Any young person who ever considered themselves cool, alternative or a touch more ‘real’ than their suburban, Southern counterparts has probably uttered the phrase, “I listen to everything except country” at least once in their lives. I always hated hearing that, believing it was cliche to dismiss an entire genre as a great American embarrassment — but there are real reasons why many are turned off by the fantasy of American culture found in mainstream, commercialized country.
What led a complex and thoughtful genre down the path of repeated lines about beer, trucks and ex-girlfriends? Country music has no short history of conservative political involvement, and while it’s not a one-note genre, it has often pandered to a specific ideal of what American values, culture and masculinity ought to look like.
Country music often walked the thin line drawn in American political ideology — a voice of the working class calling out abuses of bosses grouped together with songs proclaiming the need for segregation and traditionalism. In the past, the genre was prominent among white lower-to-middle-class Southerners. It was defined by storytelling, reflecting on the hardships of love and the economically-pillaged landscapes endured by many rural Southerners. As the Civil Rights Movement and the explosive politics of the ‘60s pushed this population to the political right, its music largely followed suit.
In the early ‘70s, then-governor of California Ronald Reagan fully pardoned country star Merle Haggard of his convictions, including burglary. He was heralded as the soul of America by the administration, a beacon of light during a time of sex, drugs and social protest so detested by Reagan. Haggard’s “Okie From Muskogee,” though perhaps written with a satirical intent, was an emblem of the New Right, rejecting student activism with the line, “football’s still the roughest thing on campus / And the kids here still respect the college dean” and San Francisco hippies with “We don’t take our trips on LSD (…) We don’t let our hair go long and shaggy.”
The "soul of America" was a traditional, masculine man fighting against the social change offered by the decade. Country music could uphold the conservative values so threatened by a changing society — still reflected in many popular songs of the genre today.
Jason Aldean’s “Try That In A Small Town” music video depicted protest footage, allegedly from the Black Lives Matter movement, alongside stock footage of violence, insinuating a need for protection from the progressiveness and diversity of cities. This song reflects Haggard’s ‘60s tune and dictates that to be a true American man is once again to be in gun-wielding resistance to social movements.
Some of the country music most popular in our modern era, marked by Zach Bryan and Tyler Childers, harkens back to the stories of broken relationships and personal hardships of the outlaw stars from decades earlier. But even Bryan’s songwriting paints a picture of what a ‘real’ American everyman looks like — a whiskey-drinking, cross country-driving Marlboro Red smoker, always on the road looking for his next heartbreak or blue-collar job.
It’s also no secret that Bryan’s success comes at a time when even the social media interns of Los Angeles are growing mullets and mustaches, smoking cigarettes and styling vintage Carhartt. Our culture still seeks an American masculine identity. Country music stars have always opted to fill this void, offering their take on what it means to be a "real" American man in the country’s ever-polarizing climate. This mode of country is often promoted by and positively received by those seeking out a limited view of what American masculinity looks like, leading to a neglect of the stories that explore a more nuanced view of the South.
Country is diverse and wide-reaching, but it’s not a coincidence which artists within the umbrella of country radiate out of our fraternity houses during football tailgates. Rather than allowing the anthems of beer and shallow politics to make us reject the genre in its entirety, we should seek out and cherish the unique and diverse songwriting the South has to offer.
