"American Soldier" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 artist Toby Keith

Toby Keith

Toby Keith Covel , best known as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer-songwriter, record producer and actor. Keith released his first four studio albums — 1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moon and 1997's Dream Walkin, plus a Greatest Hits package for various divisions of...

. It was released in November 2003 as the second single from his 2003 album, Shock'n Y'all

Shock'n Y'all

-References:...

. It became a number one hit on the Billboard U.S. Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 chart, keeping the top spot for four weeks.

Background and writing

Keith said that the song was written "for all the times that I get to meet the troops on these USO tours, and since Courtesy of Red, White, and Blue, the P.O.W.s and the families that have come and brought me back my old CD covers and stuff that they had and shown how much support they had (for me), this is my support for the American fighting men and women."

Content

"American Soldier" is about a soldier who is headed off to war, willing to take a stand and do what's right. He is prepared to die "because freedom don't come free."

Critical reception

Ray Waddell, of Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

magazine reviewed the song favorably, saying that Keith "makes his politics readily apparent on the gentle, powerful" song.

Music video

The music video was directed by Michael Salomon

Michael Salomon

Michael Salomon is a music video/film director, who has directed many music videos, including many of Toby Keith's music videos...

 and was released on December 14, 2003. It was filmed on location at Edwards Air Force Base in Edwards, California

Edwards, California

Edwards is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California.It is located east-southeast of Mojave, at an elevation of 2356 feet ....

 and features off-duty soldiers, reservists and their families. The video portrays a man who gets a phone call early one morning to go to war. He gets himself and his family ready in the morning, the guy acting like it's just another day, and they head off to a military base for him to leave for the war. He hugs his wife and kids, and gets on the plane, while his family watches sadly and wave goodbye from the gate as the plane leaves.

Chart performance

This song debuted at #34 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart on the chart dated November 22, 2003, at the same time that his single "I Love This Bar

I Love This Bar

"I Love This Bar" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Toby Keith. It was released in August 2003 as the lead off single from his 2003 album, Shock'n Y'all. It became a Number One hit on the Billboard U.S. Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, keeping the...

" was at Number One.

Chart (2003-2004)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	28