The Valpo Core Reader
 

Authors

Christa Pitcher

Document Type

Description Essay

Publication Date

1992

Excerpt

You're heading down a deserted highway in southern Indiana and the only company you have is the dial on your AM radio. You try tuning into an extremely weak station playing songs that your parents once listened to. The static gets to be too much, so you turn the dial to an opera star singing so high that you are afraid that your windshield might shatter at any moment. You quickly turn the dial again and the only other station coming in "loud and clear" is the local country station. Your first reaction is to turn it off, but you are afraid that you may fall asleep from the hypnotic passing of cornfields, so you leave it on. You prepare yourself for a "hwang-twang" singer caterwauling about drowning himself in whiskey after beating his wife when he found that his dog is dead. However, as you start to listen, you find out that your whole perception of country music could be wrong. These singers that you hear are actually singing about real life, and the melody and rhythm are catchy and memorable. You suddenly realize that they aren't drunk, beating their wives, and "lo and behold," their dogs are still alive. Many people share this misconception about country music but if they were only to take the time to listen to it, they would find out they are wrong. Let me describe the content and style of some contemporary country songs to clear up this misconception.

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