Country music is looked down upon and made fun of in today's mainstream society. Honestly, it's underrated. The popular reason people discredit and don't listen to it is because they say "it's all about tractors and beer," says Ricardo Cortez of El Iluminador. Now, this isn't completely untrue. I'm not going to lie. Yes, some songs might mention these things, but saying that tractors and beer encompasses what the entire genre of country is all about is a little ridiculous. Another thing that people stereotype country music as is that it's all about hillbilly's and rednecks, so why would anyone who isn't one want to listen to it right? That one particularly gets under my skin because then the people who do listen to country music are looked down upon in this stereotypical way. The reason people generalize country as being these things is because country music doesn't talk about the "flashy," high-end, rich and famous lifestyles that most types of music do.
Country music talks about the everyday life of the "average Joe." The hardships and rewards of a common, simplistic lifestyle that most people live. This is what makes it so easy for country to tell a story because artists are able to draw from their own lives and experiences that those listening will be able to relate to. I'm not dissing other genres of music in any way for their inability to do this because they are all unique in their own ways, I'm just saying that country's way of being unique is this ability to tell a story.
Here are some examples of country songs telling a story.
You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift
You're Gonna Miss This by Trace Adkins
Letters from War by Mark Schultz
Leave a comment below telling me what story you think each song is telling. Their isn't necessarily one right answer, the other great thing about country is that it's all up to interpretation.
No comments:
Post a Comment