Your Take: What Is Country Music?

Country music = Sara Evans <3

Country music is one of the few genres which actually has something to say, where the lyrics take precedence over hooks and beat, and it doesn’t — or at least didn’t until recently — rely on technological tricks to sound good; artists had to actually be able to sing and play their instruments well.

The best songs in all genres tell a story.

Country music is the news set to music. It’s real life with harmony and steel.

I’ve always liked how Ben put it in some festival review he did (Stagecoach, I think). He basically opined that in country music, the lyrics are the substance and the beats/grooves/riffs just serve to provide context to the story, whereas it’s the other way around in, say, rock music (and in my opinion, a lot of pop, too). That makes a lot of sense to me, especially given how minimalistic country music has traditionally been from a compositional standpoint (again, “three chords and the truth”).

But even when the musicality gets more complex, I think that model still holds true of genuine country music. The example I go back to is “Galveston.” The music is at least as much ‘pop’ as ‘country,’ but you know that the soaring melody and production would feel meaningless without the narrative; they’re just not the primary actor. Contrast that with, say, the Stones’ “Satisfaction,” where the primary actor is the pulse and the wily riffs, and the lyrics, while awesome, serve only to give your brain the same idea that your body has already picked up from the music.

One of my professors said it well: “rock acts primarily on the body, folk acts primarily on the mind.” I would add that country acts primarily on the heart – at its core, it’s about images and ideas that evoke emotional responses and memories from us.

Dan,

Hey thanks man, the full gist of the quote was that the lyrics are the substance, and the lyrics are substantive.

The pet definition of country music that I’m working with right now is an expansion of the famous “Three Chords and the Truth” definition.

I’d say that country music is “a postmodern examination of everyday American life in plain language set to simple musical structures that are familiar as being reminiscent of traditional American folk and pop music.”

“Three Chords and the Truth” though less clear, sounds better.

wait, quick revision “an existential examination of postmodern American life in plain language set to simple musical structures that are familiar as being reminiscent of traditional American folk and pop music”

there we go.

I think that country music is, ideally, music that has something to say; specifically, it describes an easily identifiable situation for the everyday man or woman. It can be about falling in or out of love, trying to keep the family farm in the black, riding in trucks, looking back at your upbringing, or just having a good time.

Even Taylor Swift’s material has an unmistakable lyrical core that her demographic can identify with, and she has a strong sense of imagery to make her lyrics more effective; even though she applies a pop sheen to the sound to make it more marketable, she doesn’t resort to trite lyrics (usually), so her music is at least somewhat country because of its lyric sensibilities, even if the sound says otherwise. As streamlined, and formulaic as Rascal Flatts material is, their songs still at least sort of strive for describing identifiable situations such as finally finding the one you love, or hanging out with the guys at Sonic.

As far as melody and production are concerned, I think that country is a hard sound to identify since it’s taken on so many adaptations. Steel, fiddle, Dobro, mandoin, etc. are clearly country instruments, although none of them is particularly necessary to make a song country. There’s plenty of room to experiment, and so long as the lyric can shine through, the sound isn’t as big of a factor.

Ideally, country doesn’t resort to diluting all semblance of emotion to a couple of well placed clichés. It doesn’t resort to bragging about material goods, nor does it stoop to crass womanizing. While it can easily be about frustation with something, a country sone holds out with some ray of hope that life will get better; a country narrator won’t want to kill themselves or anyone else, nor will they want to vent by releasing a string of profanities, death threats, and so on (well, except a few cowpunk acts).

No matter what the production and melody settle on, a truly country song should leave a listener thinking, “Oh yeah, I know what they’re talking about”, even if it’s something as ordinary as liking your chicken fried and cold beer on a Friday night.

For me it’s simple, it’s gotta’ have a fiddle and a steel guitar! Murder On Music Row (Larry Cordle) by George Strait w/Alan Jackson says it all!!!

Country music has got to be real. Its all about the story that touches everyone in some way. It’s the surprise ending “He Stopped Loving Her Today”, or another great one “Fancy”. It tells a story or it makes you feel in someway. The best country songs make you cry, make you relive that moment in your own life. But Country can make you laugh too-”Bird of Paradise”, Paisley’s, “I’m Gonna Miss Her”. It just plain makes you feel.

The opposite? Pop/Rap-it’s all beat, repetitive phrases over and over and half the time I don’t know what in the world they are saying.

@Ben: does a definition of a music, who’s strength its simplicity and commonness, that includes the words “existential” and “postmodern” preclude it from being a good one? ;)

Country music is something that represents people who live a simpler, truer way of life.

