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Country Music: the Choice of Trailer Trash?

Ask someone what kind of music they’re into and nine times out of ten, the response will be: “I like all kinds… except country…”. Most people think country means songs in which women moan about their husbands walking out on them and their forty children, or songs in which fully grown men cry about having their horse stolen.

To the younger generations, country means that weird old music that only parents (or grandparents) listen to, and it's not hard to see where they’re coming from; as children, we rummage through our parent's album collections only to discover bizarre record covers with cheesy, old fashioned pictures of men dressed in rhinestone suits with leather cowboy boots; country music was lurking.

The country genre became associated with Billy Ray Cyrus’ awful novelty record “Achy Breaky Heart” and the resultant line-dancing craze, and it also spawned the over-played radio-friendly MOR of Shania Twain and Sheryl Crow. All are great reasons to be put off country music for life.

But in this sea of country music crass, a king was born; Johnny Cash, a man with a deep, disturbing voice, who dresses all in black like a real rock star and tells the most wonderful stories through his songs.

Take a listen to songs like “A Boy Named Sue” and “One Piece At A Time” and you’ll realise that the ridiculous tales country artists come up with are more often than not told with tongue very firmly in cheek. He did serious stuff too, of course. “Ring Of Fire” is one of the greatest love songs ever written, “Folsom Prison Blues” tackles the themes of redemption and regret perfectly and signature tune “The Man In Black” is an inspiring manifesto, pleading for an end to social injustice.

A little bit of research into Cash’s contemporaries leads to such names as Wilson Nelson, Merle Haggard and Hank Williams. Nelson, who it seems hasn’t aged in around thirty years, and Haggard came to prominence during the rise in popularity of outlaw country in the 1970s, a movement that saw a trend towards songs about jail, drinking, drugs and hard working men. Williams meanwhile left a legacy in country music when he died aged 29 after overdosing on Morphine. During the 1950s, Williams was a pioneer of the honky-tonk style, which Elvis Presley later adopted and became a global superstar in the process.

All of the above, including Elvis, are inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame, which was founded in 1962. Located in Nashville - ‘music city USA’, the Country Music Hall of Fame doubles as a museum of all things country, including hand-written lyrics sheets and instruments used by legendary artists including Cash; and there's plenty of rustic country hotels in Nashville available for anyone wishing to pay the Hall of Fame and its many inductees a visit.

About the Author

Paul McIndoe is an online, freelance journalist and keen hillwalker. He lives in Edinburgh with his two dogs.

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