Tackling Misconceptions About Country Music

Country music is perhaps the most misrepresented music genre in the world. Whether it’s from people who have never listened to country music, but still hate on it, or people who have only listened to the stuff on modern country radio that also misrepresents country music. Today I will correct three of the biggest misconceptions about country music in an attempt to give you a more accurate representation of country music.

The lyrics are meaningless

"You're not supposed to say the word 'cancer' in a song. And tellin' folks Jesus is the answer, can rub 'em wrong." These are the opening lines to Brad Paisley's "This is Country Music," a song that I believe captures what makes country music special from a lyrical stand point. People often have this idea that country music is all about tractors, trucks, drinking, girls, and other stereotypical elements of rural American life. While there are many country songs that sing about these subjects, they’re not what country music is about. "It ain't hip to sing about tractors, trucks, little towns, or mama, yeah that might be true. But this is country music and we do." These are the next two lines of the song. What these lines along with the rest of the song explain is that country music covers all sorts of different topics that aren't heard in other genres of music, including cancer, faith, small town life, and patriotism, among others. But the lyrics that sum up what country music is about the best are in the chorus. "This is real, this is your life in a song."

What makes country music special and the reason why people should listen to it are the deep and meaningful lyrics. While not all country music has to have super deep lyrics, country is at its best when the lyrics are relatable, tell a story, or give you something to think about. Perhaps all three at the same time. Dolly Parton’s “Coat of Many Colors” tells the story of a child who is excited to wear a coat that the child’s mother made, who is then made fun of for looking poor. The narrator then tells the children that the coat is worth more than all their clothes because of the meaning behind it. “One is only poor, only if they choose to be” is the big message of the song and a message that can resonate with many listeners didn’t grow up with much.

People often say that country music lacks substance, but this is simply not true. In “Whiskey Lullaby” Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss sing about a man who comes home to find his wife cheating on him. He’s so hurt that he becomes an alcoholic and eventually drinks himself to death. The wife feels so guilty about his death that she also turns to alcohol and drinks herself to death. This kind of powerful storytelling is very common in country music.

A big misconception about country music lyrics is that they are just sad all of the time. While this is probably the most accurate misconception about country music, it’s still wrong. Looking at the Country Music Association Song of the Year award winners since 2000, I found that 12 of the 19 winners were sad songs. However, there are still plenty of happy country songs. “It’s a Great Day to be Alive” by Travis Tritt is about the narrator finding joy in living a simple life and having a day to do anything the narrator wants. “Check Yes or No” by George Strait is a classic country love song that tells the story of childhood sweethearts who, 20 years later, are still very in love with each other.

The sound

When it comes to the sound of country music, people often mistake it for bluegrass music. This is excusable as the genres can sound similar and have very similar instrumentation. However, there are differences that present themselves after listening to some of the songs in each genre. According to GrizzlyRose.com, Bluegrass mainly focuses on unamplified instruments. Country, meanwhile, uses amplified instruments that give it a “fuller” sound, that is probably more appealing to the mainstream.

The rhythm of country music tends to be simple, but what I think is most appealing is that real instruments are used. While pop and other genres of music begin using computer generated music, country, more often than not, has real instruments that, I believe, make for a better sound. Whether someone likes how country music sounds is a very subjective thing and I may not be able to convince you that it’s good, you’ll have to find out yourself. What I can do is point you towards songs that I think have great country instrumentation that you can go and listen to.

Picture from Google Images

Probably the instrument most common and most noticeable in country music is the fiddle, or violin as people outside of country tend to call it. “Amarillo By Morning” by George Strait has some great fiddle portions in it, including a great solo at the end. “Ain’t Always the Cowboy” by Jon Pardi also shows off the fiddle well. If you’re looking for something faster, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” by The Charlie Daniels Band or “Callin’ Baton Rouge” by Garth Brooks show that the fiddle can be used for a fun sound.

When it comes to the steel guitar, songs such as “Fourteen Gears” by Midland and “Don’t Rock the Jukebox” by Alan Jackson are some good songs to listen to. The banjo isn’t super common in country music but it is still used. “Somebody Like You” by Keith Urban and “Fly” by Maddie & Tae use the banjo nicely. Guitar can be heard in basically any country song. Some general good sounding country songs that I think are worth checking out are “Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)” by Alan Jackosn, “Run” by Geoge Strait, and “Even Though I’m Leaving” by Luke Combs.

