Two For Tuesday: Guns 10/1/13

Take a look at all the mainstream country songs that talk about guns. That's because they know typical conservative country fans will fight for gun rights, especially in the times we live in today. Most of the time the gun songs are all flag waving 100 percent pure American redneck songs. They really don't say much other than give people a reason to stand up and shout "Merica" real loud then shoot off a few rounds and drink a beer. On the flip side of that there are gun songs that justify their use because of the troubled society we live in.

Justin Moore- "Guns"

It's not the fact that I disagree with his views in this song, because I don't. I just think songs like this show the true ignorance of mainstream country singers and fans. He talks about how crazy it is that people want to take away guns when you can buy them at Wal-Mart. Do you really think people want to take away the cheap shotguns from Wal-Mart? Of course not, that's not the problem. There's no purpose, no solution, no answer or justification for the problem he arose. The thing with this song and others like it, is that it's only purpose is to rile up Justin's super redneck fanbase. The concert crowd will belt along to this song because guns and America, hell yeah!

Jackson Taylor & The Sinners- "Old Henry Rifle"

Instead of just blurting out cliche patriotic lines, this song actually has a point. It talks about American pride from a viewpoint of a person who is fed up with the government, society, and everything in general. It's about holding your ground and standing up for your rights and trying to keep America from heading to a complete downfall.

Album Review: "Off The Beaten Path" by Justin Moore

With all the glowing reviews and the fact that many are saying this is "real country" music, I thought I'd give it a listen. It's actually quite ironic this album is named Off The Beaten Path. It makes you think it will be some different sounding album by someone who is doing what they want and going "off the beaten path" so to speak. This album is anything but, in fact it is on the old, straight, narrow, beat to death path so much it makes you sick. The typical pop country album has a few, but this album is completely made up of country cliche songs. Justin Moore was at my county fair this summer and I was bothered by a rant he made. He said something along the lines of I don't sing pop country, I don't sing rap country, I sing country country. It bothered me not only because he raps and has pop influences on this album but because he is basically telling the world that as long as you sing about beer and dirt roads you got a country song. Many people today believe that due to the amount of those songs on the radio. It really sucks because that couldn't be further from the truth.

I'm glad to see he isn't rolling with the controversial fake "Outlaw" bit like he did on his last album, but his songs still imply that he is some sort of rebel just because he is from the backwoods. In "Old Back In The New School" he wants to bring some things from the good old days into modern times. You would think there would be some sort of classic sounding approach, but other than a little steel guitar there really wasn't. There's this one line that made me laugh "Johnny rocked and Willie rolled, they just did it with a whole lot more soul." It's like no shit if you think they were great then why don't you use their musical accomplishments as an example for yourself? How do you think Johnny and Willie got that soul and heart in their music? It's because they wrote their songs and took control of their music by standing their ground. Justin Moore and all the guys in country today are making the same song and just rearranging the words. How many songs out there are about driving around with a girl in a truck? You probably can't count them all, yet songs like "Lettin' the Night Roll" and "Country Radio" keep coming to tarnish country music's reputation. Then comes the yay I'm a big tough country boy who hunts and drives trucks songs. "Point At You" "Dirt Road Kid" "Field Full of Hillbillies" and others just kept throwing out cliche after cliche to hook the casual country fan onto this obsessive countrified culture. There's a song called "One Dirt Road" that talks about how he wants heaven to have a dirt road and a place to fish and pick blackberries while his mama hangs his clothes up on a clothesline, no I'm not kidding! Another one called "This Kind of Town" talks about a town where old people gather at McDonald's and talk about the war and football. In this town "Girls out drank you and boys out Hank you." What is "Hanking" and why is it a verb? Why do unoriginal trend chasing songs like this even exist? "I don't think Hank done it that way" Justin!

There's a few super boring love songs that made you feel nothing. There was a song called "Beer" about the various ways to drink beer. One called "Off The Beaten Path" had a little vocal warp hip hop beat, surprising it came from "Mr. super country country." That wasn't even the worst. The worst song by far is "I'd Want It To Be Yours," it's about butts, big butts. In the world of ass songs this song actually makes "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" sound like "Pancho and Lefty." He sings "You're a little bit of J-Lo A little bit of Kim Kardashian It's big, it ain't tiny, I'm diggin' that hiney." then further tells the listener that even Snoop Dog would be jealous of his girl's big booty when it's all up in the bench seat of his Chevrolet yo. Then he puts the finishing touch onto the shit cake by rapping the third verse. Once again I am not stretching the truth at all! Now I'm fine with the fact that you want to record a funny feel good song. There's a fine line between cute and funny and creepy and gross. This song is so far past the line that the line can no longer be seen. It's not cute or funny it's just all around a bad, bad, song.

