I Hate Country Music.

MusiYou know, I really do hate country music these days. I know it is so cliché to say that, but I do. The crap that is on the radio now is simply discouraging. Well, it really isn’t even country in the true sense of the word. It is, as I like to say, “pop-with-a-cowboy-hat.” With all of these guys from random places in the country and all over the world coming to Nashville, putting on a fake southern accent, and singing someone else’s unoriginal music, I just get sick. I think the worst is when country artists cover well-know rock/pop songs in an attempt to bring them to a different constituency. Would you not agree? Just the other day I heard Tim McGraw singing Elton John’s Tiny Dancer. He ought to feel truly ashamed for that. I am embarrassed for him.

But I harbor no disillusions that this is an accurate representation of classic country. Listening to men like Johnny Cash, Ernest Tubb, Hank Williams (representing the Gump!), and even some of the more recent guys like Lyle Lovett, George Straight, and Clint Black will make you sit back and realize there is still hope left for the world of country. It is, however, a hope that is almost completely unrealized. I think I take such an issue with it because country is one of the most purely American forms of music we have. I like that. I like knowing that we came up with jazz, the blues, and good country. When country is good, it is just about as good as it gets—it has emotion, originality, and integrity; but when it is bad, it is so much worse than any other form of music out there.

Oh, that more groups like the Beatles could come around—for all genres of music! They were so original, so talented, and not in the least apologetic. If modern music produced more bands like them we would see much more musical integrity than we do. But then again, if there were more groups like them, we would probably not appreciate them as much. What is it that country needs? More men and women like Johnny Cash and Lyle Lovett. I don’t know, it just seems like modern music needs a few wake-up calls—you know what I mean?