They Ort Notta Do Such Things!

I'm growing evermore astounded at the stupification and trashification of American pop culture. My favorite example of this (currently) is a line from a country song--You can see the neighbors butt-crack nailing on his shingles, and his woman's smoking Pall Malls watching Laura Ingalls. The line is from the song, Hicktown, by Jason Aldean. Jason is an up and coming country singer and the song has made it pretty big--thanks in part to the atrocity of the line I have quoted. (By the way, I wish I could have written this post without quoting that song, but I couldn't find a way around it. If you have the song now rolling through your mind on a continuous loop, I am truly sorry.)

My first objection (aside from the fact that the line is grammatically atrocious) is that this is way too vivid. Everytime I hear the song, I have that image flashing in my mind. Ewwwwwwww! Of all the things in the world someone could pick to sing about and that radio stations would choose to play, why is this particular image something anyone would want to focus on?

I'll tell you why--because the entire premise of that song is to celebrate the tackiest and trashiest sector of our population. (Do I sound snobby enough yet?) This is just an example of a growing trend.

I love country music. I was raised on country music. I have listened to it all my life. I especially love OLD country music. It's cheesy in the most delicious kind of way. I'm not saying that country music has ever conveyed the most ethical of themes. It's not always been family oriented. However, never before has the element I am talking about been celebrated so.

For example, Toby Keith recently had a big hit with As Good As I Once Was. The first verse of the song describes a scenario in which a young woman and her twin sister proposition the singer in a bar. Again, ewwwww. Okay, I don't have a sister, but I would assume that if I did, I would not want her to be involved in any kind of sexual activity with me. It's wrong on so many levels I don't know where to start. Toby Keith presents this as a totally agreeable thing.

Gretchen Wilson, who is an excellent singer when she has a good song, recently release a single entitled All Jacked Up. This song is a celebration of drinking too much Jack Daniels and the follies thereof. This is a follow-up to her other big singles, Redneck Woman and I'm Here for the Party--in which she sings Gonna have a little fun, gonna get me some. I don't think she's talking about pretzels and beer.

Alot of this music doesn't even fit the country style. If Hicktown had been released in 1985, it would have been a hard rock song. It has a driving beat and edgy sound. The only thing that is remotely country about it is the subject matter and the twang in the singer's voice.

And maybe that's what bothers me most about it. These people who are making so much money off presenting this kind of trash to the world, paint a picture of country-living as constant drinking, and sex without commitment and well, people without standards. It doesn't fit with the country music other artists are gracing us with--music that celebrates love and marriage and commitment and even sometimes God.

About two years ago I saw an article in a magazine that named Big and Rich and GretchenWilson as the artists that were going to save country music. I sure hope not. If so, my kids will certainly not grow up on country music.