--- title: Stephen Colbert Covers Toby Keith Song As Good As I Once Was: Video description: He performed "As Good As I Once Was" at the Songwriter Hall of Fame induction canonical: https://time.com/3928434/stephen-colbert-toby-keith-cover/ author: Samantha Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-19T19:24:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:23.071Z og:title: And Then Here's Stephen Colbert Covering a Toby Keith Song og:description: He performed "As Good As I Once Was" at the Songwriter Hall of Fame induction og:url: https://time.com/3928434/stephen-colbert-toby-keith-cover/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: And Then Here's Stephen Colbert Covering a Toby Keith Song twitter:description: He performed "As Good As I Once Was" at the Songwriter Hall of Fame induction twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # And Then Here's Stephen Colbert Covering a Toby Keith Song > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=96dbe569-b240-4bd1-ae12-98c800cfaf3b&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Best of Stephen Colbert [Watch (HLS stream): The Best of Stephen Colbert](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PNJDP9f3.m3u8) (4:30)  _Published 2014-04-10. The next host of_ by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Jun 19, 2015 7:24 PM UTC by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Jun 19, 2015 7:24 PM UTC For some reason, Stephen Colbert made a surprise appearance at the 46th annual Songwriter Hall Of Fame awards dinner Thursday night, where he inducted country icon Toby Keith. To honor the singer, Colbert did a little performance of his own, covering “As Good As I Once Was.” Decked out in a denim jacket and a black cowboy hat, Colbert busted out his best twangy singing, backed by a full band. This all may seem pretty unexpected, but Keith has [appeared ](http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/s2ax4o/toby-keith)on Colbert’s show [several times ](http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/ozfwje/toby-keith)over the years, so it’s entirely possible they’ve become pals. ## Transcript Here to discuss war with Iraq, Stephen Colbert and sitting in for Steve Carell, Ed Helms in Even Stephen. You've just made me vomit in my own mouth. What's the weather like up your own ****? Tired of news programs that only give you one side of the story or the other? Well he'll give you neither. Tune in to the Colbert Report. It's French, ****, [ SOUND ] I will speak to you in plain, simple English. And that brings us to tonight's word. [ SOUND ] Truthiness. [ LAUGH ] By the way, Mister President, thank you for agreeing to be on my show. I appreciate it. I was just as shocked as everyone here is. I promise you. How's Tuesday for you? I've got Frank Rich, but we can just bump him. And I mean bump him. I know a guy. Say the word. Thank you very much, it's, it's a pleasure to be here tonight. Good evening, Godless Sodomites. It is such a big decision that I would really need to receive some sort of sign that would. My Lord. My Lord. Excuse me? If I, my life or death, I can protect you, I will. [ LAUGH ] You have my sword. [ LAUGH ] [ MUSIC ] Oh, Jingle man, Christmas boy. Fighting crime with toys. Catching smugglers in New York and thieves in Illinois, oh. [ MUSIC ] [ LAUGH ] You may have noticed that last night, I got a new haircut. Good morning. My name is Stephen Colbert. And I am an American citizen. It is a honor and privilege to be here today. Congresswoman Lofrgen asked me to share my vast experience spending one day as a migrant farm- worker. One, two, three. [ MUSIC ] Oh it's the greatest, strongest country in the world. The greatest, strongest country in the world. From north to south to east to west and diagonally, there's no one more American than me. [ MUSIC ] I want to that everybody that, that that's worked so hard all year, and all the, do, do you wanna, do you, do you want to say something, Steven? Is there, is there, do you wanna, is there something you'd like to Yes there is, Jon. Can I hold that for a second? Sure! I'll just, Thank you. I'll just stand over One second. Just a second. Sure. I worked for the Daily Show for many years. [ LAUGH ] And I was incredibly proud to work there. He was, he was terrific on the show. Thank you, Jon. Thank you, Jon. [ SOUND ] [ SOUND ] Give it up for the man, Mr. Herman Cain. Whew! [ LAUGH ] Mr. Herman Cain. [ MUSIC ] Stephest Colbchella '012. [ MUSIC ] Rocktaugustfest. Whew! [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ SOUND ] Whew! Whew! [ SOUND ] Yes sir, is everybody happy? [ SOUND ] Boo [ SOUND ] We'll be right back. I hope. 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