Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?

I played a game the other week that pointed out that I'm a city-livin' hick. Some of my favorite things are corn-on-the-cob, rodeos, state fairs, etc. Next week I'm even in a cow cutting competition...but I digress. This really just made me think about cowboys and country music. PS-if you don't care about country music, you can stop reading. This is a long rant that I've been saving up in my head for a while.

I listen to my fair share of country music and I think I'd like to start by calling out the posers. Tim McGraw would be at the top of my list. I would believe it if the only horse he ever rode was the one he stole from a cop in NYC when he got drunk after a concert. I think at this point he's just stuck in the genre. He doesn't sing about being a cowboy, and his soldier song came just a little too late to believe that he means it. It's just about selling records. He's sings a song about how there's "pop in his country", well his wife is the queen of that. Have you ever heard someone say, "I don't like country, but I like Faith Hill."? Well, I have more than once. I can pretty much guarantee that they aren't so familiar with anything she put out before Breathe. Has anyone ever heard of a Caribbean cowboy? One that wears pooka shells? I mean Kenny Chesney are you kidding me. That's about as far from the concept of country music as you get. If you believe that Rascal Flatts were the first to sing "Life is a Highway", you'd be wrong. A true cowboy sang it before them, and even then I don't think he was the first. No one should put out 2 albums in one year. It makes them so over played, and I'm always astonished when I hear people request their songs. I used to like them when the first came out, but now they're like the embodiment of country music which is a sore misrepresentation.

When you're not a poser, you're a sappy "I love my family" singer. Part of what I like about country is occasionally they have values. But all the "renegades, rebels and rogues", are now singing about how special being a parent is instead of getting drunk and raising hell over the county line in your crappy old pickup. Anyway, those songs are good to hear once. I cry. But 5x/day makes me want to scream. Honestly, as a married woman (I feel really old to phrase it like that) you married the family guy, you don't need to hear it sung about. You want to hear the song about the adventure you wish you were having.

When I first started listening to country in jr. high, I couldn't stand the super whiny stuff. Now I embrace it. I want to hear about how you lost your job, and your wife left and took your dog, now you're going to the honky tonk. Better yet why not take a page out of Chris Ledoux's book and sing about a rodeo. He was a real cowboy who won buckles riding bulls and died of liver replacement failure at a young age because of drinking and chewing tobacco. A theory to why George Strait has over 50 #1 hits, he's a real cowboy. While Garth Brooks is not a real cowboy, he's a pretty great songwriter and entertainer. So are we lacking good country music because he's in semi retirement. There's not any good competition.

Also, could we get some DJ's around here who have ever listened to country music?! Bringing up Garth Brooks brought up another thought. He has recently put out a new album, and released a single. The 1st time I heard it on the radio the DJ said "that's a totally different sound for him...unlike anything he's made before." Load of crap. I recognized it was him singing straight off because it sounds like all the rest of his songs. If she had ever heard one of his songs before she would have known that and not made a stupid comment in an effort to sound profound.

Phew, I think I got it all out. Sorry to anyone that read all of that.