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Hello everyone, Sophie here…Happy January! I hope you all have had a peaceful week and that your coffee is really hitting you in the way you want it to.
This week in my remote P.E. classes, we started our dance unit. Though I don’t remember this being a unit when I took PE (and I think I would’ve loved it), there’s no feeling uniquely similar to performing a country line dance by myself in my room 6 separate times in 2 days. I really am having to put into practice faking it till I make it. Growth mindset! Here’s some video proof of me pushing my dance skills to the limit. To endorse my amazing skills, do I need to add that I was a part of the show choir in high school?? I didn’t think so.
LOL….
And going off of that theme, that brings me right to our topic this week.
Country Music
I decided pretty early on this year that I would not let myself slip into the all-too-familiar place that the winter weather can bring me to. A place that usually consists of listening to Sufjan Stevens and Beach House, amongst other sad music…*sigh* I have multiple winter-breaks-home-from-college visions of myself looking emo outside the window, scrolling through Tumblr (lol), or sitting in my old basement bedroom, thinking gee, I wonder what the future might hold for me…true love??? (not my best phase) That sentiment is connected to a distinctly much angstier version of myself anyhow, but in a constant effort to uphold some healthy habits for myself, I’m reaching towards anything that brings me an inner sense of warmth this winter. I’ve been taking hot showers, going on drives to nowhere, playing super mario with Jess and wearing Liza’s old UGGs... If I close my eyes and focus hard enough, it almost transports me back to a specific time, like I’m about to go to my locker and switch classes in middle school! Just kidding. However, I can definitely state that the best moments of my January so far have been spent listlessly listening to pop-country music at every moment possible.
Growing up, the sound of country music was something that has always felt familiar and comforting to me. While I certainly don’t claim to be or really identify as being a Southern girl™, because I moved to suburban Virginia from Tennessee when I was in Kindergarten, I grew up with two parents who came from a small town in Western Tennessee. Growing up visiting my extended family, mixed with the stories my parents have told me about their childhood, still characterized what “the south” was in my mind as a more…abstract idea rather than an experience I could really connect to my own—an experience that I do realize is very specific depending on who you talk to, and oftentimes, is not to be overly romanticized. However, in relation to things I associate with the south, the one thing I’ve grown increasingly interested in has been the pop-country music genre.
I’ve enjoyed listening to Kacey Musgraves as much as the next person (a lot actually and I think she's so glamorous Lol) but I somehow found myself zeroing in recently on some really catchy songs that I wouldn’t normally notice. It started when I read a profile a month or two ago on hit pop-country star Morgan Wallen that piqued my interest. So, I started listening to his songs just to see what the deal was and found myself immediately hooked. Something about his songs gave me the feeling of being somewhere warm.
When I got past the familiar feeling, I started to really tune in to the lyrics. I turned my car radio to the country station and listened while I drove everywhere. I noticed the songs on the radio, specifically the songs by male artists, were not so wide-ranged in their choice of topics. From my brief stint in listening, the topics most often centered around: whiskey, beer, tequila, drinking culture, women in sundresses, blue eyed women, tractors, summertime, hometowns, trucks, sunday mornings, porches, falling in love, lust, tailgates, fireflies, “the river”, the concept of “forever”, breakups. Needless to say, it’s all pretty predictable. I know there’s plenty of literature out there going a little more in-depth on the intensely boundaried binaries that exist within country music, alongside the general antiquated weirdness of the industry itself (I’ve read interviews with Kacey Musgraves condemning the future of it if there’s no change, in fact). Basically, this trend in male-centric country songs hasn’t been lost on anyone who decides to actually listen to the lyrics. I found a scholarly article entitled, “Gendered Stages: Country Music, Authenticity, and the Performance of Gender” written by Kristine M. McCusker that laid it out pretty nicely:
The recent “tomato” controversy points to why we need to continue to trouble narrowly defined gender roles because those roles have real consequences for women and their access to radio play, particularly in this era when “Bro Country,” the popular subgenre of country music that spotlights guys driving big trucks, fishing and hunting, and hitting on pretty girls, dominates radio play (although its popularity is thankfully waning). The tomato controversy emerged when one rather inelegant radio consultant, Keith Hill, told Country Aircheck in May 2015 that a radio station should never play two female musicians back to back. He said, “The lettuce is Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban and artists like that. The tomatoes of our salad are our females.” In other words, limit women’s music and focus on the supposed economic prowess of male stars because they will make you more money. It is precisely these assumptions, long rooted in the industry and parsed out in the scholarship, that need to be exposed.
Wow. Crazy, right? Sadly, not that surprising, though. McClusker goes on to talk about how race is another important factor to be considered in evaluating the trend of inequality occurring, and overall, how success is simply defined as male in this industry. I’d recommend reading it if you’re interested!
