Winter gettin' colder, summer gettin' warmer
Tidal wave comin' cross the Mexican border
Why buy a gallon, it's cheaper by the barrel
Just don't get busted singin' Christmas carols

That's us, that's right
Gotta love this American ride
Both ends of the ozone burnin'
Funny how the world keeps turning
Look ma, no hands
I love, this American ride
Gotta love this American ride

Momma gets her rocks off watchin' Desperate Housewives
Daddy works his ass off payin' for the good life
Kids on the YouTube learnin' how to be cool
Livin' in a cruel world, it pays to be a mean girl

That's us, that's right
Gotta love this American ride
Both ends of the ozone burnin'
Funny how the world keeps turning
Look ma, no hands
I love, this American ride
Gotta love this American ride

Poor little infa-Miss America's down
She gained five pounds and lost her crown
Quick fix plastic surgical antidote
Got herself a record deal, can't even sing a note

Plasma gettin' bigger, Jesus gettin' smaller
Spill a cup of coffee make a million dollars
Customs got a thug with an aerosol can
If the shoe don't fit, the fits gonna hit the shan

That's us
That's right
Gotta love this American ride
Both ends of the ozone burnin'
Funny how the world keeps turning
Hot dog, hot damn
I love, this American ride
Gotta love this American ride, oh yeah


Lyrics submitted by octanerocks

American Ride Lyrics as written by Joe West Dave Pahanish

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Reservoir Media Management, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

American Ride song meanings
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11 Comments

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  • +1
    My Interpretation

    I think this song is talking about the problems this country faces(obviously) but Toby Keith is saying nevertheless, he is still proud to be an American. "That's us that's right gotta love this American Ride." No country is perfect. America is great; we have the freedom to do pretty much anything. Just sayin'

    Anyway, jrr45 said Toby pick a side, this song is not necessarily unpatriotic. Well, that's just how I see it. I'm not sure if I've made my point clear but I just wanted to say that :) :D

    amberamberloveon April 20, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    TK re-writes Hank Jr.'s "The American Dream". Gotta love that Nashville machine...

    HoppyJackon September 09, 2009   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning

    I have the song figured out except for this line:

    If the shoe dont fit, the fits gonna hit the shan.

    What is this referring to? Anyone know?

    ruthhill74on September 16, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    he actually means "the sht's gonna hit the fan." but he probably changed it to not have sht in the song.

    geeners87on September 19, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think Keith's trying to show the irony of our country. We can't sing Christmas carols, Jesus is hardly known in this country even though it was founded as a Christian country and is based on Christian values. People are just living on their own terms and rules which he means by "look Ma no hands" and how he says how kids are learning how to be cool on Youtube and women are getting their desires filled through Desperate Housewives while their husbands slave at work trying to give themselves the perfect life, but there is no perfect life. There are so many examples, but our country's pretty messed up and yet we don't see it. We just keep pushing our patriotism and how much we love our country when we don't even see the reality of it all.

    geeners87on September 19, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i think it's just trying to say that if we keep up the way we're going we're screwed...qeeners87 is right, how we're drifting this song is funny, but sad too...cuz it's true. I love Toby's songs about America...like Courtesy of the red, white and blue...i just love those songs...

    btw..some of these lyrics are incorrect..but im not gonna fix em, just check out elyrics.net and search this song...or any song...n u'll get the right lyrics

    starrwisheron November 25, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song says alot about the flaws currently plaguing our country, but I can't help but note the dichotomy in the lyrics of this song compared to his previous work. I feel like music should be from the heart and not something that is created to correlate with the current economic and political times (at least not by a single artist). Even though I do agree with much of what he is saying, the validity behind it is meaningless written by someone who not too long ago sung about patriotism. You are a great artist Toby, but enough with the sardonic undertones and pick a side.

    jrr45on December 17, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I really hope this song is suppose you be sarcastic >.>

    Stolensoulon January 04, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I have a question. In the music video at the end when they show Castro and Kim Jong-il as Pirates, who is the other person on the ship with them?

    blueglue22on June 11, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    "Infa-Miss Ameria" is a very clever lyric. (Infa-miss for "Infamous".) You don't see a lot of wordplay in country lyrics - especially in the more patriotic stuff. Though, I think there's a lot of irony here. It reminds me a bit of Springsteen's "Born in the USA," which was adopted as this big, patriotic anthem but was really a litany of the problems being faced by the Boomers at the time. Maybe more akin to "Pink Houses," by John Mellancamp - it addresses the issues, but still celebrates American life in the end.

    Man, didn't think I had that much to say about this.

    D. Dodge Silveron November 15, 2019   Link

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