The Meaning Behind the Song Toby Keith Called “So Stupid It’s Good,” “Red Solo Cup”

Country artists work on a variety of planes. Each artist has their own robust catalog full of songs for every scenario under the sun. Heartbreak, love, grief, self-confidence, and very importantly, the party song. Few genres capture the feeling of a late-night, beer-fueled party quite like country music. Every major artist has raised their glass in the studio once or twice, but few songs are as memorable and celebratory as Toby Keith’s “Red Solo Cup.”

Check out the meaning behind this Keith hit, below.

Behind the Meaning of “Red Solo Cup”

Keith mostly wrote his own music. However, in the case of “Red Solo Cup,” he turned to outside writers–specifically Brett Warren, Brad Warren, Brett Beavers, and Jim Beavers.

“I mean, this is business,” Warren once told American Songwriter. “You want to get as much action as you can, but he saw enough to know that we were better when we were out on the fringe and were doing something different and always pushing the envelope. That’s sort of where we stayed, and Brett Beavers came up with this idea that we would form a fake college band called the The Warren Beavers.”

While undertaking their fake band life, the trio came up with “Red Solo Cup.” Undoubtedly the perfect song for a college town, the track acts as a love song to the titular red cup that often floats around parties and is filled to the brim with beer.

Now, red Solo cup is the best receptacle
For barbecues, tailgates, fairs, and festivals
And you, sir, do not have a pair of testicles
If you prefer drinkin’ from glass

Hey, red Solo cup is cheap and disposable
In 14 years, they are decomposable
And unlike my home, they are not foreclosable
Freddy Mac can kiss my ass, whoo!

[RELATED: Toby Keith & Luke Combs Make “Ships That Don’t Come In” One of the Heaviest Moments on HARDY’s Joe Diffie Tribute Project]

The song found its way into Keith’s hand. Despite the hilariously unserious lyrics, Keith found the silliness of the song to have a certain draw.

“It is the stupidest song I ever heard in my life, but it’s so stupid it’s good,” Keith once said. “Red Solo Cup’ is like a squirrel loose in a church house. We can play it in an office and then play five other songs, give it an hour, walk out, and you’d hear the receptionist singing it. It’s like nursery rhyme stupid.”

Revisit this “nursery rhyme stupid” song, below. Careful, you won’t be able to shake it.

(Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for BMI)