Your Take: Pet Peeves
Justin Moore’s new single “Small Town USA” is trickling onto country radio airwaves, so when I heard it for the first time on my local country station this week, I turned up the volume and gave it a listen.
There’s just something a little different about hearing a song coming through car speakers, shades on and windows rolled down, so despite my less than favorable review of the song, I was looking forward to giving it a second chance.
Unfortunately, I was disappointed in a different way when I heard Moore namecheck the station’s call letters by substituting the song’s original lyrics, one of my biggest musical marketing pet peeves:
Give me a Saturday night my baby by my side
[Radio call letters] and a six pack of lights
Old dirt road and ill be just fine
Give me a Sunday morning that full of grace
A simple life and I’ll be okay
Here in small town USA
Moore is not the first singer to do this; I can recall Taylor Swift swapping the lyrics of “Tim McGraw” from “and when you turn your radio on” to “and when you turn [call letters] on,” and Gary Allan rearranging the last lines of “Nothin’ on but the Radio” to give a shout out to a particular station. It’s not always radio station call letters, however; I remember cringing when Terri Clark changed her “…Watch the Yankees play ball” lyric in “I Wanna Do It All” to include regional teams, as did Montgomery Gentry in “Lucky Man.”
I’m not exactly sure why this bothers me, as I can see the potential goodwill it extends to an artist’s fans and the regional radio stations that support him or her. Perhaps it’s the pandering aspect, or the huge potential it seems to have for backfiring. (For example–if I was a fan of, say, the Carolina Panthers’ arch rival and I hear Clark singing about rooting them on, I would be instantly turned off of the song.) I also don’t know if this is a relatively new marketing practice confined to country music, or if singers of all genres having been doing this for years.
But just like when people don’t use a turn signal in their cars or tYPe liKE ThIS, it’s a pet peeve of mine I can’t exactly explain. What music marketing, songwriting or singing techniques bug you, and why?
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May 23, 2009 at 7:50 am Permalink
Songs in which syllable accents diverge from everyday speech patterns (for instance, Gretchen Wilson’s “keepin’ it coun-TRY” instead of the normal “keepin’ it COUN-try”) are often annoying; to me, that’s just being lazy.
May 23, 2009 at 7:57 am Permalink
Bad grammar in country songs has always bothered me to some extent. For instance, when performing, unless it ruins the meter of the song, I usually change the word ain’t into something else.
Obviously, when ain’t is part of the song title, like in the Webb Pierce classic “I Ain’t Never” , I leave the “ain’t” alone
May 23, 2009 at 10:29 am Permalink
It’s a fairly new trend, but I’m already tired of bands and singers releasing a single a week on iTunes starting three weeks before the album is due to be released. It’s fine for folks like Eminem who live off singles, but it’s annoying when I plan to purchase an entire album and am tempted by those teaser songs to change my usual listening habits. I’m old fashioned that way. I’ll second what Jon said too, but not what Paul said. Bad grammar in music bothers my (teacher) wife too, but I think it’s part of the game for country music… or at least the grittier, less commercial branches of the genre. It ain’t botherin’ me none. ;)
May 23, 2009 at 10:49 am Permalink
as for the call letters and the sports teams..it makes it more personal for the fans, which is what the fan wants to hear, helps them relate more. i’ve seen KC in concert many times, in several cities, and each time he plays “back where i come from” he plays a slideshow of that specific city he is in. it is an awesome element of his show. it really connects with the fans.
May 23, 2009 at 10:54 am Permalink
I dont mind so much if the radio call letters (or station nickname) are substituted for the word ‘radio’. The substitution that really bothers me is in MG’s ‘Lucky Man’, when they substitute other football teams for the original one. And frankly that doesnt bother me if it’s legit, but here in good ol’ Bama (roll tide) they say substitute “tide” for the original team …. for one thing it doest really fit because the syllable count is different …. and they’re talking about a SUNDAY game ….. the ‘Tide’ is a college team and they play on SATURDAY! GRRRR!!
I’m sure I’ve got other things that bug me but right now that’s the biggie that I can think of.
May 23, 2009 at 11:01 am Permalink
I’m tired of the fake cheers and yells from fake live audiences being tossed into songs. The Gloriana song, the new Rascal Flatts single, new Rodney Atkins single, latest Montgomery Gentry single… they all have the “fans” cheering in the background of the song at some point. It seems to be a growing trend and it’s getting pretty annoying.
