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

MINNIE PEARL WALKED ONSTAGE AT THE GRAND OLE OPRY FOR 50 YEARS WITH A $1.98 PRICE TAG ON HER HAT — AND THEN ONE NIGHT, SHE JUST COULDN’T ANYMORE. Here’s something most people don’t think about with Minnie Pearl. That price tag hanging off her straw hat? It wasn’t random. Sarah Cannon — that was her real name — created it as a joke about a country girl too proud of her new hat to take the tag off. And audiences loved it so much that it became the most recognizable prop in country music history. For over fifty years, that tag meant Minnie was here, and everything was going to be fun. So imagine what it felt like when she couldn’t put the hat on anymore. In June 1991, Sarah had a massive stroke. She was 79. And just like that, the woman who hadn’t missed an Opry show in decades was gone from the stage. But here’s what gets me. She didn’t die in 1991. She lived another five years after that stroke, mostly out of the public eye, unable to perform, unable to be “Minnie” the way she’d always been. Her husband Henry Cannon took care of her at their Nashville home. Friends visited, but they said it was hard. The woman who made millions of people laugh couldn’t get through a full conversation some days. Roy Acuff, her old friend from the Opry, kept her dressing room exactly the way she left it. Nobody used it. The hat sat there. She passed on March 4, 1996. And what most people remember is the comedy. The “HOW-DEEE” catchphrase. The big goofy grin. What they don’t remember is that Sarah Cannon was also a serious fundraiser for cancer research. Centennial Medical Center in Nashville named their cancer center after her — not after Minnie, after Sarah. She raised millions and rarely talked about it publicly. There’s a story about the very last time Sarah tried to put on the hat at home, months after the stroke, and what her husband said to her in that moment — it’s the kind of detail that makes you see fifty years of comedy completely differently. Roy Acuff kept Minnie Pearl’s dressing room untouched for years after she left — was that loyalty to a friend, or was he holding a door open for someone he knew was never coming back?