbed all the way to the top, where it stayed for five weeks. It also crossed over to No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100. According to Country Universe, it ended up as Radio & Records’ most-played song of 2002.
That same year, Toby followed it with “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue,” the angry, patriotic response to 9/11 that would define much of his public image. But for many fans, “My List” remained the song that showed his heart.
The song that came back
Toby Keith died in February 2024 after a battle with stomach cancer. He was 62.
Later that year, NBC aired Toby Keith: American Icon, an all-star tribute to his life and music. One of the most emotional moments came when Jelly Roll took the stage and dedicated his performance to Toby’s family. The song he chose was “My List.”
As he sang, the screen behind him filled with photographs of a younger Toby with his wife, Tricia, and their children. Audience members wiped away tears, and so did some of Toby’s own family.
More than twenty years after it topped the charts, a song about putting family first had become a goodbye to a man whose fans now remembered him not only as a star, but as a husband and father.