It’s just for white, southern people

Perhaps the most important misconception about country music is that it is only for white people from the south. It’s undeniable that country music is dominated by white southern men, however there are plenty of country singers who don’t fit this description. Charley Pride and DeFord Bailey are two black country legends. Darius Rucker and Kane Brown are both black and are big stars in modern country music. Keith Urban was born in New Zealand and Shania Twain was born in Canada. If country artists can come from a variety of backgrounds, there is nothing stopping people who are not white or from the south enjoying the music. I’m an example of this. I am an immigrant from Costa Rica who grew up in New York City and country is one of my favorite genres of music. Also, according to the Country Music Association, in a 2019 report country music is growing amongst Hispanics and African-Americans. 

Picture from CMAWorld.com

Country music is a great form of music that is often misrepresented by people who haven’t given it a chance. Country music has meaningful lyrics, brilliant storytelling, and lovely instrumentation that create music that can be enjoyed by anyone. If you have listened to multiple country songs that show off the various elements that make country music special, but still don’t like it, that’s fine. Music, at the end of the day, is subjective and not everyone will find country music enjoyable, but you should give it a chance before saying you don’t like it.

Works Cited:

“Research.” CMA World - Country Music Association, Feb. 2019, https://www.cmaworld.com/research/


“Difference Between Bluegrass and Country Music.” The Grizzly Rose, Grizzly Rose Member Https://Www.grizzlyrose.com/Wp-Content/Uploads/2016/10/Night-Logo-Compress.png, 7 Sept. 2018, https://www.grizzlyrose.com/difference-between-bluegrass-and-country/


“Past Winners And Nominees: 2019 CMA Awards: Wednesday, November 13 on ABC.” 2019 CMA Awards | Wednesday, November 13 on ABC, https://cmaawards.com/past-winners-and-nominees/?appSession=81505NZ591GXSH9G912HYEL4MB9MBTE1783KS3BYV4PI3QD2E067YD5N4XQW882X25LDB82G4T5VRFW1P29YXI179MQ7JG88FWO141U5A58HAO28K184J4889H091NF8&PageID=2&PrevPageID=1&cpipage=4&CPISortType=&CPIorderBy=.

Top Contenders For Bryan's Championship

     In less than two weeks Bryan will be facing Kane at Extreme Rules for the WWE World Heavyweight championship. More than likely Bryan will retain the title so the question is who will he face after Kane. Let's take a look at some of the people who deserve title shots.

Randy Orton
      Randy Orton is still due a rematch for the championship after losing it at Wrestlemania. However depending on how long Evolution will be feuding with the Shield, Randy might not get his rematch. The two have faced off many time already so I don't want a long feud between the two but I wouldn't mind one more match between the two.

Brock Lesnar
      After ending the streak, Brock Lesnar is more than worthy of a championship match. Even though it is a very big mismatch it would still probably be an awesome match. This can be the Authority's way of getting the title off of Bryan. I think Lesnar can be a great Summerslam opponent for Bryan. Lesnar can take the title off of Bryan and lose it at Wrestlemania to someone like Roman Reigns or another up and coming superstar.

Bray Wyatt 
     Bray Wyatt beat Bryan at the Royal Rumble cleanly so he can use that to say that he deserves a title shot. The two had a great match at the Royal Rumble so another match between the two can great. As good as Wyatt is I don't think he should hold the title just yet but giving Bryan a hard match can elevate Wyatt and can give Bryan a win over Wyatt.

Triple H
     Their match at Wrestlemania was great and the feud leading up to it was also great. Triple H is probably the best heel in the company right now and Bryan is the best face so the two facing off only makes sense. As of now the plans seem to be for Triple H and Roman Reigns to face off at Summerslam so Triple H can have a match with Bryan where Reigns costs Triple H the match. Having Bryan go over Triple H twice will be great for Bryan.

Was Brock Lesnar Beating the Streak a Good Idea?

It has been more than a week since the streak came to an end at the hands of Brock Lesnar. Many people have mixed feelings about the streak ending with most of the feedback being negative. However, is the streak coming to an end as bad as people make it out to be?

People have different opinions about whether or not the streak should have ever been broken. I personally thought the streak should have ended. The other thing people have different opinions on is if someone up and coming or someone established should have ended the streak. I was on the side of having someone established end the streak because if someone up and coming were to end the streak we never know what would happen to him. If something were to happen to him it would cause the ending of the streak to be pointless.

Let's start with the build-up to the match. The build-up was bad. It did nothing to make anyone think that the streak could possibly end and did a bad job at making Lesnar look like a credible threat to the streak. Most of the build-up had Undertaker getting the upper hand on Lesnar. There were plenty of ways that the build-up could have been better. However no matter how good the build-up was people still would have given Brock no chance of winning which is probably why WWE didn't put much effort into the the build-up.

