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Scott WithycombeFrom the earliest days of our national history, Country music has enriched our lives, reflected our history and influenced our ideals. Sadly, this genre is too often shrugged off as being too folksy and simplistic and is abandoned for modern pop culture.
I grew up in small-town America, in a farm community where everyone you meet driving down the street greets you with a wave and a smile. In my hometown, there are still hitching posts for horses on Main Street, the fire department has a Dalmatian, and on Friday nights kids pile into pick-up trucks and drive down to the river after football games. Old men drink coffee every morning at the bakery, families gather every year at the Community Center for the crowning of the Almond Blossom Queen, and the local newspaper covers tee-ball games.
In all of this there is a Country song. It is in the landscape, the pace of life and the spirit of community.
For many across America, the same is true. For the millions of people living in small towns, growing up on farms, or dreaming of “wide-open spaces,” Country music describes life in its rawest and finest form.
I grew up listening to Country music — not the Shania Twain, Canadian-pop version — country in its rawest form, with dueling twin fiddles and a screaming steal guitar. Some of my earliest memories of music involve listening to a worn out George Strait cassette tape in my Dad’s Chevy Silverado pick-up, long before Silverados came equipped with leather seats. They are memories of my brothers and I singing along in the back seat of the family Suburban, memories where song and reality blur, where the difference between lyrics and actual warm summer nights are indistinguishable.
There is a lot more to Country music than lost dogs, broken hearts and beer, although all those are instrumental elements to the genre. It is more than just the music of the heartland; it is the music of the American heart. Country is America’s music; it is songs about our national history, about our shared ideals and aspirations. The songs of a pioneering spirit, of a warm and close-knit community, of our soldiers, our patriotism and of living a dream, a country dream, an American Dream.
After Sept. 11, 2001, no genre of music was more patriotic or more unifying than Country. Alan Jackson made us all cry with “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning),” Toby Keith fired us up with “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” and payed homage to our troops in “American Soldier,” and Darryl Worley reminded us of our commitment to the fallen in “Have you Forgotten?”
From the stories told in song to the messages sent in quality content, Country is undeniably American, and, in a great sense, America is undeniably Country. There is, after all, a little cowboy in all of us.
Just as important as the American character of the music is the value Country can bring to our lives. Compared to so much of what the entertainment industry is trying to pass off as music today, Country presents a positive message from which many valuable lessons can be gleaned.
Here are some that I have found most valuable:
George Strait tells us about the strength of family and the love of the Father singing, “Daddies don’t just love their children every now and then, it’s a love without end, amen.”
Patty Loveless reminds us that “Life’s about changing, nothing ever stays the same.”
Alan Jackson assures that “it’s all right to be little bitty.”
Garth Brooks urges us to have a little faith and some day you may thank “God for unanswered prayers.”
Hank Williams Sr. warns you to be honest or “Your cheating heart will tell on you.”
Tracy Lawrence is certain that “If the world had a front porch … we’d still have our problems, but we’d all be friends.”
From its patriotic nature to its valuable message, Country music is an important part of the American fabric. Country music artists sing songs that remind us of our childhoods, inspire our dreams and touch our hearts. Next time you turn on the radio, tune it to a Country station and allow yourself to take a trip down an “old dirt road” to a place where “green grass grows” and the spirit of the American is still alive and well.
Submitted 10-07-2004
MALIBU, CA