May 23, 2009 at 12:07 pm Permalink
Tim McGraw never releasing a studio version of “If You’re Reading This”. So we’re left with the remastered TIVO version (from the ACMs) complete with uncontrolled crowd noise. You’d think he would want a clean version for radio use.
May 23, 2009 at 12:39 pm Permalink
I guess I’m not annoyed by the substitutions.
As I mentioned somewhere else recently, I do hate it when words are consecutively repeated in a line as it’s done in Reba’s “Every Promise that Remains”, for example. I just think another word can be used to fill the syllable.
I also hate reverb. Neko Case uses it all the time and it keeps me from completely embracing her music.
May 23, 2009 at 1:35 pm Permalink
Reverb usually gets on my nerves too. It’s probably why I don’t enjoy Neko’s music that much also. It’s kept me from being a big My Morning Jacket fan as well. However, Band of Horses and Fleet Foxes use it to pretty nice effect.
May 23, 2009 at 1:53 pm Permalink
Completely agree on the substitutions.
I’d like to add starting a song with “woooooo,” or “here we go!!”
May 23, 2009 at 2:14 pm Permalink
I know a lot of us are thinking it, so I’m just gonna say it: Songs that rhyme “girl” with “world.”
Also, I hate it when the radio versions of songs will replace a line to make it more politically correct or less risque. See “Picture to burn” (I don’t like Taylor Swift, but it still annoys me they changed it) or, more recently, “Looking for a good time” by Lady A.
I mean, the WHOLE point of “looking for a good time” is going out, hooking up with someone and that being it. So, doesn’t it make sense that they probably would “call a cab right now” so they could get on home and have that good time? I think them deciding to “dance right now” is kinda postponing, to no good point, the culmination of the evening.
I know there are more examples of this, but I’m sure I’m forgetting them…
May 23, 2009 at 2:25 pm Permalink
As a Crimson Tide fan, Paulaw, I can understand your frustration. Perhaps they have TIVO, so they always watch the games on Sunday?
I do get a little annoyed at the call letter thing, a little. It just seems a little pointless to me. Ive never said “Well, shoot, I was on the fence about this song, but then they name check 103 WKDF there in the 2nd verse, so i’ve def made up my mind now.”
My biggest marketing pet peeve would have to be Taylor Swift. JK
I’m a nit picker. So its not just in music, but life in general, when people say things that don’t really add up, it bothers me. For instance, in Taylor Swifts “Picture To Burn” she has the line that says “that stupid ole pick up truck you never let me drive”. That begs the question, if the stuck is so stupid, why does she seem so upset she never had the chance to drive it?
Before anyone responds, let me say, I know this is me being weird.I also ask the question, if Jimmy crack corn and I dont care, why did the person write a song about it? See, I just get bored at work and think of weird stuff.
May 23, 2009 at 2:55 pm Permalink
I read that Jeff Koon, a stylistic descendant of Warhol’s Pop art, used to ask patrons showing interest in a piece – but were not yet writing a check – if they wanted one of the painting in another color. You know, to match the decor.
Are audience studies the death of art? Is a complicit artist a mead whore and a hack? The arguments around art, or at least well crafted words, is a tough nit to crack.
May 23, 2009 at 3:16 pm Permalink
What bugs me most about the call letters thing is that the writers usually pick the most generic team or name dropping thing in the first place.
Trailer–You can buy the singles on I tunes first them click “Buy the rest of the album” when it comes out and purchase the other tracks at a reduced price.
May 23, 2009 at 3:53 pm Permalink
I’ll agree with the hatred of reverb and dubious pronunciation/emphasis to make a song scan or rhyme. Any heavy production which gets in the way of the song. Coy euphemisms (although I don’t necessarily want something really graphic either, but dancing around it is annoying).
Marketing: greatest hits albums with one or two new tracks, or releasing deluxe versions of CDs with extra tracks, after the original release date, which penalises those interested in an artist to buy their record straightaway. This isn’t so much an issue now you can choose to download just the new tracks, but I really prefer hard copies, so it still feels unsatisfactory to me.
May 23, 2009 at 4:07 pm Permalink
Probably the one thing that irks me with radio today is the fact that they shove the same few singers down your throat several times a day. Then when you call or email and ask for a classic – say even Hank Jr, you get “well we don’t have that.” (example would be Blues Man – they had Alan’s version but not Hank) but they call themselves “Real Country Radio”. Or if you ask to play a real country song that is even Top 30, they say they only play Top 25 – but yet they turn around and play the “hot” song from the latest craze that is like #50 on the charts.