According to many people not only was the build-up bad but so was the match. Although I don't think it was as bad as some people say I do think the match was boring. So did the crowd that was mostly dead throughout the match. The dead crowd showed that the people were certain that Undertaker would win the match. So the shock of Brock actually winning was huge.

When the referee made the three count you could just see the shock on the face of every fan in attendance. The streak had been broken.

The shock of the streak ending would have been there no matter what, even if we knew it would be Takers last match. This match was more about the shock than it was about the match. Even though that is not a good thing it accomplished its mission.

Although I am not completely in love with Brock beating the streak I am okay with it. If Undertaker does come back and wrestles once again he can do it without the pressure of the streak.  If he doesn't come back to wrestle I am not to happy that this was his last feud. The Undertaker deserves to have a great match to end his career.

Brock wrestles more than Undertaker so he will probably lose more matches than Undertaker going forward. Which means people who beat the guy who beat the streak will get much more credibility. I don't think Lesnar beating the streak was a great idea but I think it was a good one.

What to look forward to in 2014 in WWE

Now that the new year is upon us we can look forward to what the WWE will have in store for us in 2014. New storylines and talent will make for an interesting year. Here is what you should look forward to in 2014.

1. New Talent being pushed
2014 should bring many new superstars to the main event.  Big E Langston and Roman Reigns are two superstars that WWE likes a lot, which means more than likely they will have a great year. There are also many other superstars that seem like they will be getting pushed in 2014. Superstars like Daniel Bryan and the Wyatt Family will be expected to have a great year. And let's not forget about the incredible talent down at NXT. There are plenty of people down at NXT that we will most likely be seeing on the main roster this year. Paige, Emma, Bayley, Summer Rae, and Sasha Banks are divas that are very talented and can help rebuild the divas division, which is in dire need of new divas. Alexander Rusev, Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn, and Bo Dallas are some great superstars who might show up on television and make an impact.

Roman Reigns will be a big star in 2014.

2. The Shield's Break up
Lately the WWE has been teasing the break up of the Shield and they are expected break up sooner or later. As much as it will be sad to see the Shield no longer together, since they were so great last year, it will be interesting to see how they do by themselves. Roman Reigns is liked by the WWE so he should have no trouble getting to the main event. Seth Rollins has put on great matches as of late and as long as he can continue to put on great matches he should be able to get to the main event. Dean Ambrose is great on the mic and should be able to get far in WWE as a great heel.

After a great 2013 let's see what The Shield will do in 2014.

3. The return of "The Animal" Batista
Batista has been officially announced to return to the WWE on the twentieth of this month. It will be interesting to see how he returns, whether he will be a face or a heel and who he will have his first feud with. His last feud before he left was with John Cena so maybe he will return to have a feud with Cena. Perhaps he will win the Royal Rumble and go onto Wrestlemania to challenge whoever the champion is. Whatever he ends up doing it should be interesting and entertaining.

Who will be Batista's first opponent?

4. Wrestlemania 30
This years Wrestlemania will be the thirtieth Wrestlemania so it will be a big deal. Even though it seems like The Rock and Stone Cold won't have matches, it should still be a great show. There are many rumored matches and most of them sound good. There will probably be many appearances by former WWE superstars and even some matches by former WWE stars. Undertaker's last match may take place or we may see the return of Hulk Hogan. There will be many unforgettable moments and it will be can't miss.

Wrestlemania 30 will be can't miss.

5. The Tag Team Division
As of late it seems like the WWE is doing their best to rebuild the tag team division. We have plenty of great teams like The Rhodes Brothers, The Usos, The Prime Time Players, The Real Americans and even some more. The tag team division is the best it has been in years. We are likely to see many more great new teams and many great tag team matches.

The WWE tag team division is the best it has been in years.

September 30, 2013 Raw Review

Raw would start off with CM Punk coming out to the ring and saying that he would get his hands on Heyman. He would then say that he wanted a fight. Brad Maddox would come out and say that that was not best for business. Big E would come out and accept the challenge. Big E would attack Punk before the match started. Big E would charge at Punk but Punk would dodge and Big E ran into the ring post. CM Punk would win the match. It was a good match.

The next match was Fandango vs Kofi Kingston. Kofi Kingston would win. After the match the Wyatt Family would come out. Bray would sit on the ramp and cut a promo. They didn't attack Kofi so I don't see why they came out after the match.

The next match was 3MB vs the re-debuting Los Materdores. This was an okay match. Los Materdores would win. I don't think Los Materdores will get far.

