Country Music And The Signs Of The Times

First, let's provide the following video from YouTube entitled "Why Country Music Was Awful In 2013":




Anyone being honest would admit that you could basically have made that same video for any year of country music since about 1992.

Next, we invite all our readers to peruse this article (or any of the other multitude that have come out on the same subject) regarding the abomination of "bro country." Ignoring for a moment the individual crimes being committed in association with such crappy music, let's focus instead on the general theme of self-indulgence and narcissism.

Finally, let's take a look at some recent comments by Merle Haggard, known by many for making actual country music, unknown to many for the same reason, regarding the current state of the industry:

Haggard also notes that he doesn't listen much to the radio these days, saying, "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. 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. Too much boogie boogie wham-bam and not enough substance."

Let's recall how country music formerly tended to treat the issues of alcoholism, adultery, and sin overall. While there were some light-hearted efforts that treated such topics with levity ("I'm Gonna Hire A Wino To Decorate Our Home" for example), the typical flavor on these topics was one of self-loathing and the participants as pathetic losers. It wasn't a good thing to be boozed out of one's mind or partying all the time, etc. The new theme of country music is the opposite. Now, there is nothing more pleasant than getting hammered.

Anyways, we present these as illustrations of how the crap that currently gets played on country music stations reflects the shallowness of our world as a whole. The deeper thoughts driven by the more profound songs of yesteryear are abandoned in favor of the same self-glorifying drivel that has characterized rap/hip-hop for so long.

Just a symptom of the larger disease of pride that has infected pretty much everything.

For good measure: