6.12.2002
...Country music:
Where I work, I too am often subjected to country music for hours at a time (until I'm left on my own with about 2 hours to go in my shift), and I don't really agree that it's remained the same as it was "way back when." As a 1980's child of a family hailing from Lousiana, I was subjected to the indoctrinations of country very early on. And yes, I still have an affinity for that god-awful twang. Country music today, I've noticed as I've stood there listening against my will, is preachy. There's always a moral to teach. It's things like godlove (many of the songs could easily be played on Christian music stations with as many times as they say things like, "I love God"), moral righteousness (there's a song by a woman, maybe Reba Mcentire, where she says something to the effect of "what do I tell my little girl as we pass by that adult store," heh), and patriotism (of which there's been an unmitigated and expected rash lately - the first song that comes to mind has a line like "the statue of liberty started shaking her fist.") Today's country music shoves morality down your throat, and the empty saccharine sweetness of it all is enough to make one gag. Of course, there was some of that in the early 80's country music too, but the subjects seemed more human - heartbreak, loss, class struggle. Today's moral majority country music poster children also dress themselves up to be pop stars. With Garth Brooks, came a wave of country music "stars" trying to emulate rock/pop to gather up bigger audiences (a "hipper" sound or whatever). And so now, it has both the self-righteousness of Christian music and the emptiness of pop music. At least in the early 80s, it didn't pretend to be anything more than the twangy fluff that it was.
Okay, would we rather be subjected to 10 hours in a room blasting country music or hip hop? Heh. Nasty.
Where I work, I too am often subjected to country music for hours at a time (until I'm left on my own with about 2 hours to go in my shift), and I don't really agree that it's remained the same as it was "way back when." As a 1980's child of a family hailing from Lousiana, I was subjected to the indoctrinations of country very early on. And yes, I still have an affinity for that god-awful twang. Country music today, I've noticed as I've stood there listening against my will, is preachy. There's always a moral to teach. It's things like godlove (many of the songs could easily be played on Christian music stations with as many times as they say things like, "I love God"), moral righteousness (there's a song by a woman, maybe Reba Mcentire, where she says something to the effect of "what do I tell my little girl as we pass by that adult store," heh), and patriotism (of which there's been an unmitigated and expected rash lately - the first song that comes to mind has a line like "the statue of liberty started shaking her fist.") Today's country music shoves morality down your throat, and the empty saccharine sweetness of it all is enough to make one gag. Of course, there was some of that in the early 80's country music too, but the subjects seemed more human - heartbreak, loss, class struggle. Today's moral majority country music poster children also dress themselves up to be pop stars. With Garth Brooks, came a wave of country music "stars" trying to emulate rock/pop to gather up bigger audiences (a "hipper" sound or whatever). And so now, it has both the self-righteousness of Christian music and the emptiness of pop music. At least in the early 80s, it didn't pretend to be anything more than the twangy fluff that it was.
Okay, would we rather be subjected to 10 hours in a room blasting country music or hip hop? Heh. Nasty.
< 02:19 >< /Jenny >