Pet Peeve #2 – Pop goes country with actors, dancers, you name it, giving their shot at country music. Sorry, following on that bandwagon doesn’t make you look cool or even more credible.
Pet Peeve #3 – The Laundry List in a Country Song. Write down a list of all things country or patriotic and make a diddy about it. Yee-haw.
I do have to crack up with GAC…have ya’ll seen the commercials going against CMT saying that they don’t play videos, etc? I’m so glad that I have GAC & RFD-tv
May 23, 2009 at 4:18 pm Permalink
Stormy, I just meant that I generally like to hear a new album all at once, but that those singles tempt me so much to change my preferred listening experience.
May 23, 2009 at 4:31 pm Permalink
Jessica – since you brought up the GAC/CMT thing …..
We have two “country” radio stations in our area …. one’s new advertisement is “we played 83 more songs yesterday than XXXX” …. and I want to call up and say “no you did not! you just played the same 10 songs 83 more times!!!!”
May 23, 2009 at 4:51 pm Permalink
I program music at an independent Country radio station in Canada,and I’m so glad that I have the freedom to schedule everything from Hank Snow to Kenny Chesney and everywhere in between.
While we do play all of the Top 40 Country stuff, we are also proud to play at least one “Classic” per hour, and we give more air time to Canadian Independents (Local/Regional acts) than just about any other station in the country.
Whereas on a typical Top 40 COuntry station, Rascal Flatts will get upwards of 35 spins per week, they might get 10 TOPS with us, just because there is so much diversity.
I really wish there were more like us!
May 23, 2009 at 5:34 pm Permalink
I love when Taylor Swift substituted the radio station for “Tim McGraw” <3
May 23, 2009 at 5:46 pm Permalink
Seriously, getting peeved about Taylor Swift changing the lyrics of what is already an insipid product to accommodate some extension of further commercial message is like getting upset that she made an appearance in the latest Miley Cyrus movie.
It’s not like they’re using the Beatles to sell shoes…oh wait…
May 23, 2009 at 10:43 pm Permalink
My biggest pet peeve is how stifled Top 40 country radio has become. There are three aspects to this that peeve me. First there is little room for new artists as the stations would rather stick to the established Top 40 chart regulars and superstars. Secondly their unwillingness to play new artists that sound decidedly different from all the standard stuff they play is annoying. And lastly the fact that Top 40 songs may stay on the charts for months at a time slowly working their way up (or down). Its just soooo stagnant and boooring!
Also I agree with Occasional Hope about “heavy production”. All these Top 40 supposedly country songs with pounding rock style drums and screaming rock style electric guitar solos is just too much for me. As soon as I hear that familiar “corporate country” commercial sound I’m gone….
May 24, 2009 at 5:21 am Permalink
Artists who do their own backing vocals. It sounds artificial and contrived and pulls me right out of the song. It didn’t work when Buddy Holly did and 50 years later, it still ain’t working.
Perfunctory guitar solos that are just there for the sake of having a solo bug the crap out of me.
Drum machines/percussion loops in big budget tunes – you’ve gone to the trouble of paying a goddamn drummer to turn up to the recording session, so let him play the damn drum parts instead of something that sounds like a Commodore 64 sound effect.
May 24, 2009 at 6:01 am Permalink
I don’t mind bands changing up the lyrics to add regional specific teams/stations in fun summery songs.
However, I remember shortly after David Ball came out with “Riding with Private Malone” my local radio station started playing a version that changed the line “But it picked up that oldie show, especially late at night” to “But it picked up [call letters]…”
People called in and complained that they didn’t like it (given the song’s serious tone); the station fervently defended it by saying Ball sent it to them of his own accord. They kept playing the changed version, and I switched to another station.
May 24, 2009 at 4:13 pm Permalink
Rick’s my pet peeve! LOL!
May 24, 2009 at 4:58 pm Permalink
Trailer, I agree. Whenever an album im anticipating is going to be released, I prefer not to hear anything but maybe the singles. Assuming its someone I will buy the album from sigh unseen. Its kind of like, if you take a peak at the presents under the tree, what fun is christmas morning?
May 24, 2009 at 6:09 pm Permalink
Northy, you made my day! (lol)
Northy, Carrie is doing very well in the competition over at the California Country Questionaire in the category of “The Most Bland Country Superstar” with six votes!!!! Kenny Chesney and Chuck Wicks (I’m amazed people consider Chuck a superstar?) are nipping at her high heels though…
Link: http://www.countrycalifornia.com/the-country-questionnaire-part-iii/
May 24, 2009 at 6:30 pm Permalink
I second all of Steve Harvey’s pet peeves.
