Keith met actor-director
Clint Eastwood at a charity golf tournament in
Pebble Beach, California, in 2018. At the time, Eastwood was working on his film
The Mule. Keith told
Billboard that he was surprised by the energy Eastwood seemed to have despite being 88 years old at the time, at which point Eastwood remarked, "I don't let the old man in". Keith liked this line and immediately wrote the song, which is a ballad about a man dealing with his increasing age. He was also inspired by an anecdote told to him by his grandmother, about a friend of hers who did not know her exact age due to her not owning a
birth certificate.
Billboard writer Cathy Applefield Olson described the song as "at once emotionally resigned and quietly triumphant". Olson also thought that the song's central theme of old age was appropriate to the plot line of
The Mule, which is about an elderly person becoming a
drug courier. On September 28, 2023, five years after the song's original release, Keith performed the song at the
2023 People's Choice Country Awards after being awarded the Country Icon award. The performance was one of his first following his diagnosis with
stomach cancer the previous year. Following the performance, the song was reissued as a single to country radio with an impact date of October 30, 2023. Following Keith's death in February 2024, a tribute special entitled
Toby Keith: American Icon was put together to celebrate his career with performances of his hit songs by other country music recording artists. It aired on August 28, 2024, and featured his youngest daughter,
Krystal Keith, performing the song. ==Chart performance==