About the Song

Toby Keith, the country music king of red Solo cups and summertime anthems, takes a humorous yet relatable turn with “Sailboat for Sale”. This track, found on his 2015 album “35 MPH Town”, tells the tale of a sailor stuck in a frustrating situation, all wrapped up in a catchy, toe-tapping melody.

“Sailboat for Sale” is a story song filled with Keith’s signature wit. The narrator, a self-proclaimed “drunken sailor,” finds himself stuck with a sailboat he clearly despises. The lyrics paint a picture of a frustrating purchase, perhaps fueled by rum-induced spontaneity (“An old pirate sold me on it / G / D / We traded straight across / The boat I thought I wanted / A / For the boat I hate”).

The song’s humor lies in the sailor’s predicament. He’s stuck with a vessel that doesn’t suit his fancy, one that seemingly lacks the necessary “throttle” for a real sailing adventure. “Sailboat for Sale” becomes a lament for a bad deal, with the catchy chorus (“Sailboat for sale / With a drink in my hand and a sailboat for sale”) serving as a hilarious plea to anyone willing to take this unwanted vessel off his hands.

But beneath the surface of the song’s humor lies a relatable theme. We’ve all, at some point, made impulsive purchases that turned out to be less than ideal. “Sailboat for Sale” taps into that feeling of buyer’s remorse, delivered with a healthy dose of self-deprecating humor.

While the song doesn’t delve into the specifics of the “ocean” the sailor can’t seem to reach, it evokes a sense of yearning for something more. Perhaps it’s the open seas and the thrill of adventure, or maybe it’s simply a desire for something different from the monotony of his current situation.

“Sailboat for Sale” is a lighthearted and entertaining song that showcases Toby Keith’s ability to weave humor and relatable themes into a catchy country tune. It’s a perfect addition to any playlist that needs a dose of laughter and a reminder that even the toughest cowboys can make bad decisions sometimes.

Video 

Lyrics: Sailboat for Sale 

I’m floating in my boat
Not the one I used to fish in
But the boat I sit in wishin’
I was still floating on my fishing boat
And I’m out here on this river
Really it’s just a creek
But it’s a river when I drink
So I’m drinking on my river boatI could sail to the ocean
If the wind would come and get me
But I ain’t goin’ nowhere quickly
I’m just a drunkin’ sailor
Waiting on a gale
With a drink in my hand and a sailboat for saleAye
AyeAn old pirate sold me on a
We traded straight across
The boat I thought I wanted
For the boat I hate I lost
She’ll sing when that wind whistles
When it doesn’t, well she don’t
Just ask that old pirate
That’s floatin’ on my river boat

I could sail to the ocean
If the wind would come and get me
But I ain’t goin’ nowhere quickly
I’m just a drunkin’ sailor
Waiting on a gale
With a drink in my hand and a sailboat for sale

Never make a handshake deal while sharing someone bottle
Never buy a boat son that doesn’t have a throttle

Aye
Aye

I could sail to the ocean
If the wind would come and get me
But I ain’t goin’ nowhere quickly
I’m just a drunkin’ sailor
Waiting on a gale
With a drink in my hand and a sailboat for sale