Upon further listening, I also noticed a specificity to the vague settings described in the songs. There’s the generic idea of falling in love with the backdrop of a football game, (swoon), driving down dirt roads and most often, drinking/falling in love/tending to heartbreak/reminiscing on life in the setting of a bar. I can place myself into the Silverado Truck fantasy for the length of the song, maybe, but Jess and I have already agreed we definitely don’t feel connected to the mythical manic-pixie cowgirls described in the songs. Next, I read all the reviews on Wallen’s newest album I could find, which were being released very quickly and in succession by publications, like products on an assembly line. I quickly scanned them and skipped to comments, my favorite part. Most were as follows:
Whew….even further searching led to the end of my personal road, in which I saw a video interview with Wallen where he all but denounced social distancing and the pandemic (“…How long is this gonna continue? …Are we just gonna wear masks forever?”) and Covid death statistics (“Do your research…I’ve seen some data that just makes me think I shouldn’t be as scared as they think I should be” “It feels like they’re trying to control us”) Ahhhhh!!! (Hey guys I love you and I’m Sorry I brought Covid into this again) Whatever shiny illusion of this person existed to me within the confines of enjoyable music, was therefore tarnished. It’s not that I don’t expect Wallen to be human, but to make statements like that right now feels cringey if not outright disrespectful. So here I was, not simply enjoying something, but once again, analyzing it to the point where it loses some of its original charm. You know, like when you get sick after you eat a certain food and then you can’t eat it ever again. That’s chocolate pudding for me since I know you’re all wondering!!
Overall, this shallow dive into pop-country has left me with some questions about consuming media and the creators of that media. The specific feeling of “your fave is problematic” or, more succinctly, can you ever really separate the author from the work? I listened to a podcast recently that had an interesting conversation on how much creators should be accessible to their respective audiences, and this exact point was touched upon. It claimed that the work you create actually can be separated from the person, and in many cases, it should be. It’s claimed that what a “creator” produces is in no way is that a replacement for the person themselves.
I have been enjoying the music so much, and certainly am not grasping at the idea that country music, as an entity, always adheres to a specific/problematic narrative. Or even that it’s not a genre that has room for growth and change. Am I just applying virtue signalling logic to music now? Is it OK to just enjoy something without worrying about it being canceled? (Ugh I think that last one was rhetorical and so specifically influenced by the fact I’m on Twitter too much these days) These are questions that come to mind when I reflect on this small venture, and in the past year, are questions that I’m interested in what people have to say about. In all, I am hoping this wasn’t a roast, but more, a meditation on taste. or something.
In the end, I think listening to country music will get me through until it’s warm enough to be outside again and let my soul fly UNENCUMBERED!
This topic reminds me: I saw this cool series by photographer Sam Contis a couple years ago when I saw her give an artist talk. Her photographic series “Deep Springs” takes a look at the students of Deep Springs college, an esoteric two-year university where students take classes alongside literally wrangling cattle! Wow. Talk about an idealistic fantasy…
Selected Country Music Readings and Resources:
Brittany Howard’s Transformation
Not at All Exhaustive LGBTQIA+ Country Playlist
Sam Contis’ Deep Springs Series
Country Music Excludes Women, Especially Over Age 40, Study Finds
The Lesbian South: Southern Feminists, The Print Movement… (Thanks Cid for this awesome recommendation.)
And lastly, here’s my easy-listening pop-country playlist if you’re so inclined.
Boy do I have a lot of material this week!! — Here’s Some Other Random Stuff From the Past Week:
The existence of Lady Gaga’s Chromatica Oreos
Why do these limited edition foods never fail to draw me in??
A classic ice-cream sandwich for dessert
Salt Fat Acid Defeat by n+1 (thinking about the politics and future of restaurants post-pandemic)
Together and Apart in an Online Classroom (quick read about unexpected positives to online learning)
How Nothingness Became Everything We Wanted (thinking about escape, bland aesthetics, nothingness, capitalism—all the best for you guys! lmao)
Why It’s Not Too Late To Learn New Skills (an argument for the joys of being a beginner at something)
The definition and reminder of the existence of a “growth mindset”:
“In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.”
“Mr. Pitch, a walking chunk of turf, is Japan’s J. League Soccer Mascot.
and lastly,
this quote by Gwyneth Paltrow. Lmaooooooo what
Stay Cool,
Sophie
Dear Sophie,
I love this topic for you and I LOVE that you’ve found some spots of warmth to get you through. I’ve made some special changes at Keith Hill’s recommendation in the hopes that the pop-country bros will finally love me. You think it’s working?
I’m with you on not fully seeing myself as a Southern Girl, and I’m inclined to say that I don’t view my childhood as particularly ‘southern’, though there are points to contradict this perception, such as my winning of a frozen Thanksgiving turkey in an archery contest at the annual 4-H barbecue, or our high school mascot being named for a battalion of the Confederate army, or my concerning preverbal obsession with Goin’ Through the Big D by Mark Chesnutt (this song still slaps and so does She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy. Do not argue with me because I am right!!!).
