Country singer Toby Keith headlined Donald Trump’s inaugural concert, playing three of his nationalist songs and “Beer for My Horses.” But there was a song missing, not just because it was one of his biggest hits, but because it was so right for the occasion. That song was “How Do You Like Me Now,” Keith’s 1999-2000 hit.
The song is addressed to a former high school classmate who rejected—nay, ignored—the singer. It celebrates the fact that the woman who was “always the perfect one and the valedictorian” and who had “too many boyfriends to mention” is now a miserable adult, while the singer, who was “the crazy one” who “played my guitar too loud,” has become a successful musician. So what does this have to do with Donald Trump?
The—extremely catchy—refrain speaks directly to Trump’s insecurities and need for attention:
How do you like me now?
How do you like me now,
Now that I'm on my way?
Do you still think I'm crazy
Standing here today?
I couldn’t make you love me
But I always dreamed about living in your radio
How do you like me now?
But while you can imagine those words running through Trump’s mind, it’s the final verse that is perfect Donald. The woman the song is addressed to has “married into money,” but it’s not going well:
He never comes home
And you’re always alone
And your kids hear you crying down the hall
Alarm clock starts ringing
Who could that be singing
It’s me baby, with your wake up call!
This is a song that celebrates a woman’s children hearing her crying, because she would not date the singer in high school, and hopes that realizing that the singer is successful will make her more miserable. It’s the same macho posturing mean streak that came to the surface in Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red White and Blue (The Angry American),” but directed at an individual woman.
And if that’s not pure Donald Trump, I don’t know what is.