Kenny Rogers – They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To

About The Song

“They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To” is the title track of Kenny Rogers’ 1986 studio album for RCA Records and one of his key mid-1980s singles. Written by Gary Burr and David Malloy and produced by George Martin, it was released as a single in 1986, tied in with the Burt Lancaster–Kirk Douglas film Tough Guys, where it served as the main theme song. The single runs a little under four minutes and arrived at a point when Rogers was well established as a crossover star on country, pop and adult-contemporary radio.

The album They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To followed Rogers’ 1985 set The Heart of the Matter, continuing his partnership with George Martin. Recorded in Los Angeles and Nashville with top session players, the LP blended ballads and mid-tempo tracks that leaned toward contemporary pop production while still being marketed primarily as country. Track listings place the title song early in the sequence, and RCA promoted it as the lead single, using its connection to Tough Guys to help expose the album beyond core country outlets.

Commercially, the record performed solidly. On U.S. country radio it reached the Top 10 of the Billboard country singles chart and spent several weeks in heavy rotation, while also charting on the adult-contemporary listing and making a modest showing on the pop Hot 100. In Canada it likewise reached the country Top 10 and received significant AC airplay. Although it did not become as dominant as earlier hits like “Lady” or “Islands in the Stream,” it confirmed that Rogers could still place new material high on multiple formats in the mid-1980s.

The lyric is built around the familiar phrase in the title, treating it as a comment on changing times and changing values. The narrator looks back on an older ideal of love and commitment, suggesting that people once stayed true to their word and fought to hold relationships together. By contrast, he sees a present where promises are quickly broken and everything feels more disposable. Rather than telling a detailed story, the song moves through general situations—a couple giving up too easily, a world moving too fast—and returns to the refrain that “they don’t make them like they used to,” meaning the kind of love, or the kind of people, he still believes in.

Musically, “They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To” is a mid-tempo, polished country-pop track. The arrangement centres on electric piano and synthesizers, with electric guitars, bass and drums providing a smooth, steady groove. Martin’s production favours clarity and restraint: there are subtle string or pad textures in the choruses, but no heavy orchestration, and the mix keeps Rogers’ vocal in front. The sound fits comfortably beside mid-1980s adult-contemporary records while leaving enough space for his slightly rough tone and conversational phrasing to carry the emotional weight.

The tie-in with Tough Guys gave the song an additional context. Promotional materials and the official music video incorporated clips from the film, underlining its themes of aging, loyalty and the contrast between old-fashioned codes and a changing world. Those ideas echo in the lyric’s references to “the way it used to be,” so that the track works both as a standalone reflection on relationships and as a companion piece to a movie about older men trying to find their place in a new era.

Within Kenny Rogers’ catalogue, “They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To” is often treated as one of the notable singles from his mid-1980s RCA period. It appears on compilations that survey his work after the Bee Gees–produced Eyes That See in the Dark, and on themed collections focusing on love songs and adult-contemporary ballads. For listeners exploring his career beyond the biggest hits, the track offers a clear snapshot of this later phase: a smooth, radio-ready production, written by Nashville and L.A. professionals, built around a simple, memorable line that sums up a mixture of nostalgia and concern about how quickly the world—and relationships—seem to be changing.

Video

Lyric

They don’t make ’em like they used to, those guys
And I can’t get used to the way that it is today
No one to look up to, hard times, and though I try
I just can’t find the reason these days
And it seems like the seasons are passing me
They’re going by, nothing to hold on to, rough times

And it goes on, so count on me, and I’ll count on you
You can lean on me, two of us stronger
We won’t be alone any longer
Now and for always we will be good friends
Count on me, into any storm, we’re gonna survive it
Into any fire, we’ll carry on

Know that one day you and me will both be old friends
And we’ll sit on the sofa and talk about how
They don’t make ’em like they used to, you’ll see
As time goes on, so count on me, and I’ll count on you
In a world like this, when nothing’s sure
And people are afraid, I’ll be here for ‘
Now and for always we will be good friends
Count on me, they don’t make it now like they used to
They’re not gonna last like you and me, I’ll be there

Oh, always we will be, year by year
Depend on me, into any storm, we’re gonna survive it
Into any fire, just count on me, I’ll be there
Oh, tough guys, you and me, year by year
They will see, they don’t make it now like they used to
They’re not gonna last like you and me…