First Posted: 10/8/2014
All it takes is one song to restore your faith in a genre.
I like all types of music. I enjoy a mix of the blues, pop, classic rock, a little old-school rap and even the occasional trip through death metal. Generally speaking, my go-to stations are country music.
Country music has always been good about telling a story, putting you in a certain place at a certain time.
It’s hard to not imagine the scenarios of losing your love in Tim McGraw’s “Don’t Take the Girl.”
You can pick half a dozen George Jones songs, but I’ll put my money on “He Stopped Loving Her Today” for a song that makes me think twice about the love of my life.
And “Concrete Angel” by Martina McBride makes you think about domestic violence in a very real way.
Something happened along the way that pushed me away from it, though. Country music kept on telling stories, but they’re stories about getting drunk and hooking up on the weekends.
There have always been some songs about such topics, but it seems this “bro-country” music has really taken over the airwaves the last few years. Artists such as Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line and Luke Bryan have made a mint on these songs that sound like teens exaggerating their weekend activities.
Perhaps it’s having three daughters, including one approaching dating age, but this objectification of women rubbed me the wrong way. There’s more to most girls — country or otherwise — than the length of their shorts or how tan they are.
It’s hard enough convincing children real beauty is on the inside when you’re hearing these messages blasted over the airwaves. More often than not, I changed the channel when I heard one of these songs celebrating conquests.
Then I heard “Girl in a Country Song,” by Maddie & Tae. This country duo had a different take:
“Bein’ the girl in a country song
How in the world did it go so wrong?
Like all we’re good for
Is looking good for you and your friends on the weekend.
Nothing more.
We used to get a little respect.
Now we’re lucky if we even get
To climb up in your truck, keep my mouth shut and ride along
And be the girl in a country song.”
The duo handles the topic with a cheeky sense of humor, making fun of the clichés of cut-off jeans and bikini tops. There are a few spoken lines in the song, such as, “Yeah baby, I ain’t your tan-legged Juliet. Can I put on some real clothes now?”
I hope to hear more songs like this blasting over the radio, telling stories of real men and women showing real strength by not falling into stereotypes.
Most of all, I hope my daughters can hear them too. Every day they’re bombarded with images and words that tell them looking sexy is the way to get what they want. That’s no message for them to hear.
I’d rather they hear about real struggles to get through real life, with real successes at the end. I want them to hear songs about genuine romance. I want them to hear about people fighting for equality.
That’s the girl in a country song I want them to be.