Ketch Secor from Old Crow Medicine show said that most music labeled “Americana” is actually country, and folks like Carrie Underwood and Kenny Chesney represent that sort of red/white/blue fist pumping “Americana” better.

Son Volt’s “Windfall” mentions “switchin over to AM, looking for a truer sound”, and I think that sums it up well.

Country music is the last genre that shows true roots in faith.

I forgot the name the song that I feel illustrates my point. That song would be “Here You Come Again”. But for the fact that Dolly Parton sang it, there was nothing country about it when she released it in 1977, but it was (and still is) a GREAT country song.

I disagree with the Kenny Rogers quote, at least how it’s been presented. “Anything country people will listen to” (which I assume means anything country fans will listen to) encompasses a very, very wide swath of material. A lot of Taylor Swift’s fans are also big fans of Colbie Caillat and the Jonas Brothers and Kelly Clarkson. And honestly, Taylor’s music isn’t a far cry musically from much of theirs. Does that mean they’re country, too, since certain country music fans (Taylor’s) like listening to them? I really think we get into trouble when we let “country” mean anything that’s marketed as “country.”

What is country music?

Unfortunately, whatever the radio market tells us it is.

Country to me is Loretta Lynn not just in music but her life.

Country music is music of the soul. Heartache,tears and laughter,joy and pain, all of these things.

to me country music is a man named randy houser. while i love brooks and dunn and rascal flatts, i really like him.
http://www.myspace.com/randyhouser. enjoy! i promise you won’t be disappointed.

Country music is where the “artist” lists the names of their hairdresser, make-up artist and clothing supplier on their CD. It is the music where the “artist” shows up at the studio and their manager gives them lyric sheets and a band of musicians they have never even met before start plaing the songs. Country music is all business and an extreme few musicians who actually play an instrument proficiently or write their own songs ever have success. Country music is big money and big hair and cowboy hats. It is absolutely the same as rap music… all show and no substinence. Bluegrass and folk have remained pretty pure but country music is now an embarrasement.

Look back to the 1960’s and 1970’s and no one was having success in country music due to their looks – only their tallent. But now not a single person can have a break out or success without first being good looking. Image is king, not tallent.

Now since “alt-country” never really took hold to the extent that some folks became real wealthy from it, there is a movement invented just by producers, Clear Channel and record labels to invent the “Americana” identity. This is ONLY an advertising and marketing ploy. What a joke. It is just another way for the Nashville power base to try to invent a new cash flow machine.

And then their is the manditory right wing only politics of country music which is discusting.

My girlfriend hates country music but loves Taylor Swift. To quote Ray Scott, “she thinks country music’s hokey and all the songs are sad.” I love the sad songs because they are often more lyrically powerful. I cannot stand a song with no lyrical substance (Anything Keith Urban, most Kenny Chesney).
It’s not that I don’t like upbeat songs, I recognize Brad Paisley’s novelty songs are at least semi-clever. But songs like “Sweet Thing” and the sort make me throw up in my mouth a bit.

The point I was getting at with this was to agree with the comment above me that even non-country fans will be impacted if they stop to actually listen to the lyrics of a good country song.

But the majority of music listeners don’t want music to stimulate their mind to think about things. They want bubble gum pop that makes them feel happy or, in country music, oversimplified anthems such as “Shutting Detroit Down.”

Country’ music isn’t country without pedal steel, banjo, dobro, or mandolin. Bells, are definitely NOT country! See Gary Allan’s ‘Best I ever had,’ or, ‘Watchin’ airplanes.’ Even Josh Turner sold out with a bell on, ‘Another try.’ Some folks really HAVE committed ‘Murder on Music Row.’ Peace.

I was a teenager in the ’50s and ’60s, drinking beer to Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line” and dancing to Ray Price, Hank Thompson, etc. I miss that music, and today’s “country” stations don’t fill the bill. They label themselves as “new country”, and that’s fine. But they should realize there wouldn’t be any “new country” without the folks who laid the foundation — George Jones, Ernest Tubbs, the Carter Family, Porter and Dolly, Hank Snow, Buck Owens, Leroy Van Dyke and all the rest. Country music to me tells a story. It’s true to life and makes you want to laugh, cry, love your wife/girlfriend, pet your dog, drink a beer or salute the flag. Few of today’s “country” songs do that, and I believe we’re the worse for it.

Country music is the only music genre out there for everyone, but not everyone is willing to give it a chance. Country music is ground-breaking music that teaches lessons, touches people’s hearts, and relates to people. It’s not at all about drunk cowboys whining, trucks, trains, tractors, and beer; it’s all about real life – happy times, sad times, love, pain, joy, etc. In short, country music, both new country and classic country, (and yes, “new” includes artists like Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, etc.) is the greatest kind of music there is.