Beer for My Horses

For the film based on this song, see Beer for My Horses (film).

"Beer for My Horses"
Single by Toby Keith featuring Willie Nelson
from the album Unleashed
B-side	"Rock You Baby"
Released	April 7, 2003
Format	CD single, 7"
Genre	Country
Length	3:23
Label	DreamWorks Records 450785
Writer(s)	Scotty Emerick Toby Keith
Producer	James Stroud Toby Keith
Certification	Gold (RIAA)
Toby Keith chronology "Rock You Baby" (2003) "Beer for My Horses" (2003) "I Love This Bar" (2003) Willie Nelson chronology "Mendocino County Line" (with Lee Ann Womack) (2002) "Beer for My Horses" (2003) "Please Come Home for Christmas" (2004)

"Beer for My Horses" is the title of a song recorded by American country music artists Toby Keith and Willie Nelson. It was released in April 2003 as the fourth and final single from Keith's 2002 album Unleashed. The song spent six weeks at Number One on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs charts in 2003 and peaked at number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Keith's biggest hit to date. This record has since been tied by his 2005 single, "As Good as I Once Was," which also spent six weeks at Number One.

Controversy

"Beer For My Horses" was condemned by some who decried the song's perceived racist content. Max Blumenthal called the song a "racially tinged, explicitly pro-lynching anthem that calls for the vigilante-style hanging of car thieves, "gangsters doing dirty deeds...crime in the streets," and other assorted evildoers." Robert Christgau called the song "immoral" and claimed that it "not only naturalizes lynching but makes it seem like fun on a Friday night... the racial coding of the "gangsters" the song sends to their maker needs no explanation." Toby Keith defended himself against the accusations by noting that "the song was a hit."

Music video

The music video for the song features Keith, Nelson and Corin Nemec, as detectives hunting a serial killer, played by Gregg Gilmore. The detectives eventually convince Nemec to dress up as a woman to lure the serial killer and they end up capturing him. The video, directed by Michael Salomon, was shot in downtown Los Angeles and at the nearby Golden Oak Ranch, in Newhall, California. It is also the first video in which Keith does not actually sing. In May 2003, it won the ACM award, for Video Of The Year.

Other

A film adaption of the song entered production in mid-2008. and was released on August 8, 2008.

The song is available as downloadable content for the game Rock Band.

Chart performance

"Beer for My Horses" entered the Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts dated for the week ending August 3, 2002, spending three weeks on the charts as an album cut and peaking at number 54. It re-entered at number 60 on the chart dated February 1, 2003.

Chart (2003)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	22

Preceded by "I Believe" by Diamond Rio

Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks number-one single June 14-July 19, 2003

Succeeded by "My Front Porch Looking In" by Lonestar