About The Song
“Love Me If You Can” is a song written by Chris Wallin and Craig Wiseman, and recorded by American country music artist Toby Keith. It was released in June 2007 as the second single from the album Big Dog Daddy. The song became his 34th Top Ten single and his 16th number one hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. It is also Keith’s first Billboard number one single since he started his own label (Show Dog Nashville) in 2005.
The song is a mid-tempo ballad in which Keith addresses the criticism that he received after his 2002 pro-war anthem “Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)”. In the song, Keith states that he is a “man of [his] convictions” who stands beside his own views, in spite of any controversy that they might cause.
Kevin John Coyne, reviewing the song for Country Universe, gave it a B rating. He says that Keith makes “a surprisingly earnest attempt to soften his image, wishing we could all just agree to disagree before our debates turn to angry words, and praying for peace on earth, even though war is sometimes necessary.”
The music video was directed by Michael Salomon and was released on July 3, 2007.
“Love Me If You Can” debuted at number 42 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs for the week of June 23, 2007.
Video
Lyrics
Sometimes I think that war is necessary
Every night I pray for peace on Earth
I hand out my dollars to the homeless
But believe that every able soul should work
My father gave me my shotgun
That I’ll hand down to my son
Try to teach him everything it means
I’m a man of my convictions
Call me wrong, call me right
But I bring my better angels to every fight
You may not like where I’m going
But you sure know where I stand
Hate me if you want to
Love me if you can
I stand by my right to speak freely
But I worry ’bout what kids learn from TV
And before all of debatin’ turns to angry words and hate
Sometimes we should just agree to disagree
And I believe that Jesus looks down here and sees us
And if you ask him he would say
I’m a man of my convictions
Call me wrong, call me right
But I bring my better angels to every fight
You may not like where I’m going
But you sure know where I stand
Hate me if you want to
Love me if you can
I’m a man of my convictions
Call me wrong, call me right
But I bring my better angels to every fight
You may not like where I’m going
But you sure know where I stand
Hate me if you want to
Love me if you can