Up next Triple H and Stephanie would announce a match at Battleground. It would be Goldust and Cody Rhodes vs the tag-team champions. If Cody and Goldust win they would get their jobs back but if they lose they will never work at WWE again and Dusty will be fired. The Shield would come out and attack the Rhodes family. They would hit Goldust with a spear and hit Cody with a triple powerbomb.

The next match was Curtis Axel vs R-Truth. CM Punks music would play which would distract Axel allowing R-Truth to hit GIS finisher and win.

The next match was Brie Bella vs Alicia Fox. Brie Bella would win. The match was okay.

The next match was Alberto Del Rio vs Zack Ryder. This was quick match. Del Rio would win with by submission. This was an okay match.

The next match was the Shield vs Dolph Ziggler and the Usos. This was a good match. The Shield would win after Roman Reigns hit a spear on Ziggler.

The next match was Santino vs Antonio Cesaro. This was an okay match. Santino would win with a roll up.

Lastly would be a face off between Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan. They would say that they will win on Sunday. Eventually Bryan and Orton would get into a fight. Randy Orton would get the upperhand. Brie Bella would come and try to get Orton to stop but Orton hit Bryan with a RKO on the announce table.

This was an okay Raw. It dragged at some parts but it also had some good segments and matches.

September 20, 2013 SmackDown Review

SmackDown would start off with Vickie calling out Daniel Bryan. She said she would've fired Bryan for what he did at Night of Champions. She then made a 11 on 3 gauntlet match. Each one of the people who helped Bryan on Raw would have to face the Shield.

The first match was AJ vs Naomi. This was a good match. AJ would win with the Black Widow. AJ said that she would take out each of the Total Divas which makes me wonder if JoJo and Eva Marie will make their debuts.

The next match was Jack Swagger vs Santino Marella. This match wasn't that good and was short. Santino won with a backslide pin.

The next match was Ryback vs some random guy called Nick Nardone. Ryback would hit the ShellShock and win the match quickly. The match wasn't that good.

The next match was the 3 on 11 gauntlet match. This match was pretty cool but unfortunately it didn't finish. Triple H would come out and stop the match and tell Vickie to come to his office.

The next match was Zack Ryder and Justin Gabriel vs Luke Harper and Eric Rowan. This match was short and not that good. Luke Harper would hit his clothesline on Ryder and pin him. After the match Bray Wyatt hit Ryder with a Sister Abigail.
The next match was R-Truth vs Alberto Del Rio. The match was okay. Del Rio would win by making truth tap to the cross arm breaker.

The next match was Daniel Bryan and the Usos vs the Shield. This was a good match. Daniel Bryan would hit his running knee and win the match.

This was a good episode of SmackDown. There were good matches and other entertaining stuff. RVD vs Del Rio for the title was announced for Battleground and so was Bryan vs Orton for the WWE championship.

Night of Champions 2013 Predictions

Tag-Team Turmoil

The winner of the match will face the Shield later in the night. I think there are only two teams who might win it, the Usos or the Prime Time Players. The Prime Time Players have been getting a push lately so they might win. Since the Usos came out on SmackDown and attacked the Shield they might win. I think the Usos will win.

Shield vs Winner of Tag-Team Turmoil

As I previously stated I think the Usos will win however I think the Shield will win the championship match. I think no matter who wins the tag-team turmoil match, the Shield will walk out with the championships.

Dean Ambrose vs Dolph Ziggler

This match was just added on SmackDown which was a bad idea. They should've added it earlier. This should be a good match but it is sad to see what WWE is doing with Ziggler. I think Ambrose will be able to retain.

CM Punk vs Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman

This match isn't for the Intercontinental championship which makes no sense since the Pay Per Views gimmick is that every championship is on the line. Since the title isn't I'm the line Punk will most likely win.

Alberto Del Rio vs Rob Van Dam

This feud has been built up well but it is almost the same feud as the one with Christian. They had a non-title match that RVD and Christian won. Then they RVD went up against Sandow and like Christian, RVD won. I think Del Rio will win the match and retain his title.

AJ vs Brie Bella vs Natalya vs Naomi

The build up to this feud has been very good and the match will probably be good. I think AJ will win with the help of the other divas.(Aksana, Layla and Alicia Fox.)

Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan

The build up to this feud has been very good and this is the match that people are probably most excited for. Whatever happens I don't think Bryan will win and I don't think Orton will win cleanly. If Orton wins cleanly this feud will not be able to continue. I don't see how this feud will continue. If Orton wins I don't see how Bryan will get a rematch. Orton will probably keep the title. Either by disqualification or by the help of either Triple H or the Shield.