« Video Killed the Radio Star | Main | Is Ginormous a Real Word? »
June 28, 2006
Confessions of a Country Music Addict
by a good-looking rebel who plays by her own rules…
Hi, y'all. I’m Beth and I like country music. There, I said it; I’m not ashamed.
Some of you (i.e., my fellow country music enthusiasts) are probably going, “What? But why would you be ashamed?” Well, if you grew up in WASP-y New England and spent the majority of your twenties toiling in the upper echelons of academia, you too might feel a bit rebellious about cranking up that honky tonk loud and proud. The Ivory Tower is tolerant of many forms of music—jazz, blues, and classical chief among them—but country isn’t typically one of them. Yeah, you can slip by if you like the classics—Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams—but the new, pop-flavored stuff is taboo.
Last summer, one of my college advisors, who is now a friend, came out to Arizona to visit and caught me listening to one of the local country stations on the ride from the airport. She gasped. “You actually enjoy country music?”
I hung my head. “Yeah.”
“Me, too! Don’t tell anyone.”
It’s too bad about the whole intellectual snobbery thing, because people who dismiss country out of hand don’t know what they’re missing. It’s not all rednecks and moonshine. I started secretly becoming a fan in college, when my friend Jose from Montana used to pump up Brooks & Dunn and Martina McBride to ear-bleeding decibels. The thumping bass and twangy guitar would creep in under my dorm room door while I was trying to read King Lear, and eventually, I found myself humming along.
Things I love about country music: the songs tell stories, they’re clever and often hilarious (download Brad Paisley’s “Alcohol” or “Celebrity”—you’ll die laughing), and they go beyond the scope of making up and breaking up with your flavor of the month. There are songs about family (“Somebody’s Hero” by Jamie O’Neal), and still loving one’s wife after many years of marriage (Phil Vassar’s “Just Another Day in Paradise”), and how women should kick a no-good, cheating SOB to the curb (check out “Men Don’t Change” by Amy Dalley or “Bye Bye” by Jo Dee Messina). They capture the human spirit at its highest points (Keith Urban’s “Who Wouldn’t Want to Be Me”) and its lowest (“Break Down Here” by Julie Roberts), the purest romantic yearning (“Run”, George Strait), and the craving for adventure (“Wide Open Spaces” by the Dixie Chicks, “Born to Fly” by Sara Evans). They urge us to be thankful what we have and to appreciate the simple beauty all around us.
There are also a lot of songs about divorce and drinking, of course, most of which are also laugh-out-loud funny. Like Trent Tomlinson singing, “I can’t be with a woman who gets drunker than me” or the venerated classic, “I’m Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home”. (Seriously.) There are even country music songs about NOT liking country music (Ray Scott's "My Kind of Music"--again, hilarious.)
My personal favorites right now include Reba McEntire’s rendition of “Fancy” (how can you NOT love a song that includes the lyrics: “I might have been born just plain white trash, but Fancy was my name”?), Loretta Lynn’s “Fist City” (the lyrics come in handy during marital spats--me to Mr. Tall: “I’d lay off the sarcasm if you don’t wanna go to fist city”), Wynonna Judd’s “Girls With Guitars”, and Mary Chapin Carpenter’s “I Feel Lucky”. And I would recommend Sugarland’s “Baby Girl” (about a fledgling bar singer trying to make it big) to anyone struggling to keep the faith on the road to finishing a book and/or finding a publisher.
In the immortal words of Everclear, I like pop, I like soul, I like rock…but when I’m really high or really low, I’ll always turn to the country music station. Go download a few songs and see for yourself. In return, I will…um…try sushi again and this time, I promise to really keep an open mind. Deal?
This blog was brought to you by Adiós to My Old Life, Caridad's rockin' young adult debut about a Latina girl who gets everything she's ever wanted... and then has to figure out what she needs.
Posted by Beth at 12:05 AM | Comments (17)
Comments
I tried some country music last year when I was conversing madly online with a guy from Tennessee. I don't hate it, but I won't go as far as to say I love it. But there is some stuff that I really really like.
But I'm still not trying Sushi. Eww.
Posted by: laurenjharwood ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.literarychicks.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at June 28, 2006 6:39 AM
I love Country music. I also LOVE classic rock and disco. LOL I have eclectic tastes in music...some say just plain weird. :)
Posted by: TeresaH at June 28, 2006 6:51 AM
I love country music! I know every song you referenced LOL
I really like Little Big Town tho...their songs "Boondocks" and "Don't Waste My Time".
Heck, I even rewrote Martina McBride's "My Baby Loves Me" to "My Mommy Loves Me" for my son and now HE loves country music! LOL
Posted by: Jen at June 28, 2006 7:19 AM
Surprise, surprise, I'm not a big fan of new country music (and I don't really like suishi either).
But I do love the classics -- Patsy Cline, Mr. Johnny Cash, hell, I even have a Kenny Rogers CD around here somewhere.
Posted by: Whitney at June 28, 2006 7:55 AM
Hee-- "I Feel Lucky" is one of my favorite karaoke/sing-along songs. As is "He Thinks He'll Keep Her."
Forget Whitney Houston singing "I Will Always Love You." Far too bombastic and overwrought. The version to listen to is Dolly Parton's duet with Vince Gill. (And how many people knew that Dolly wrote that song? Hm?)