May 24, 2009 at 8:44 pm Permalink
Hey Rick,
You can add this to your Rick’s Tidbits list: http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00024445.html
I can think of a lot worse then being bland. Looks like she’s earned almost as much in 2008 as the other 9 top idols combined!
May 24, 2009 at 11:48 pm Permalink
It may not be a pet peeve, but it tops the list for cringe-inducing moments on country radio when Rascal Flatts’ new single is telling me that “everybody’s feeling sexy”. Having Gary LeVox sing that line is roughly the equivalent of your best friend’s dad yell the same line after having a few too many at the neighborhood block party. A down right awkward, and typically awful, song choice.
Pet peeve wise: the increasing number of songs yearning for the world that was better 30 years ago. Most of which are sung by artists who were still a twinkle in their momma’s eye at the time all they are waxing poetic about was actually occurring
May 25, 2009 at 12:29 am Permalink
Agree wholeheartedly with the notion that there are too many songs yearning for yesteryear.
Let me add to the list – the ever-increasing idea that every Country music fan is a devout Christian. I get that Country and Gospel have a deep history, and that in the southern US, Christianity is very commonplace, but man, not EVERY listener is, and I for one am getting really really tired of hearing songs on Country radio that should maybe air on Christian radio.
Maybe it’s just a Canadian thing, I dunno, but I get really really tired of hearing about God in every other song. It’s cool to believe what you wanna believe but this idea that you’re not “country” unless you’re a Christian?? Seems really out-dated to me.
May 25, 2009 at 1:10 am Permalink
Noeller, I somewhat agree with you in that I have no issue with religious themes or references in country songs, but these days it seems like writers are crow-barring references to God into songs as part of checklist of ‘country things’ the feel they need to include.
May 25, 2009 at 6:46 am Permalink
Country radio. I heard High Cost of Livin’ on the radio the other day, but when it got to the ‘cocaine and a whore’ part, there was silence. It was skipped over.
When I wrote to the music director at the station, he said it was deleted because the majority of listeners would deem that phrase offensive and that the song still delivers it’s message without using that particular line.
Then why even play it?
May 25, 2009 at 8:54 am Permalink
Anna K, I’ll never hear that (awful) Rascal Flatts song again with an extra cringe at the “sexy” part. You are soooo right.
May 25, 2009 at 1:48 pm Permalink
Speaking of the Flats and a block party. There is a contest from Hershey’s candy and smores. Where you can win a private block party for you and a 100 of your friends. Or the cash value of $25,000 Hmm now lets see if I win which will, I take :D kinda a no brainier
May 25, 2009 at 1:52 pm Permalink
Opps that is a private block with with flats. It’s still a no brainier no matter who the artist would be.
May 25, 2009 at 4:41 pm Permalink
When songs repeat the same lines over in the chorus. Martina McBride, ‘How I Feel’ and Kellie Pickler ‘Dont You Know You Beautiful,’
But the biggest thing for me, is after the success of Carrie, the country contestants on American Idol expecting to come off and be the biggest thing in country. I cringe whenever I see Bucky Covington or hear him, cuz theres no way he would have made it without idol, with that lack of talent. Carrie was the only one with the talent to win idol and make a career, the rest are mediorce.
May 25, 2009 at 6:52 pm Permalink
Debbie, that infuriates me to no end. The ‘controversy’ over the seemingly innocuous line in Johnson’s song should be embarrassing for all fans of country music.
When I first heard the song, the line didn’t even register with me as something that might offend. I thought it was a neat lyric, but I never in a million years imagined people might be upset by it.
I could understand if there was swearing in the song, if there was lurid description of the needle marks on his arms or whatever he and the whore were up to, but no from just using the words ‘cocaine’ and ‘whore’.
This whole situation is farcical.
May 25, 2009 at 9:26 pm Permalink
Debbie – you are lucky to even hear it. The Clear Channel station played it after midnight one time on the weekend whereas the non-corporate radio station plays it all the time…morning, mid-day, throughout the day. Amazingly it has been #1 on their “Top 5 Requests of the Day” for several weeks and/or been in other spots of the countdown. They play what folks want to hear – oh and they play it unedited.
Jamey said in an interview one time that he wouldn’t change the words because it shows the harsh reality of what doing drugs & such can do to a man, even if the song is not auto-biographical for him.