Jesus christ about our high school mascot. Good bye- S
I do question my dismissal, because technically speaking, Virginia is most definitely part of the American South. I think part of it has to do with spending the majority of my youth in suburban Northern Virginia, a place that feels about as neutral as it gets when it comes to any sort of culture or identity, and for the last decade or so has been facing a takeover of D.C. yuppies that have sadly rendered it a little unrecognizable, bringing with them a grilled cheese-themed wine bar named “Bites” and you know their grilled cheese isn’t even that good. There’s a lot of financial wealth in this area, and a certain uppityness to it that always left the common Northern Virginian identification with true southern culture feeling a little inauthentic and intrusive.
couldn’t have said it better. My therapist describes Nova as “soulless” lmao. -S
Still, I want to clarify that what I was feeling was not a disconnect from all things country—the sources of many of my foundational lessons in empowerment and emotional depth were The D̶i̶x̶i̶e̶ Chicks and Shania Twain, Canada’s Sweetheart—but the large part of me was unwilling to wholly embrace the lot of it. My avoidance was mostly due to the association between the majority of this music and the political right, and who could forget the blacklisting of The Chicks from all country radio after Natalie Maines criticized Bush back in 2003. I began to see the southern conventions that I did encounter as a hard shell, blocking me from pieces of the ‘real world’ that were not aligned with conservative values but felt essential for me to reach in order to form a full sense of identity.
After I graduated high school I moved to Blacksburg, Virginia for college, 200 miles further south from where I had grown up. There were lots of rolling hills and rivers and it was all very pastoral. Beautiful! For what felt like the first time, I met people that were truly in love with where they lived, and treasured the mountains and land in the pure way that pop country songs talk about. It was also here that I first experienced communities that were grounded in queerness, as opposed to just tolerating it, a surprise to me after my ignorance had bred a metronormative mental model of the workings of the world.
Wow I never knew about this word, but I’m finding the definition so interesting!! — Sophie
Yes! I think it has a lot to do with something mentioned in that Kacey Musgraves article you shared, Sophie. Of course these communities exist and thrive and I’m certainly not the spokesperson of their experiences. I think my lack of awareness was due to a very selective presentation of the “true country life” curated by the Pop Country Bosses, and it is that space in which I saw no room for myself or the questions that I had.
Being able to experience the world alone—separate from my home but feeling it with me all the time—set me free and showed me so many new facets of life. I left this period with an array of additions to the “many gendered mothers of my heart”, as Maggie Nelson would say. Space away from a youth spent adjacent to the WMZQ Fest allowed me to return with a deeper (though ever-changing) understanding of myself, and with this I am able to let go of a lot of my pop country resentment, because I no longer see it as a blocker of the unknown. I don’t think I answered any of your questions, Sophie, but the short version of all of this is that I listen to these songs now and feel affection for the times that they remind me of, and I think that’s okay, as long as I remember that what I hear on pop country radio is not all-inclusive, and to support artists that are working to change it.
A few more things…
Sophie and I just watched Miranda July’s new movie Kajillionaire and I wanted to share it here in case any of you are searching for something that will make you feel good (but really sad before the good)! It’s a wild ride and the acting is amazing, the soundtrack is great, and it shows a longing for intimacy in a way that feels very true, especially during this time when forced separateness has left affection seemingly harder to come by. It’s $6 to rent and, yeah, there are free movies on the internet that are just as good, but something about this feels really special and at this point I’ve probably saved hundreds of dollars by not going to a movie theater in ten months.
Drawn from Life: The world of Alison Bechdel: An old profile that I revisited this week, after thinking about being in Blacksburg, where I saw an amazing production of Fun Home!
This nearly shot-for-shot remake of The Princess Bride made by every famous person under the sun in vertical format?? I don’t know what’s going on it just showed up in my recommendations. Shaq is in here you guys:
Fig’s new place to sit:
Also I’ve seen two dead birds in the last week, can someone that knows about signs tell me if this is good or bad. I have photos if that helps.
LETS GET LOUDDDDDD,
Jess
wow! I love learning about your country music journeys!! This is so taboo!!! Last summer in Colorado, my cowboy friend Henry made me listen to all of it, from Dierks Bentley to Marty Robbins. I can't say I liked everything he played, but some of it (esp the older, less poppy stuff) I actually loved!!! Jess I'm playing the two catchy songs you linked rn and truly it's taking me back to rides in Henry's mazda in Durango. I love how songs put us right back in specific places. thanks for this post and thanks for inspiring me to watch Kajillionaire!!!! BTW I LOVE BRITTANY HOWARD!