This is Country Music

I've been on a country music kick for like a month now. I like a lot of different music. I like singer songwriters, I like folk, I like pop/top 40 music, and Broadway and all sorts of other music, but I got sick of the top 40 music that I had been listening to. Basically what happened was I had my radio on when a song came on that I was  already tired of because it had been so overplayed.. and when I switched to another station it was playing the same song.

So I switched to a country station and I've been enjoying it. In part because I don't already know all the songs, but in part because I really think there is something to country music.

This elicits eyebrow raises, disdain, scoffing, or groans depending on who is reacting. And quite often I hear, "Why?" in a pained voice.

Now the thing is, I'm not a musician. I like to sing. I like music, but I don't pick it apart, so some twang or some steel guitar or some notes that are sidled up to, rather than hit straight on don't bother me that much... It's just flavor. I don't know what it means when Pandora tells me that I like "Major key tonality"

What I care about are the lyrics, and country music, while often labeled cheesy and even cliché, says a lot about me and to me. This might be because *I* am cheesy and cliché, but I prefer to think of it as "true of heart" and "honest" and "direct."

It reminds me not to start feeling sorry for myself:

"Every time you think you got it bad, you can find someone who's got it worse. All the things you take for granted now, they started out as blessings first. If you got someone who loves you and a steady job that puts food on the table, if you're strong and able, Man, be grateful" Be Grateful - The Farm Inc.

"Every storm runs, runs out of rain, just like every dark night has its day. Every heartache will fade away. Just like every storm runs, runs out of rain." Every Storm Run Out of Rain- Gary Allen 

Yesterday Pandora played a September 11th song that made me cry all over again, even 11 years later:

"Did you feel guilty 'cause you're a survivor? In a crowded room did you feel alone? Did you call up your mother and tell her you loved her? Did you dust off that Bible at home? Did you open your eyes, hope it never happened, close your eyes and not go to sleep?" Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning? - Alan Jackson

 There is a lot of truth in the lyrics:

"Funny how a melody sounds like a memory" Springsteen- Eric Church 

(That's just good poetry no matter who you are.)

And it also reminds me of how I want to love and be loved:

"I'm a long gone Waylon song on vinyl. I'm a back row sinner at a tent revival. She believes in me like she believes her Bible. She loves me like Jesus does." She Loves Me Like Jesus Does- Eric Church

"I am a short fuse, I am a wrecking ball, crashing into your heart like I do. You're like a Sunday morning, full of grace and full of Jesus. I wish that I could be more like you. I'm hard to love, hard to love, I don't make it easy. I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood. I'm hard to love, hard to love. You say that you need me. I don't deserve it, but I love that you love me." Hard to Love- Lee Bryce

Especially in that last quote: "You're like a Sunday morning, full of grace and full of Jesus." Whoa. Honestly, I'm happy I switched over to country for a bit just so I could hear that one line. I want that. I want to be that. I want someone to believe that of me.

And in the meantime I'm awful happy that someone had the guts to put it into a song without irony.