Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Rednecks and Red States

Terry Mattingly is talking country music. Is it the new sound of America? Well maybe. If you want to be literal it has probably been the old sound of America at some point too.

A lot of my family has gotten into country lately. My brother was raised a rockaholic and now listens to a lot of Toby Keith. I don't know whether Amybear's dad has a long country past, but I know he's much the same. The reason for their switch has been many fold.

The first is that rock and rap has gotten decadent. All the big names are singing the same songs of sex, drugs, liquor, fast cars, and loose women. I don't have any of those things. I don't want them either. I'm not having sex until marriage, not doing drugs (unless you count allergy meds), drive a little Mazda, and I have no interest in fooling around when I have Amybear to come home to. Ok ok maybe I'll have a fast car or motorcycle some day. If I have the money and Amybear lets me.

I think most of America is married, dreaming of retirement, and wishing the kids didn't need braces. Rock offers them escapism. Country offers them solutions and moral support. Try hard, maybe fail, then pick yourself up, ask for forgiveness, and try hard some more. Terry puts so very succinctly:
As the old saying goes, the secret to country music’s appeal is that it can deal with what happens on Sunday morning as well as Saturday night.
Tim McGraw's conclusion in "Live Like You Were Dying" are that if your time is to make the most of what you've got and be the best man you can. It seems like Rock's conclusion is let us eat and drink for tomorrow we shall die.

And that's really what has gotten most of my family into country. It's the values stupid. The unbridled patriotism is nice too of course. After 9-11 we had some pretty boring songs from pretty boring rockers. Then we had "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue" from Toby Keith. Yup, I wanted to put a boot in their ass because its the American way. Didn't we all? And where is the rock equivalent to that? While Greenday is calling me an American Idiot, TK is putting out "American Soldier" and touring with the USO. I can respect that.

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