It seems fitting that my first blogpost in three-and-a-half months should have a shocking confession. I\u2019d hate to let my nonexistent readership down, so here it is:<\/p>\n
I love country music.<\/p>\n
Country music, as a general category, gets a bad rap from a lot of people for a lot of different reasons\u2014too twangy, too whiny, too unsophisticated\u2014complaints that drive die-hard country fans crazy. \u201cWhat about Hank Williams?\u201d we ask, spittle flying. \u201cLoretta Lynn? George Jones? DOLLY PARTON?? She has her own theme park<\/a>!\u201d<\/p>\n But I\u2019m not here to defend the good name of so many Grammy winners and Country Music Hall of Famers. They don\u2019t need my help. No, I\u2019m writing to defend the oft-maligned sub-category of current, popular country music, the stuff that\u2019s celebrated in all its non-ironic glory every year at the CMAs, that gave birth to the Dixie Chicks and now lays claim to Taylor Swift. The genre of music where songs with titles like \u201cHonky Tonk Badonkadonk<\/a>\u201d regularly top the country charts, and which many country music devotees reject outright.<\/p>\n Now, I\u2019m not about to argue that country music in its current incarnation has a whole lot in common with the pedal steel-pickin\u2019, acoustic guitar-strumming music of yore. (Although, I do believe that, despite its vast differences, it still qualifies as country music\u2014but that\u2019s for another blog.) Aesthetically speaking, major-label country is much more similar to its equally slick, slightly bassier brethren on the Top Forty stations\u2014which is why I think, when assessing musical merit, it\u2019s far more relevant to compare the two. As a genuine fan of pop of all kinds, I can\u2019t help but notice that mainstream country music has way<\/em> better songwriting than mainstream pop. Consider the lyrics to \u201cYou and Tequila,\u201d by Deana Carter and Matraca Berg, and popularized by Kenny Chesney<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>You and tequila make me crazy<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Run like poison in my blood<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>One more night could kill me, baby<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>One is one too many, one more is never enough<\/p>\n It might be cheesy, and a tad obvious, but let me tell you\u2014that\u2019s a solid metaphor! Meanwhile, songs with lyrics like \u201cGrab somebody sexy, tell \u2018em, hey!<\/a>\u201d and \u201cIt feels like tonight, tonight<\/a>,\u201d are topping the pop charts.<\/p>\n The only current Top Forty song that explores a metaphor with anything like Carter and Berg\u2019s commitment is \u201cStereo Heart<\/a>,\u201d performed by Gym Class Heroes, featuring Adam Levine. (\u201cMy heart\u2019s a stereo\/It beats for you, so listen close,\u201d etc.) For me, \u201cStereo Heart\u201d pales in comparison to \u201cYou and Tequila,\u201d not least because it has some of the most vanilla rapping you\u2019ve ever heard. More than that, \u201cStereo Heart,\u201d with its thundering bassline and relentless good mood, lacks the soul\u2014nay, the heart!\u2014of Chesney\u2019s mid-tempo lament. \u201cYou and Tequila\u201d conveys a far more complex, and therefore troubling, idea. And we all know that, for better or for worse, sad songs are more fun to listen to than happy songs.<\/p>\n I think that\u2019s all I can muster for serious country music analysis. Here are some videos for your enjoyment (The Kenny Chesney video is at once absurd and boring. But the song is pretty):<\/p>\n