What the HECK has happened to country music? The only phrase i can think of that properly describes my feelings here is, "I love you, but I'm not IN love with you."
I have been a country fan and listening to country forever; since my parents used to take me out in the boat at night to put me to sleep with a soundtrack of waves and Patsy Cline. I LOVE country and I respect it as a musical genre like no other. Lately, I am just plain disappointed. We have two local country stations here in Atlanta, Kicks 101.5 and 94.9 the Bull and lately I just want to KICK the BULL right out of my life. Ok, I know that was cheesy- but really. It's awful.
Here's a rundown of what I can expect each morning like clockwork on the radio between my house and work (my thoughts added underneath):
1. My Kind of Party- Jason Aldean
(I love a good GA boy getting famous, but we've already played this song 3 times since 6:30 and really,
I'm just not in a party mood)
2. Something ridiculously overplayed by Zac Brown Band
(Again, all for the GA artists, but he has more than three songs)
3. Back to Decemeber- Taylor Swift
(Ugh....we all know how I feel about the "praying mantis". She's one hell of a creative songwriter, but
her voice unnerves me and sometimes I wonder how many songs she is really going to write about
inappropriate relationships, cough- Dear John, and why women over the age of 18 continue to relate to
her drivel. Really? Is is illusions of grandeur from the high school days where being a cheerleader,
thespian or clarinet player was what made you cool? Do we really need to listen to those songs to relive
all that? I hope the ghost of Patsy Cline haunts her freaky house with the birdcage in it and interrupts her
40,000 trips to coffee shop day with Jake Gyllenhal which we alll have to hear about on the news.GAG)
4. Stuck Like Glue- Sugarland
(I LOVE most of Sugarland's music back when it used to be umm, country. But now that she and Britney
Spears seem to have had a Jamaican love child named "stuck like glue", I am just sad. No part of that
song is country. none. What happened to the Jennifer Nettles that used to sing bluegrass in the bars in
Athens? Her strong soulful voice spilling out of her. Now it's just crazy yoga on stage and reggae. Tear.)
5. Felt Good on my Lips- Time McGraw
(Just EWW. Tim, has Hollywood removed your reasoning skills? That song just screams "sellout" sort
of like the last Weezer album, and the lyrics are literally ridiculous:
"She ordered us a drink, it was a purple kind of pain
she said its got a shot, a little bit of everything
a little yellow umbrella for a fella like me
it was just a bit mellow for me to be seen with"
Oh yes, every hates a "purple kind of pain". And who lets Gwyneth Paltrow release a song from this
same movie soundtrack on country radio? It's called Country Strong but I would name it vocally weak.
Just because you are married to a musician does not make you a good one. I love Gwyneth in all
other roles- but singer- no.)
6. Good to be Me- Uncle Kracker
(So already he has one strike against him for spelling words with a "k". Second strike is the lyrical
un-country ness of everything he sings. Third strike is that he once described himself as a gangsta cowboy)
So now that I have changed the channel 6 times between I-75 and 285 W and am clearly driving distracted due to bad music, I start to just think about how many GOOD country songs and artists there are. Why do our two country stations play the same 10 songs over and over? If only I had Pandora in the car. I miss REAL country. Miranda Lambert and Josh Turner may be our only hope for the future.
I leave you with this ;)
