Do you listen to Country music? Because I don’t! I can’t even name one big star in country music these days, and I don’t think I am missing much! Country stars used to be relevant and leading voices, but these days what do you expect from Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban… (I had to look up for some names!) I am just listing these people but I don’t even know which ones are successful right now. I am talking about the disastrous current state of mainstream country music, some insipid poppy-twangy crap that is served all day long on so-called country stations – not that I listen to them.
So when I watched this smart video posted by a guy named Grady Smith on YouTube, I laughed very hard with a big approving smile on my face. The video ‘Why Country Music Was Awful in 2013’ basically compiles a bunch of country songs (released this year I guess), and gathers samples by themes: ‘trucks’ (yeah a lot of trucks) driving ‘old dirt roads’, and loaded with ‘girls’ ‘wearing tight blue jeans’, to go to the nearest ‘river bank’, when ‘the sun goes down’, while drinking the ‘good stuff’ (meaning a good old beer), and it goes on and on, songs after songs. All these videos are so ready for the next Chevy or Bud Miller commercials that it is beyond redemption!
I can’t even tell how many songs were used to make this video, a lot apparently, seeing the different singers, but the whole thing sounds so uniform not only lyrically but also sonically. Should I be surprised? All these songs sound exactly the same, without even an ounce of originality,… When did country music become this series of clichés sung by fake cowboys wearing sleeveless shirts and larger-than-Texas belt buckles, who just want to please the average American Idol audience while getting laid in a truck? Do I need to tell you it has become generic pop without any substance? Probably not, but it sells,… a lot!
So watch the video, it’s well done, and of course it could apply to any year.