However, I did make a joke one time while talking about a concert with some older adults in the audience. We said that we should tell them that he is really saying “I traded that for a cola and a smore.” ;-)
Highwayman3 – I TOTALLY agree about the repeated lines over and over again. Certain songs as soon as they come on the radio I switch it immediately so my brain doesn’t get poisoned with some of the crap they play.
May 25, 2009 at 10:02 pm Permalink
I don’t mind the repeated chorus in some songs, like “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful” … but sometimes it can get annoying – like on Sugarland’s most recent album, most of the songs do just that “All I Want to Do”, “We Run”, and “Already Gone” being examples
So, I think its okay to a certain point
May 25, 2009 at 10:18 pm Permalink
I think it’s okay if it’s a great hook line – it works in ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’, not so much in ‘Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful. If you’re going to repeat something two times, it better be something interesting.
May 25, 2009 at 10:31 pm Permalink
The song “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful” happens to be one of my favorites <3 The way Pickler’s voice wraps around the chorus in the song is wonderful music to my ears, whether its repetitive or not
“All I Want to Do” is however, very annoying in its repetition… and the “oo-oo-oo-ooh” thing really doesn’t help it either lol
May 26, 2009 at 12:15 am Permalink
The most awkward substitution I heard in the Taylor Swift song was “Every time you turn Music Choice on…” Music Choice are the 900 channels on Digital Cable.
May 26, 2009 at 8:00 am Permalink
This is a fun topic. I enjoy reading everyone’s pet peeves and I can relate. It’s very therapeutic!
The repeating lines of a song bug me, too. One song I remember was the Dixie Chicks’ Ready to Run (run, run, run, ready to run). Headache inducing.
Jessica – I’ll have to remember those lyrics to High Cost of Livin’ the next time I hear the censored version. Steve – It is annoying that the radio station would take issue with those lyrics when the same station plays Toby’s Angry American (‘boot in your a$$’) in its entirety. Makes no sense.
May 26, 2009 at 9:46 am Permalink
A few from the hip…
1. Songs that try to be deep, but aren’t (Better As a Memory for one)
2. Lazy writing (Our Song for one)
3. Hometown/Small town songs with generic lyrics applicable to every town in the world
4. Singers that suck all of the emotion out of their songs for the sake of hitting the high note
5. Any paint by numbers song (most of top 40)
6. the call letter thing
7. When the radio jingles are more intriguing than the music the station plays
June 3, 2009 at 10:13 am Permalink
One peeve that I’ve had recently with country radio is like this: A lot of stations these days (99.9 WKSF in Asheville, NC is one) seem to think that “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” is the song that best represents Brooks and Dunn. I myself have never enjoyed that song, much less liked it, because it is so unbearably cringe-inducing to me. Yet, when they announce that Brooks and Dunn is coming up, that’s (a lot of times) the song that plays, especially when there are a lot better songs by that duo that could be played, and as such, I immediately look for another station.
This peeve also in a way applies to Tim McGraw; that “I Like It (I Love It, I Want Some More of It),” I strongly believe, was one of his worst songs, yet, for a while, many stations played it a lot. “Live Like You Were Dyin’” is a much better song of his, yet that one seems very seldom played these days, at least down here.
June 8, 2009 at 1:24 am Permalink
Noeller, i completly agree about the god&country thing, I have grown up in NC and I get that being southern and christian go hand in hand but enough is enough, not every single song needs to reference religion so much that it could be played on a gospel station. I myself am not a christian, no offense to those who are, but I’d like to be able to listen to some good old country without having to sing along to something I don’t beleive in.
And as far as pet peeves? The call letter thing is a little irritating, and the repetative lines, I DESPISE Sugarland’s All I Want To Do
June 8, 2009 at 1:43 am Permalink
^ I also despise Sugarland’s “All I Want to Do” =)
June 8, 2009 at 5:32 pm Permalink
Another thing that I just thought of, some songs can pull this off, others can’t, but the Johnny Cash, and other name dropping is getting to be too much. Does every single artist need to record a song with Johnny Cashes name in it?
The worst example of ‘name dropping’ in a song is Gretchen Wilsons, ‘California Girls.’ How can you name drop ‘Paris Hilton’s’ name in the middle of a country song? And in the same verse the song name drops ‘Dolly Parton’ and ‘Plastic Surgury’ How can you sing those words? Can this be forgiven?
June 8, 2009 at 6:28 pm Permalink
Well, Dolly Parton is one of the first people that come to mind in the mention of ‘plastic surgery’
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