Country Music Gets a Bad Rap
Megan Wolfe
February 3, 2010
Filed under News, Top Stories
Student turning on the radio in her car
Sophomore Megan Hart closed her car door and turned on her radio. She turned it to 99.9, Kiss Country. “It (country music) is amazing,” Hart said.
Country music “is popular music that derives from the rural folk music of the southern United States,” according to Webster’s Dictionary. “It usually describes what I’m feeling,” Sophomore Sam Storie said.
Some people believe that there is a certain type of person that listens to country music. “Country people, people born in the south [listen to country music],” Junior Nikki Rich said. They not only think this about the people who listen to Country music but they also think the songs are stereo-typical too.
“There are a bunch of stereo-types like women and tractors and everyone that hates Country music thinks that,” Sophomore Mitch Postich said.
“It’s like twangy and really weird sounding,” Sophomore Emily Jones said.
A study says that 49% of cases show that more time listening to Country music increases your suicidal mood. “We contend that the themes found in country music foster a suicidal mood among people,” says an Abstract written by Steven Stack of Wayne University and Jim Gundlach from Auburn University. Some examples are lyrics like “He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger, and finally drank away her memory,” from Brad Paisley’s Whiskey Lullaby. Or, “So I ‘ll drive, and I think about my life and wonder why, that I slowly die inside,” from Zac Brown Band’s Highway 20 Ride.
“It’s not (all) whining and annoying and it’s not just sad songs,” Hart said.
“It’s fine, it’s not my favorite type of music,” Sophomore Shannon Apgar said.
But Country music is also loved by many. ” I love it,” Storie said.
“It’s easy listening,” Rich said. “I enjoy listening to it, I kinda grew up with it.”
Country music is about what people feel or think of when they hear it, like Postich, ” I think of a guy in a bar playing a guitar,” while others simply just relate to it like Storie who says, ”It (explains) my life.”
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Some people just choose to say they dislike country music because it is different from them so they try to feel superior by saying they hate it. Many haven’t even given it a chance.
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i grew up on country music and i love it! i don’t think that will ever change! some of the songs represent me and my family and that makes me proud! (:
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country sucks and makes you depressed. country singers need to get a life!!!
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Country is no more depressing than any other genre of music. Ever heard of blues or emo? Those two genres have sad songs too.
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is emo even a music genre?
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Highway 20 Ride isn’t about suicide. It’s about a guy who is divorced and misses his son. He is saying that it is pianful for him to waste his time driving to pick up his son everyother weekend. He would rather spend quality time with his son doing other fun things.
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Yes emo is a genre. One of my favorite and i find that the songs i listen to and the songs my dad listens to (he loves country) have some of the same concepts and sometimes lyrics.
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Country Music isn’t all about suicide. So one or two songs are…BIG DEAL!! Every Genre has songs about suicide and people are just making a big deal about coutry songs cause people think only Hicks listen to it! Well, Country is AWESOME and I love it! it has songs that make me really happy, and songs for when im really depressed and just fit my mood. People need to stop bashin on Country and start bashin on rap or somethin. I’ll admit, i like a few rap songs but sometimes its so annoying! Jeez, you talk about country FOLK gettin a life? Man, tell those rappers to get a life.
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I personally love country music, but we cant be biased in articles unless its an opinion article, i didnt say highway 20 ride was about suicide, i said that it can make the listener sad or put them in a suicidal mood.
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Doesn’t everything make a person sad/ depressed Hip Hop~Why would you want to break up, Rap~ Tell me why (Will Smith ft.Mary J. Blige) Country ~ Highway 20 Ride….. even movies are pretty depressing (like most of Will Smith’s movies, The Mist, Marley and Me………. the list goes on
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Country Music actually makes me happy!! I mean, it reminds me of where I came from and my southern roots. Alot of rap and rock music are really depressing and — not bashing rap and rock.. I like both kinds of music, but I LOVE country music also.:)
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I can manage certain country music, but some songs don’t catch my interest. I like country music better than rap or emo, though. I like listening to songs that have a good meaning.
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