And come on-- these days, even Bon Jovi's doing the country thang, duetting with Jennifer Nettles from Sugarland on "Who Says You Can't Go Home."
Why yes-- I like country too-- which I'm sure DOESN'T come as a surprise. Think they'll kick us out of the MTV club, Beth? :-P
Posted by: Barb at June 28, 2006 9:53 AM
I love sushi. mmmmm.
I never got music snobs. Ok if you don't like country (or other music of your choice) fine, but I never understood the whole my taste is better than yours thing.
Posted by: Eileen at June 28, 2006 11:46 AM
Things One and Two gave me the new Dixie Chicks CD for my birthday. I can't even listen to "Lullaby" without crying.
Eileen
Posted by: Eileen at June 28, 2006 12:21 PM
YAAA!!! Another country fan!! We can come out of the closet together! :) Especially the female singers; love LOVE Faith Hill and Patsy Cline and Suzy Bogguss on cross-country drives (DRIVE SOUTH was worn out on the CD on the trip from Ohio to Florida). And the humor factor is very very high in some songs - SHE THINKS MY TRACTOR'S SEXY, anybody?? hee hee.
Posted by: Alesia Holliday at June 28, 2006 1:46 PM
There are some days when only country will do.
And then there are times when I regret letting the kids ever listen to Toby Keith. I mean, that's the only time they can curse, so we blast "The Angry American" sometimes, just for kicks.
Brad Paisley does a great song, besides his funny ones. "He Didn't Have to Be" gives me chills.
And Dolly rocks with her version of her own song.
For me though, I really enjoy Tim McGraw. I cry every single time I hear "Don't Take the Girl", I get shivers when I listen to "Live like you were dyin", and I want to run on the beach when "Mexico" starts playing. Yep, that Tim... he can sing under my window any night of the week. Faith is a lucky lady.
Posted by: dee at June 28, 2006 1:47 PM
In the immortal words of Gretchen Wilson, "Let me get a big 'hell yeah' from the redneck girls like me".
Couldn't help myself, I like this redneck song.
I also like sushi.
Posted by: Terri at June 28, 2006 2:20 PM
Barb, I knew that Dolly Wrote "I Will Always Love You". And I agree that Whitney butchered it.
It's from Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, if you'd like further trivia.
I listen to a little of everything. And even have a taste for a little "old country" though I'll deny it if anyone tells my husband. He has a Johnny Cash thing a mile wide. Oy!
Posted by: Cate at June 28, 2006 2:27 PM
hey beth,
i am also a big fan of johnny cash!
Posted by: brittney at June 28, 2006 8:10 PM
Proud to say I am country all the way! Won tickets last month and got to see Josh Turner, Sarah Evans, and BRAD PAISLEY in concert--oo, la, la, baby!! Josh Turner not only has an amazing voice, he is some sweet eye candy! *wink* Also saw Kenny Chesney, Dena Carter, and Keith Urban together on tour a couple of years ago. Oh yeah, that tractor IS sexy!! *drool* LOL! I turned to country about the time New Wave hit the air waves... I still love the old rock and roll (Seger, Journey, Eagles, etc) but I listen to country mostly now. Tim and Faith, Gretchen, Terry Clark, LoneStar, Rascal Flatts--I could go on, but you get the picture. My youngest just rolls her eyes when I crank up the radio in the van, but I am fair and we listen to her hip hop stuff also--I'm even starting to like some of the songs! Went to the bar Fat Cat's last night to hear my DH's brother's band. Not my kind of music--not sure what it is, but I don't care for it--but they were good. Hopped over to the SpeakEasy and listened to BIL's friend's jazz ensemble--Melodious Funk. Awesome! LOVE jazz, and these guys were amazing! I am pretty flexible when it comes to good music--even like classical stuff! But country is where my heart is....
Posted by: Sheri at June 28, 2006 11:23 PM
I was at a karaoke thing the other night and all those really cool 18-30 year olds who wouldn't be caught dead listening to country music sang every word of *The Gambler*. Is it an Australian thing or do young people everywhere not think this is a country song?
Posted by: Wendy at June 29, 2006 1:04 AM
Lol! Thanks Beth! I've been trying to remember that Ray Scott song all night lol. I can hear the tune, but I couldn't remember his name or the lyrics lol.
Posted by: Loribelle at June 29, 2006 2:26 AM
Hey Sheri! I saw Kenny, Keith and Deanna in concert a few years ago too! I saw them in Maryland, I took my two oldest girls, and we were so close to Heaven all night that I thought we might just float home on a cloud! That Kenny is cute, mm-hmm, but that Keith... now there is one very sexy young man! And honestly, Deanna is so refreshing! I've seen her twice, and spent my tim dancing barefoot to Strawberry Wine at both concerts. Also, she sings one of my faves, "And we danced". Every time I hear that, it reminds me of me and my man on the street in Crete, dancing to the street band that was playing some song we'd never heard, couldn't understand a word of it, and we were laughing as he was twirling me around, and we couldn't have loved each other more at that moment if we'd tried! That song was written just for us, I swear!
Posted by: dee at June 29, 2006 1:48 PM
Oh I am a definite country addict... but then again, I spent some years as a horse trainer so it's expected! I'm a rebel for liking something other than country... I'm, ummm... listening to Britney Spears right now... ahem.
Posted by: Heather Cook at June 29, 2006 8:31 PM
