Country Girl

I have friends, mostly my friends who grew up in the suburbs, who get irritated that I don’t listen to country. They love it… no…. they LOOOOOOVE country music. That’s right they love it so much it requires 5 extra “O”s. They question if my dad actually is a farmer or if I have ever seen a cow, if I don’t know every line of the newest …. Give me a country star (is Shiana Twain still big?) … Faith Hill (?) song.
I have to confess I have been listening to more country music since I came home. Partly because country music is every other radio station, and partly because when I get the good tractor there is a radio on it and it seems to ONLY get country stations. I don’t know if that is a requirement for a radio in a tractor, to only get country stations, or if this radio just likes country music.
After hearing many…many country songs I understand why it is predominately my suburbanite friends that love country music. They can relate to the music. They too spent their time down by the levy (I sorta think I know what a levy is, but why are so many of them in country songs?), they spent their teen years making out on tractors and dancing in barns.
Country songs also seem to love to sing about how regular they are. If you question that listen to the song Common Man or Regular Guy Like Me. They just like singin’ about there good wife, their great kids, and beer. I do have to give some respect to men that know the difference between Case Red, New Holland Blue, and John Deere Green…. and can find ways to sing about them.
I did find it odd how many country songs defend country music. I heard probably four songs in an hour and half defending how great country music is and why they listen to it. You don’t hear Pop songs having to defend why they are great. Well, except for ‘NSYNC’s Pop…. But I super-duper (with a cherry on top) love that song. How can you not love it with lines like:
Sick and tired of hearing all these people talk about
“what’s the deal with this pop life and when’s it goin’ fade out”
Fantastic!
Country, though, has more than one anthem declaring that it will live on. In all honesty country doesn’t need any of these, because their anthem was written long ago. As Hank Williams Jr said A Country Boy Can Survive.