My Rant About Country

I like country music. While talking on the phone to a friend from back east, they mentioned that they could hear what sounded like country music in the background. I replied that, yes, indeed, it was country music. Silence. Then “what?” was his only question.

When I was growing up, I listened to classical music & knew all about DiscDrive with Jurgen Gothe before I could say my own name. When it was deemed appropriate, I could tune into the local “easy listening” station while being chauffeured by my parents, provided the volume was kept under control. When I became the rebel, and perhaps gained more bravery, I would automatically tune the car radio to CHOM, the quintessential rock station in Montreal of the time. With my father rolling his eyes, and protesting “not CHOM!” we would make our weekend trek to the cottage. I was satisfied.

Satisfied until I moved to Vancouver. Coming from a society where if you weren’t running you were going to slow, where driving without road-rage caused you stress, and eye-twitches were the norm to a place where people actually walked on their lunch breaks and stopped to smell the cherry blossoms in the spring. To those who have not experienced the marvelous pace of leisurely life in Vancouver, you have no idea what I’m talking about. (take that and multiply that ten fold to feel what its like in a small town! But that’s another story)

Life seems easier out west. People are more friendly, more approachable, and you just get the feeling that life is great, almost everyday. This feeling is reflected and manifested in the lyrics to most country music songs. One of my all time favourite lyrics in a song is It’s a Great Day to Be Alive by Travis Tritt. It isn’t the best song, but the lyrics can’t help but make you feel good and want to smile.

There is something so simple, and easygoing about the lyrics in country songs. You can relate to almost every story, be it a slow, broken hearted drawl about the loss of a great horse, or an energetic fireball of a song enlightening us on the intrinsic worth of owning a Dodge. Perhaps that is why we have a Dodge in the driveway.

So, to all who have dared to ask, I like country music. I would even go so far as to say that there are some songs that I love. At our wedding, our second dance was Forever and Ever, Amen. For those skeptics out there still set against country (you know who you are) take a minute and read these lyrics and tell me you still don’t believe in country love!