A lot of hardcore, traditional country music fans will tell you that today’s country music isn’t country at all; it is more like a patriotic version of pop music. However, you’ve got to put this country music criticism in context: over the years, there has always been a debate on how to define country music. What some people consider country, others would consider a completely different genre. The only way to define country music is to get an understanding of its roots.
When country music first sprang up, it was a way of venting out the hard knocks of life. Musicians grabbed instruments – often whatever they had nearby, such as the washboard – and sang about their lives working in the coal mines, their wives who left them, death in the family, working the fields, being a jailbird, and drinking hard liquor to drown out the sorrows, amongst many other gritty themes. It isn’t surprising that the male country singers looked and acted tough. The female country singers also looked tough and had voices that alluded to experience.
By comparison, the country singers of today couldn’t get any more different. The male country singers are seen in perfectly-pressed “cowboy” designer shirts and wearing gel in their hair. The women are dolled up in ways that would put shame to the gospel roots of country. It seems like all of the big country singer wonders are barely out of their teens, leaving you to wonder just how many hard knocks they have really experienced. In a nutshell, today’s country music has turned into a teeny-bopping pop show.
So yes, country music lyrics have changed to the point of being pop. But we should take this as a sign of the larger picture. Lives hard knocks are not the same and you can’t criticize country musicians for singing about what they know.