Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw, Luke Bryan, Brad Paisley - these people are all iconic country musicians who have changed my life. First off, I want you to know that you do not have to be a country music fan to relate to this piece. Country music has a bad rep for being all about drinking beer, heartbreak and tractors. While that may be true for some songs, it isn't true for the entire genre - and this is how country music has changed my life.
My summers consist of traveling across the nation to play softball. I've played everywhere from five minutes down the road at my high school in Jersey to Orlando, Florida. It's a huge commitment, but I love everything about it, including the car rides with my dad. My dad is easily one of my favorite people in the world (don't worry, mom, you are too!). He always has my best interest in mind and is my biggest critic, but also my biggest fan.
It was mid-July in the summer of 2013, the summer going into my junior year of high school, and we loaded up the car and were driving six hours south to Virginia Beach for a softball tournament. As we drove further south, the radio began to fill with more and more static. The stations we listened to at home, 92.3, Z100, began to fade, so we decided to turn on Sirius radio. It was pretty late and we were both tired, so no one was really listening to the radio; we were perfectly content sitting in silence. However, one song piqued his interest. It was "She Will" by Lil Wayne.
I was groggy and not even listening to it, but he turned down the music and started talking, so I listened. He said, "I hate this guy. His music is so degrading to women. How can your generation accept this? What kind of message does this send to women?" As a father of two girls and two boys, he was appalled by the lyrics coming out of the radio. I was never a big fan of rap, but I just listened to what was on the radio. So, I started paying attention to the next couple of songs and soaked in the lyrics, realizing how awful they actually were.
I said, "Dad, these are pretty insulting lyrics, I never actually listened to them before you mentioned it though." He replied with, "When I was younger, Elvis and other male musicians used to celebrate women in their songs, not badmouth them." Angry and upset, he switched to a country station. We listened, and I was a little skeptical about it because no one really listened to country music in my town, but after three songs, I was hooked. I fell in love with the soothing melodies and the sincere lyrics that were so relatable. I haven't turned back since, and I am a proud country music enthusiast who yearns for summer days riding with the windows down blasting country songs.
Country music made me realize how women should be admired and cherished, not degraded and trash-talked. Country music has also made me appreciate the things in life that people take for granted, like family and freedom.
Country music mended my broken heart and fueled my fire to strive to be the best that I can be in academics and athletics. Country music strengthened my relationship with my father, too. Country music has changed my life and my outlook, and I am forever grateful for that.
