I've read this in a couple of different places now so thought I would add it here.
"Keith was inspired to write the song after a conversation he had with Eastwood while the two played golf.
Eastwood, who was about to turn 88, revealed he was about to start working on a new movie called The Mule. When Keith asked him “How do you do it, man?” Eastwood responded, “I just get up every morning and go out. And I don’t let the old man in.”
Keith immediately started writing around Eastwood’s words, and what he knew about his character in the film and became consumed by the song. “People were talking to me and they would say, ‘Did you hear what I just said?’ and I was like, ‘No,’ because I wasn’t listening to any conversations,” said Keith. “I was consumed by ‘Don’t Let the Old Man In.’ I worked so hard on it. When I finally sang the line, I thought, it’s got to be dark, it’s got to be a ballad and it’s got to be simple.”
When it was time for Keith to record the demo, he was sick, which worked in his favor when singing the darker ballad. “I was sick as a dog that day,” remembered Keith. “I was coughing and sneezing and thinking, this is terrible. I gave it the best vocal I could that day, and I sent it off. It’s a real raspy, sleepy, tired, sick vocal. I said, ‘Well now you’ve got a reference, and I’ll go back and put a vocal on it for you.’ ”
After hearing Keith’s song, Eastwood wanted to feature it in the film and didn’t want the vocals changed.
“He wanted it sick and tired and dark like that,” said Keith.
"Keith was inspired to write the song after a conversation he had with Eastwood while the two played golf.
Eastwood, who was about to turn 88, revealed he was about to start working on a new movie called The Mule. When Keith asked him “How do you do it, man?” Eastwood responded, “I just get up every morning and go out. And I don’t let the old man in.”
Keith immediately started writing around Eastwood’s words, and what he knew about his character in the film and became consumed by the song. “People were talking to me and they would say, ‘Did you hear what I just said?’ and I was like, ‘No,’ because I wasn’t listening to any conversations,” said Keith. “I was consumed by ‘Don’t Let the Old Man In.’ I worked so hard on it. When I finally sang the line, I thought, it’s got to be dark, it’s got to be a ballad and it’s got to be simple.”
When it was time for Keith to record the demo, he was sick, which worked in his favor when singing the darker ballad. “I was sick as a dog that day,” remembered Keith. “I was coughing and sneezing and thinking, this is terrible. I gave it the best vocal I could that day, and I sent it off. It’s a real raspy, sleepy, tired, sick vocal. I said, ‘Well now you’ve got a reference, and I’ll go back and put a vocal on it for you.’ ”
After hearing Keith’s song, Eastwood wanted to feature it in the film and didn’t want the vocals changed.
“He wanted it sick and tired and dark like that,” said Keith.
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