Many people either love country music or hate it. It seems to me as if those people who despise country music tend to bash the genre every chance they get. Whereas country music lovers might not be rap or hip-hop fans, but they don’t go around bashing that genre every second of the day. I remember sitting in one of my classes last semester and my professor asked the class, “What’s your favorite genre of music?” And as she went around the classroom and everyone said their response, I was the only one to answer country music. “There’s always one of them,” my professor replied. She didn’t make that comment to the one person who said jazz was their favorite. She made it seem like country music was music that worshiped the devil. Newsflash, it isn’t.
If you love country music, let’s just be friends right now. And if you don’t, well, you’re missing out. There’s something special about country music -- maybe it’s that there is a song to meet whatever emotion you’re going through. Heartache? "You’ll Think of Me" by Keith Urban. Passionate? "Strip It Down" by Luke Bryan. Happiness? "Good Time" by Alan Jackson. Anger? "Kerosene" by Miranda Lambert. Party mood? "Red Solo Cup" by Toby Keith. Not every song is about working on a farm and driving a tractor, but if you want a song like that you can listen to Kenny Chesney’s "She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy."
I like music that I can understand the words to, instead of hearing people screaming what are supposed to be lyrics or lyrics being covered up by bass drops. I like music that I can relate to. I like genuine music. You can’t sit there and say that every country song is slow and makes you want to fall asleep, because you’d be a liar. Sure, there are ballads, which make my heart swoon, but there are also so many songs that have upbeat tempos.
Then there are country concerts. Ah yes, my favorite part of summer. There’s something about the vibe of listening to country music live, on a hot summer day at your favorite concert venue. It’s like all country music fans put their energy and love together. I can’t forget to mention tailgating either. If you’ve never tailgated at a country concert, do you really even know what fun is? BBQ, games and a nice cold drink with country music blasting and flags flying; I’ll take that any day.
Am I judging your taste in music or bashing the genre you enjoy? Absolutely not. Am I forcing you to listen to country music? Absolutely not. I’m just saying that there is more to country music then you think. Maybe if you let the song play longer than two seconds before changing the station, you might hear what I hear.