Now I'll admit he does have a lot more traditional sounding country elements in his music compared to others of his nature. It seemed a lot less of them though compared to his previous albums. One song called "Big Ass Heachache" was in 3/4 time and it did have a country feel. There was some steel guitar and banjo and his deep southern twang does sound genuine but it doesn't cover up the fact that a lot of the songs were heavily pop/rock influenced. Then there's the whole thing about how you feel nothing inside. Music is supposed to make you feel something, this music just doesn't. Now the best song by far was the duet "Old Habits" with Miranda Lambert. I'm not gonna lie this song is pretty good. There is a lot more thought in the lyrics and both of their voices sound really good together. It had a chance of being a really great country song. They were obviously trying to go for an old school feel and even though it is the "countriest" sounding song on the record it still sounds really modern and poppy. They could have turned it into some good genuine country song easily but they didn't. It seemed like a great song turned into a wasted opportunity.

This album is definitely not the real hard country twang album like people are making it out to be. There is so much good out there, this album is just another check mark on the laundry list. It's really sad that people buy into this. All it does is make them obsessed with a materialistic country culture. I enjoy doing a lot of the things he sings about in his songs, and if you want to sing a song every now and then about a country lifestyle that's fine. I don't want every single song to be about it though. I don't need someone to tell me what goes on in a small town, because I already know. I need someone to tell me about life, heartache, how the world works, what to expect. I need someone to tell me a story. 

Country Cliche Count:

Truck: 5

Tailgate: 1 (impressive)

Beer: 13

Chevy: 3

Dirt/Back road: 15

Somewhat decent/ listenable songs: "Old Habits" "Big Ass Headache"

Rating: F

  

Is Today's Country Music Supporting Bad Behavior?

Back in the day, when a country song referenced getting drunk, a lot of the time it was viewed as an obstacle the singer was facing. Drinking away a past love or drinking your troubles away songs looked at alcohol as a demon and was mostly listened to by adults. These days alcohol is widely celebrated throughout country music. It is viewed as a fun good time. Since the most popular age group in country music today is teenagers some may find that especially alarming.

I'm sure other music genres have their fair share of underage drinkers too, but country music is the "hip new thing" now. And I'm sure country shows from a few decades ago had their share of drinkers, but it was never this bad. Even in my own experiences with mainstream country shows I can say the audience has gotten progressively more rowdy and disgusting. With songs like Lee Brice's "Parking Lot Party" you can see that the country singers are catering to the fact that the drinking starts way before the gates even open. I went to a Justin Moore show at my county fair this year (by force) and it was unquestionably the worst concert experience I've ever had. The parking lot was full of pseudo-rednecks in their cowboy hats and boots who probably got pre-drunk then were drinking and playing party games on the tailgate of a truck. There were many fights going on with the wannabe "tough guys" who were arguing about whose "more countrier" than who probably. Then those same people went inside and either bought alcohol or sneaked in alcohol and continued their booze fest. There were people screaming, drinking, spitting tobacco, splashing beer, taking off parts of their clothes and waving them around. There were girls crowd surfing with guys spanking their ass as they came across. One guy even threw up his beer two inches away from my feet. Not to mention the fact that there were also really little kids present at the time. Oh yeah and it was at like 2 in the afternoon, not even at night. Then those people are going to attempt to drive home. It was the first time I ever left a concert early. I've been to some crazy shows, but it was never that bad. What happen to going to a concert to well I don't know, listen to music! 

I have seen a countless amount of people being arrested for drunk driving after concerts, many of them are underage. Just last week a man was killed after a Jason Aldean concert and that's not the first time I've seen it happen either. People are actually dying after concerts because of stupid people's decisions to drink and drive. Now on top of the fact that the music is bad, it's dangerous too! I know teenagers will find their way into drinking, smoking, etc. on their own or with their friends. It doesn't need to be glorified across country radio. Since country is a trend now, everyone wants to fit into the fake redneck culture they talk about in the pop country songs. Songs about drinking an ice cold beer in your truck with your girl by your side, getting into fights with some dude in the parking lot, yeah all the stuff you see at a show is in those songs. Going to a concert is the best way to show off what they learned. How about some songs about being yourself and doing your own thing, you won't see any of that on the radio. Mostly because the singers follow the latest trends just the same way the teenagers do. Don't say what they are singing about doesn't matter, because I guarantee you won't find that behavior at a Reba or Merle Haggard show today. They go to the shows of the guys like Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Brantley Gilbert, etc. because they think oh that's country, we get to go dress up and party like rednecks for a night, how fun. As a teenager myself I can say I know for a fact that that is what the "country fans" at my school do. If you go to a concert for any non-musical reason, then just don't go. No one wants to deal with your drunk annoying ass the whole night, it ruins it for the people who actually came to see the show. Music should be loved by people who love music, not by idiots who want to party. The demand for party songs is high right now, so they make party songs. If mature, more genuine country songs hit the airwaves I bet the whole I want to be a drunk hillbilly culture will stop. All in all country music will have to decline in popularity for any change to take place. Once country concerts stop acting as a dumbass breeding ground I bet the singers would be able to have more creative control and the disgusting rowdy crowds will move on. What it comes down to is the fact that there are a lot of ways the younger generation can get into trouble, music in general, has to stop promoting it.