Country music in battle over patriotism, free speech (liberal alert)

The Tennessean ^ | 6/2/03 | CRAIG HAVIGHURST

[anncoulteriscool]

I would compliment country music for responding to america's need after 911 while the rappers and rockers (except for maybe Bruce Springteen) really had nothing to say. I geuss they cant respond to something like 911 when hey are so shalow.

[pooh fan]

Me either. In fact, we watched to Country music awards and switched to the TV guide channel when the Twits were singing.

[barker]

Just love Toby Keith and Willie has been one of my all time favorites for years. Have you really listened to the words in the Tim McGraw song The Cowboy in Me? Think it was written about me.

[pooh fan]

LOVE it!!! Maybe Weird Al will record it and make a video.

[SendShaqtoIraq]

"Thank Anything Except Religion I'm a LIB-er-al"

Clever, but I have to say I like the original better :)

[jinxtigr]

"I'd like to know how tolerant the rock industry is, to conservative points of view in songs."
This is what bugs me about the whole thing. Musicians are _artists_. It's not their job to make freaking position papers! There is NO possible obligation for musicians to be liberal, conservative or anything else- they're about being honest and expressing how they feel and what they think. If's that's conservative, boo hoo- it's not like liberals can't be folkies or R+B, God knows what rappers are except that they probably aren't in favor of gun control ;)
Same goes for the boo hoo, liberals have all the media and Hollywood, line. If you don't like it, get off your butt and make some damn music! You'll probably have more success with it if it's not a straight-up rant, but nobody's stopping you from doing that either. Do not whine about how artists are doing something unless you're willing to do it yourself. Or would you like to enact government legislation ensuring a certain amount of conservative point of view in the media?
Sorry for jumping all over ya but to me it seems like a pretty simple matter. If Country's heavily conservative, that's a reflection of the artists. If you want more Conservative Rock, go out and make it! And if you mean to rock and you are worrying about being TOLERATED you're totally unhinged. Rock is a slap in the face or a kick in the pants and if you insist on getting tolerance in advance you've already lost *G*

[GailA]

I agree with your assessment. Rap is organized noise.

Country music is not the country we grew up with..Hank Sr, Johnny Horton, Hank Snow....great music...now it's more Pop than country.

We bought the Darryl Worley cd and found every song on it very good to great. Which is UNUSUAL for a album. My favorite besides Have You Forgotten is To Many Pockets. These songs were more like the ones we grew up with.

I like Wheels and Alley Cat from the other music fields.

Hubby plays keyboard (Korg Triton Pro) so we have our own 50's & 60's built in music to listen to. Miller's Cave, and Floyd Collins Cave are two of his favorite ballads.

[nina0113]

They won't rest until country performers start singing odes to AIDS and abortion!

THAT won't happen. Have you heard the song where abortion wrecked their relationship? I think it's "Red Ragtop" by Tim McGraw, but not quite certain.

[Redbob]

"''If you were just casually listening to country radio in the last year, you would think it was the music of Republicans,'' says Beverly Keel, country music journalist and Middle Tennessee State University associate professor."

This ASSOCIATE professor is a minor intellect in a very minor school.
They really had to dig deep to find this hack.

[Redbob]

That was (and still is) WWL in Noo Awlins, and WLS in Chicago, a couple of the great "clear channel" AM stations.

[GSWarrior]

top Democratic country songs for this week....

How about
(I Never Promised I'd Do You In The) Rose Garden.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

>>"I'd like to know how tolerant the rock industry is, to conservative points of view in songs."

You mean MTV?

[andy58-in-nh]

''If you were just casually listening to country radio in the last year, you would think it was the music of Republicans,''

The Horror! The Horror! All of those wonderful tax dollars lavished on PBS...wasted...on those ungrateful trailer-park troglodytes who'd rather listen to..(gasp)..that horrible twangy jingoistic noise. Oh, the Humanity!!!

Get a grip, Lefty. As Merle said, "When you're runnin' down my country, Hoss, you're walkin' on the fightin' side of me."

For way too long, the Music Industry's been foisting their left-wing crap on the American citizenry. Many of us have simply chosen to vote by switching the dial to music that reflects what we believe in. If music sales are down, it's because of the stubbornly high prices charged by the same Industry in a world of .mp3's and CD-R's.

[nonliberal]

More from Mojo:

The pro Second Amendment song "Only the Strong Survive"
The pro family song "Down Breeding"
The anti-Hollywood song "Tears"
And the pro-death penalty song "Throw the Switch"