Cowboy, Take Me Away!

Even though I’m usually a Top 40 kind of girl, I’ve been kind of obsessed with country music lately. You can stop judging me now. Once you get past all the references to beer (why are they so obsessed?), it’s really not that bad! I’ve never minded music that sounds like a hybrid of country and rock (i.e., the Rascal Flatts), but gradually over the last year, and especially over the last couple months, I’ve started listening to music that gravitates away from the rock end of the spectrum and more towards the country end of the spectrum. I’m going to take you on a journey of country music in my life, mostly because I want to share some of my favorite country songs.

When I was in third grade, my teacher took a poll of what kids’ favorite genres of music were (I guess as part of a fractions-related lesson?), even though I think we were too young to really know what the different genres meant. I was one of three people in my class to vote for country music. I really have no idea why I voted for country music because my parents didn’t listen to country music, which meant that I didn’t listen to country music. The only reason I can think of is that I may have heard a song on the radio that I liked and one of my parents told me that it was a country song.

When I was 11, my cousin Janalee nannied me and my siblings for the summer. She would always have the radio on the country station when we were in the car. That was my first actual exposure to country music. Because of that summer, sometimes I’ll recognize a song from a random band like SheDaisy.

When I was 14, I got my first country CD: the Dixie Chicks’ Home. (I know the Dixie Chicks are more on the country end of the spectrum, but apparently I didn’t mind in this case.) This song still gets me:

When I was 17 I heard the song “These Days” by the Rascal Flatts (still my favorite Rascal Flatts song, which is saying a lot). I have loved the Rascal Flatts ever since. Seriously. I love everything they do. This is when I realized that country songs could have enough rock in them for me to like them.

After this point, I went on a country music hiatus where the only country music I ever listened to was Rascal Flatts. It would take a young country superstar five years later to convince me to revisit the possibility that country music could be worth existing. Yep, you probably guessed who. Taylor Swift. I got her Fearless CD from a friend, and when I finally made it past “You Belong With Me” (best music video ever!) I discovered that the rest of the CD was AMAZING.

Taylor speaks to me. I know all she writes about is love and I have never even been in love, but her lyrics transcend specific situations. And she writes about crushes fairly often, and I’ve had my fair share of those. Take these lyrics from “Hey Stephen” for example.

'Cause I can't help it if you look like an angel.
Can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain so
Come feel this magic I've been feeling since I met you.
Can't help it if there's no one else.
I can't help myself.

What girl hasn’t felt like this? There have been plenty of times (ok, maybe a couple times) where I’ve had a serious crush but I really have no idea why—I just can’t help myself! So, Taylor really opened me up to the idea that I could like country music as much as Top 40.

Lady Antebellum confirmed this idea. I’m not going to elaborate on Lady A, but I like (or love) all their songs that I’ve heard. And I LOVE the “Just a Kiss” music video.

Congratulations if you’ve made it this far! I really didn’t expect this post to be so long. I’ve just got one more band/song to talk about: If I Die Young by The Band Perry. There’s a reason why it won Best Song at the CMAs last week (yes, I even watched part of the CMAs). The lyrics are beautiful, the music is beautiful, the music video is beautiful, everything about this song is beautiful. I especially love the video and how it enhances the song. In the video there’s visual reference to the Tennyson poem “Lady of Shalott” (which I just have to say I noticed before the end of the video, which shows a book of Tennyson poetry) which reveals new shades of meaning in the song. I’ll probably devote a blog post to this song and video later, because I love it so much. Anyway, it’s this song that has really propelled me into my newfound appreciation of country music. “If I Die Young” is an example of something I’ve noticed and like about country music, which is that the lyrics of country songs (at least the ones I’ve listened to) tend to be about more varied subjects than Top 40 or rock songs. “If I Die Young” is pretty deep, and I just don’t think those lyrics would work as well in a non-country song. P.S. If you’ve only heard this song on a soft rock or Top 40 station, then you should listen to the real version below.

So now you know. I’m kind of obsessed with learning more about everything related to country music. The only station I listen to on Pandora is my Taylor Swift channel. I’ve been listening to the country radio station more than any other radio station. I even watched part of the CMAs last week. Basically my life is changing in a big way. And going back to the title of this post, I’d really like it if you’d give my phone number to any cute Mormon cowboys you know.

OK, I know I said that “If I Die Young” would be the last song, but I just remembered another song I really like (thanks, Kristi, for telling me about this song). “I’m Still a Guy” by Brad Paisley. It manages to be hilarious and kind of sweet at the same time. You should listen to it.

Quote of the Day: Country music has always been the best shrink that 15 bucks can buy.

–Dierks Bentley