Everyone knows that country music is about guys in cowboy hats (or occasionally, baseball caps) singing in a nasal twang about women, trucks, and beer, with the odd female singer mawkishly upholding traditional values and standing by her man. Or is it?
The restaurant at which I usually eat lunch on Saturdays plays the top 20 country videos when I’m there, and I have to tell you, most of what I hear could pass easily for mainstream pop music in the 1980’s if you don’t look at the images. A lot of it sounds pretty good–particularly the women. I would rather listen to Miranda Lambert than, say, Rihanna any day of the week. I like the Band Perry and Lady Antebellum. Even some of the guys are OK, although I could do without Florida Georgia Line and their endless parade of chicks in bikinis.
There are lessons here for American politics: mindless red/blue tribalism is counterproductive; and it’s a mistake to make judgments solely on the package. Just because the singer is wearing a cowboy hat doesn’t make the song either good or bad.