 |
| 14.10.04 |
| country music |
so, i'm a big fan of music. there is rarely a musical form that i can't, at the very least, appreciate for its artistic value. but i've been thinking about country music lately and wonder why we never stop to really think about these songs. my hunch is that listeners may be naive at times.
let's pick on a pillar in country music, alan jackson, simply because two of his songs easily come to mind. i believe that people may not be aware of the themes that run in these songs.
race - from the song little man about the economic demise of our small towns due to big corporate takeovers. what first got me thinking about this song was the irony of its fan, typically republican, who likes (and probably relates to) this song, despite his party's belief in supporting big corporate take-overs. however, my train of thought was completely derailed when i heard the bridge:
It wasn't long when I was a child
An old black man came with his plow
He broke the ground where we grew our garden
Back before we'd all forgot about the little man
The little man
Long live the little man
God bless the little man
um....old black man with a plow?! he's talking about slavery! it's hard to imagine that in this post-civil-rights-era we can still have a song of nostalgia for "the good old days before the civil war". it is a classic propaganda piece used in the antebellum decades for the purpose of creating support for the south. gone with the wind was written for this purpose - a message that says, "things were better before the north stuck their noses in our business".
sex - from the song chattahoochie about good ole' days spend messing around at the river. except that this is a song dripping with sex.
Well we fooged up the windows in my old chevy
I was willing but she wasn't ready
So a settled for a burger and a grape sno-cone
Dropped her off early but I didn't go home
then later, because he didn't go home...
Way down yonder on the Chattahoochee
It gets hotter than a hoochie coochie...
Yeah way down yonder on the Chattahoochee
Never knew how much that muddy water meant to me
But I learned how to swim and I learned how I was
A lot about livin' and a litttle 'bout love
um, the man got laid by a prostitute. before you think i'm over-reading this....i ask you, what what are you implying about a woman if you call her a hoochie? and what is a coochie? i rest my case.
i still really like country music (and alan jackson), but i believe equal thought should be applied towards this form of popular music - and popular it is. so much is already said about the problems with hip hop, rap and other pop music, but rarely is there moral criticism towards country music. |
| posted by Paige @ 7:11 AM |
|
|
|
god meets girl | Blogger Templates by Gecko & Fly.
No part of the content or the blog may be reproduced without permission.
Learn how to Make Money Online at GeckoandFly
First Aid and Health Information at Medical Health
|
| |
|
|
