Songfacts®:

• This song talks about the strength and resiliency the American people faced during the Great Depression and also now during the current economic difficulties. "Tough times don't last. Tough people do," he sings. Adkins told ABC News Radio, "I'm just really proud of the song, and to me, the song just says - sometimes we need to be reminded of who we are, where we come from and what our history is. We've made it through tougher times than this."
• Adkins debuted the song at the Citizens United event outside the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida on August 28, 2012, but he insisted to ABC News it has a message for Democrats as well. He said, "If they identify with and believe in the lyrics of this song, then by all means, knock yourself out."
• The song reminds Adkins of the lessons he learned early in life by watching his grandmother. He told USA Today: "My grandma was the toughest old woman that I ever saw in my life," he reflected. "She'd still work in the garden with an old push-plow until she was in her late 70s. Just the toughest old woman that I ever knew and, at the same time, the godliest creature that I ever knew. That's the point of this song. That's what we have in our DNA. That's what we come from. That's who we are. That's what this country needs to be reminded of. We still have the wherewithal, still have the muscle to straighten out this incredibly twisted frame that we're driving on."