Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Modern Country Music Has Become Country-Sleaze

From sleazy "songs" like "I'm here for the party" to "My Eyes", country music has gone raunchy white trash on us.  Getting tired of the garbage coming out of Nashville of late?  You're not alone.  Country legend Merle Haggard had this to say:

“I've gotta be honest, I don't really listen to the radio at all anymore,” Haggard explained to News Observer. “Once in a while, I'll scan it and I don't understand what they're doing. I can't find the entertainment in it.” 
Haggard furthers that modern country music lacks “substance,” something he’s valued since he got started. “I know these guys, occasionally play shows with them and they're all good people. But I wonder if that record they're making is something they can actually do,” the legend says. “Too much boogie boogie wham-bam and not enough substance.”
Just take the lyrics from the first three lines of the No. 1 country hit right now: "Burnin' It Down":
You slip your finger through the tear in my t-shirtYou stirrin' up dirty in the back of my mindYou keep on flirtin' cause you know that it's workin'
. . . then it only gets worse from there.

Or how about the No. 2 country hit right now: "That's My Kind of Night" with these lyrics:
You got that sun tan skirt and boots,Waiting on you to look my way and scoot,Your little hot self over here,Girl hand me another beer, yeah!
Or No. 3:
Damn pretty girl,You went and done it again.Ya gone and turned your sexy all the way up to 10.I never seen a ride seat,Looking so hot.Baby you rock,Hit the spot,Like a Fireball shot.
No. 4:
Hey girl, you make me wanna drive you home,Get you outta here and get you all alone.

. . . and blah, blah, blah . . . one more mention of 'girl' or 'baby', and, well "I guess I'll just go all country-crazy."  When noble principles of traditional family values get eschewed for the zeitgeist, it can only go downhill.  And since "Friends in Low Places", country music has done exactly that.