As Good as I Once Was


"As Good as I Once Was" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Toby Keith that reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. This song and his 2003 single "Beer for My Horses" are both his longest-running Number One hits, each having spent six weeks at Number One. "As Good As I Once Was" was released in May 2005 as the second single from Keith's album Honkytonk University. Keith wrote the song with Scotty Emerick.
The song was named BMI's song of the Year for 2006. It has since become one of Keith's signature songs, as well as one of his most successful.

Content

The narrator, a man approaching or in middle age 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 once 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 ever was." Examples given include a set of twins who want to draw him into a threesome and a fight against two rednecks and a "big fat biker man" to bail his buddy, Dave, out of a botched pool hustle.

Music video

The music video was directed by Michael Salomon and premiered on May 16, 2005. It follows the narrative of the song and features Annie Sorrell and Alicia Loren as the frisky twins. In the video Toby Keith gets punched by a man and then the nurse knocks him out by putting an IV in his arm.

Critical reception

Matt Bjorke writing for About.com 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 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.
Chart Peak
position

Year-end charts