I got a sailboat for sale

Aye
Aye

You Missed

HE WROTE THESE WORDS AS A LIGHTHEARTED TRIBUTE TO A FRIEND — BUT NO ONE KNEW IT WOULD BECOME THE ANTHEM OF HIS FINAL BATTLE. Back in 2017, during a charity golf event at Pebble Beach, Toby Keith found himself sharing a cart with the legendary Clint Eastwood. Clint was nearing his 88th birthday, yet he was still working, still directing, and still full of life. Toby, curious about how the Hollywood icon stayed so sharp, asked for his secret. Clint’s answer was simple but profound: “I just don’t let the old man in.” Toby was so moved by that philosophy that he went straight home and turned those words into a song. When he recorded the first demo, Toby actually had a bad cold. His voice was unusually gravelly, tired, and raw. Clint heard that “imperfect” version and insisted it stay exactly that way for his 2018 movie, The Mule. Back then, it was just a quiet, soulful track that most of the world barely noticed. Everything changed in 2021 when Toby received his stomach cancer diagnosis. Suddenly, the song he wrote for Clint became the story of his own life. Those lyrics were no longer just a tribute—they became a daily prayer for strength. The world finally felt the true weight of that song in September 2023. Toby stepped onto the People’s Choice Country Awards stage to accept the Icon Award. He was visibly thinner, and his hands trembled slightly, but his spirit was unbroken. He joked about his “skinny jeans,” then he began to sing. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Overnight, a song from five years prior surged to the top of the charts. After playing his final trio of shows in Las Vegas that December, Toby peacefully passed away on February 5, 2024, at age 62. Clint Eastwood later shared a photo of them together, a final salute to his friend. Time eventually catches up to everyone, but Toby Keith showed us all how to face it with dignity, courage, and a guitar in hand. Do you remember the title of this final, powerful masterpiece by Toby Keith?

HE WAS 70, STRUGGLING TO STAND, AND THE INDUSTRY HAD ALREADY WRITTEN HIM OFF — UNTIL HE COVERED A TRACK BY A ROCK STAR HALF HIS AGE AND BROKE THE WORLD’S HEART. By 2002, Johnny Cash was a man surviving on memories. He had outlived most of his peers. His record label of nearly three decades had abandoned him. His health was a wreckage of diabetes, pneumonia, and failing nerves. There were moments in the recording booth when his producer, Rick Rubin, could hear the literal sound of a voice breaking. Then Rubin presented him with a raw, industrial rock song about the depths of depression and self-harm. Cash made one simple change — replacing a profane lyric with “crown of thorns” — and transformed a young man’s angst into his own final testament. The music video was shot inside his shuttered museum in Nashville, a place crumbling under the weight of dust and silence. June Carter was there, looking at him with an expression of profound, tragic realization. She would be gone in three months. He would follow her just four months later. When the original songwriter finally saw the footage alone one morning, he broke down. He later admitted that the song no longer belonged to him. The video went on to win a Grammy and was hailed by critics as the greatest music video ever filmed. It has been streamed hundreds of millions of times since. But its true power isn’t in the numbers or the awards. It continues to haunt us two decades later because it is the sound of a man who has stopped running from the end — a man who sat down in the fading light and finally told the absolute truth.

NO ONE KNEW WHY TOBY KEITH KEPT VISITING THE OK KIDS KORRAL EVERY WEEK DURING HIS FINAL 2 YEARS — EVEN AS HIS OWN CANCER WAS TAKING OVER… UNTIL A NURSE FINALLY TOLD THE TRUTH In 2006, Toby Keith launched a foundation for children battling cancer, inspired by the loss of his lead guitarist’s 2-year-old daughter to a tumor in 2003. By 2014, he turned that vision into reality, opening the OK Kids Korral in Oklahoma City—a sanctuary where families of pediatric patients could stay for free. Then, in 2021, the world stopped when Toby was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Yet, instead of retreating into his own pain, Toby began appearing at the Korral every week. He wasn’t there to sign autographs or put on a show. He would simply stand in the quiet hallways, watching the children go about their days. Outsiders assumed he was inspecting the building. The staff figured he was there to lift spirits. But following Toby’s passing in February 2024, a veteran nurse finally shared what really happened. She had asked him why he pushed himself to come when he was so exhausted. Toby leaned heavily against the wall and whispered: “These kids showed me how to be a warrior long before I ever had to fight for my own life. I’m just here to pay my respects—while time still allows.” The world believed Toby Keith built the Korral to rescue those children. In reality, it was those children who were quietly holding him together at the end. What remained a secret until his very last visit—just 11 days before he slipped away—was how Toby stopped in front of a single name on the memorial wall: the little girl whose story began it all two decades earlier. He stood there in total silence, longer than anyone had ever seen him stay in one place.