A Country Music Song (Revisited)

I confess that my musical tastes have always leaned toward Rock and Roll.

My teenage years were spent in the seventies, the pinnacle of Rock. While most of my friends listened to the pop music drivel of the day, I rollicked in the reveries of the future "classics." It was the glory days: Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, Hendrix, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Clapton, Stewart, Springsteen, Boston, Kansas--oh yes, the list could go on. I climbed the "Stairway to Heaven", drove down the "Highway to Hell", and took a ride on the "Magic Bus."

Now you might be thinking, "what's a central Alabama hillbilly doing listening to that stuff?", and that would be a legitimate question. Perhaps I wanted to be a hipster hillbilly. I don't know. But it's not as unlikely as you might think. After all, we had our own versions of Rock in the South. Bands like ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynyd, Molly Hatchet, Charlie Daniels, and the Allman Brothers. Music that has withstood the test of time.

The eighties Rock music left me cold. Only U2, Tom Petty, and the late great Stevie Ray Vaughn stand out in my musical memory.

As a consequence of the eighties Rock vacuum, I began to listen to a little Country music while in college. In what is now considered "Classic Country", I found lyrics that I could relate to. Artists who looked like me, talked like me, and had similar life experiences. I discovered the genius of Nelson, Haggard, Jennings, Williams, Cline, Oslin, Lynn and of course, Cash.

There was only one Johnny Cash, and there will never be another. The Man in Black, who though at the end of his career and rejected by his own, showed the world that he could take anyone's song and make it his own.

I think familiarity was the original appeal of Country Music. Songs with lyrics that hit you right where you live. Songs about life day to day. At least that was the appeal for me. I've been "so lonesome I could cry." I've seen "blue eyes crying in the rain." I've had bad bosses, empty pockets, and lingering cases of "the lovesick blues." I love momma, trains, and pickup trucks, and "my heroes have always been cowboys."

Some early rockers picked up on this and crossed over to Country as they grayed. I heard this old one recently, laid down by Jerry Lee Lewis, the original wild-eyed banger of the keyboard:

"But today he turned forty years old, going on twenty.
And he hears of sordid affairs, but he ain't had any.
And the young thing beside him, you know she understands,
That he's middle-aged crazy, trying to prove he still can."

Oh yeah, Jerry, I hear you. I know what you're saying. I've been to the intersection of that street, stopped at the light, and looked both ways. But I didn't go there. I put on my turn signal, took a right and drove on. But I understand you brother--I feel your pain.

Most of what I've heard that passes for Country music today leaves me as cold as the eighties Rock. It is artificial, country-fied pop, and with rare exception, lacks that gut-wrenching familiarity.

A few months ago, I wrote some lyrics for a Country music song. It was written as a joke. You can read that story here.

I had a lot of positive feedback from the post. Perhaps it was due to the familiarity aspect that I mentioned earlier. It apparently describes a situation that a lot of people can relate to.

My friend Jennifer, a lovely and talented musician (as well as a home-schooling mother of four) liked what I'd written and decided to put music to my lyrics. Last weekend I was treated to a debut performance. So without further delay, here's Jennifer singing "Why Don't You Get Off My Laptop, and Come and Get on My Lap."



Be forewarned, Music Row. There may be a new songwriting duo headed your way.