Ol' Red by Blake Shelton tells the story of a man who is sentenced to a Southern prison farm for a crime of passion. While serving time, he befriends a bloodhound named Ol' Red, which is used to track escapees. The protagonist hatches a clever plan to escape by using Ol' Red's love interest, a female dog, to distract him. The key themes in the song include cunning, loyalty, and revenge, with particularly poignant moments highlighting the protagonist's friendship with the dog and his eventual escape using wit.