Country Music is NOT THAT BAD....
I love country music. I will never stop loving country music. I think I spent over two consecutive hours today listening to country music, from Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson (And if anyone knows someone who is in prison this Mother's Day, be sure to tell them to have Mamma Tried played for their mother on the radio station) all the way to the newer country artists like Sugarland and Taylor Swift.
Teardrops on my Guitar: Really, I have to say that it is brilliant. And there have been many, many people who have caused me to leave teardrops on my guitar. Thankfully, they don't stain the finish. Baby Girl by Sugarland? "It's a long way from here/ To the place where the homefires burn/ Well its two thousand miles and one left turn" I dunno, the song just speaks to me. A friend drove out to The Ranch last week and she was amazed that you could get to my house with an hour and a half of driving and two turns.
New country doesn't really do it for me in the same way that old country does. I love most of the original Johnny Cash because of how plain and simple it is. Most of the new country has added so many musical interludes, doubling up on the voices, tons more backup, and a lot more extra ... stuff.
Country music is bashed all the time. I hear it in jokes, I hear it in the groans I get when I freely profess my undying love for Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, Blake Shelton, and Gary Allan. (If any of you fine men are reading, and you would like to marry a 22 year old Sociology graduate, please contact me ASAP. Thanks.) People actually groan.
But the thing is, the new country? Has pretty much no twang at all. There aren't too many stories about bird dogs, the farm going under, little Timmy losing his leg, and someone's wife cheating with his brother. I mean, those songs exist -- but not in today's mainstream country.
I think what really made me love country with all that I have to love country with was my Culture class last year. I never considered Rednecks a culture, I never thought that we could be considered our own people, with our own set of norms, traditions, unspoken rules, language types, and so forth. But the more I look at culture, the more I look at Redneck culture, the more I realize that wow, we really are a grou punto ourselves. We are worthy of recognition, we do have our own style of music, ways of life.
And if you listen to the lyrics of our style of music you'll find that it is not that much different than your average easy-listening station. Which is why the hardcores like me stick to Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Don Williams, original Johnny Cash, and of course, Hank Williams.
Toonses
[Country Music Rednecks]
Teardrops on my Guitar: Really, I have to say that it is brilliant. And there have been many, many people who have caused me to leave teardrops on my guitar. Thankfully, they don't stain the finish. Baby Girl by Sugarland? "It's a long way from here/ To the place where the homefires burn/ Well its two thousand miles and one left turn" I dunno, the song just speaks to me. A friend drove out to The Ranch last week and she was amazed that you could get to my house with an hour and a half of driving and two turns.
New country doesn't really do it for me in the same way that old country does. I love most of the original Johnny Cash because of how plain and simple it is. Most of the new country has added so many musical interludes, doubling up on the voices, tons more backup, and a lot more extra ... stuff.
Country music is bashed all the time. I hear it in jokes, I hear it in the groans I get when I freely profess my undying love for Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, Blake Shelton, and Gary Allan. (If any of you fine men are reading, and you would like to marry a 22 year old Sociology graduate, please contact me ASAP. Thanks.) People actually groan.
But the thing is, the new country? Has pretty much no twang at all. There aren't too many stories about bird dogs, the farm going under, little Timmy losing his leg, and someone's wife cheating with his brother. I mean, those songs exist -- but not in today's mainstream country.
I think what really made me love country with all that I have to love country with was my Culture class last year. I never considered Rednecks a culture, I never thought that we could be considered our own people, with our own set of norms, traditions, unspoken rules, language types, and so forth. But the more I look at culture, the more I look at Redneck culture, the more I realize that wow, we really are a grou punto ourselves. We are worthy of recognition, we do have our own style of music, ways of life.
And if you listen to the lyrics of our style of music you'll find that it is not that much different than your average easy-listening station. Which is why the hardcores like me stick to Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Don Williams, original Johnny Cash, and of course, Hank Williams.
Toonses
[Country Music Rednecks]
posted by Amanda at 00:57
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