# I have officially lost all tolerance for country music. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 24, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495 "2011-02-24T20:36:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495/21 "2011-02-24T22:38:45Z")
My quick and dirty guide to country music: Nashville sucks. Austin rocks. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495/22 "2011-02-24T22:48:59Z")
> [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > I should go ahead and say that there are people working out there doing what I would regard as real-ass country music. I don’t like it as well as older stuff, but they should get some credit: John Prine (as mentioned previously), Alison Krause, Max Stalling, ect. I suspect that if I actually watched Austin City Limits I’d find that I liked the kinds of acts they present there, but it could be a trap to lure me in. Austin City Limits is just limited to country. For example, they had Coldplay on a couple years ago. [QUOTE=jrbor76] I mean, I grew up in the early 80s when the outlaw stuff was still pretty widespread. They knew they were country but at least they had a sense of humor - fairly dark at times - about it (see David Allan Coe’s “You Never Even Called Me By My Name”, prime example). But country now is so sanctimonious towards non-country fans and so relentless about shaming even decent people into becoming more like them that it’s just become unbearable. [/QUOTE] Music has become increasingly fragmented over the last 20 years and country is no exception. The radio stations your parents inflicted on you during your road trip only represented mainstream county. There’s also [“Alt Country”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_country) which features artists like Neko Case, Ryan Adams, and Old 97’s who are rarely, if ever, played on your typical country stations. Alt Country covers a wide variety of styles but, for the most part, the songs are considerably less sanctimonious and glurgy than mainstream country. ---
**Author:** ![Fedup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47c2d/32.png) [@Fedup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fedup)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495/23 "2011-02-24T22:56:41Z")
This new stuff has nothing in common really with the old stuff. Its like rock n roll when it changed. What they call rock n roll today really sucks. I do like the real stuff, country, or rock n roll. On a long trip, there should be periods of silence. Next trip make that part of the deal. Lee ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495/24 "2011-02-24T22:59:12Z")
I couldn’t stand the suspense so I googled the lyrics: [http://www.lyricsreg.com/lyrics/brad+paisley/This+Is+Country+Music/](http://www.lyricsreg.com/lyrics/brad+paisley/This+Is+Country+Music/) > [@](#): > > BRAD PAISLEY - This Is Country Music lyrics > Send “This Is Country Music” Ringtone to your Cell > > You’re not supposed to say the word “cancer” in a song. > And tellin’ folks Jesus is the answer can rub 'em wrong. > It ain’t hip to sing about tractors, trucks, little towns, and mama, yeah that might be true. > But this is country music and we do That is some righteous bullshit, but I’m pretty sure I’ve heard worse. I can’t say for sure because always change the channel. ---
**Author:** ![Cyningablod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Cyningablod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyningablod)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495/25 "2011-02-24T23:13:48Z")
I endorse this pitting. I grew up in rural east Tennessee and now live in Texas. And I have always despised country music. (I like bluegrass, but that is NOT the same thing!) You can imagine how well this went over, my entire life. Perhaps the worst was when I was in the Army Infantry, circa 15 yrs ago. EVERYWHERE, on EVERY post and in EVERY vehicle and in EVERY dayroom and barracks, was the ubiquitous sound of country music. It’s one of the worst military memories I have, and I will forever associate the sound of country music with being in that stressful, alienating, oppressive, nasty environment. As if I didn’t already hate country enough _before_. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Cyningablod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Cyningablod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyningablod)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495/26 "2011-02-24T23:16:36Z")
> [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > I recall how several years ago, despite the fact that the soundtrack to O, Brother, Where Art Thou had become the best-selling country album, it couldn’t get play on country stations. That’s because it’s not country. It’s BLUEGRASS! ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495/27 "2011-02-24T23:34:13Z")
I also agree with the opening poster. Some music dubbed country is pretty good. But I have never met anyone who listens to country music all day long that isn’t a moron. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495/28 "2011-02-24T23:45:09Z")
The problem the OP was having was not country music - it was country music radio! You could make the same complaint about non-country music radio too. A fan of pretty much any type of music is not going to hear the good stuff on the radio. That’s been true for years. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495/29 "2011-02-24T23:57:28Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Austin City Limits is just limited to country. For example, they had Coldplay on a couple years ago. Oops, I meant to say “Austin City Limits is **not** just limited to country.” > [@](#): > > BRAD PAISLEY - This Is Country Music > > You’re not supposed to say the word “cancer” in a song. > And tellin’ folks Jesus is the answer can rub 'em wrong. > It ain’t hip to sing about tractors, trucks, little towns, and mama, yeah that might be true. > But this is country music and we do Wow. That verse is a tad defensive isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495/30 "2011-02-25T00:01:57Z")
> [@jrbor76](#): > > But I was driving, and I had to listen to this stuff nonstop, and that’s what broke my tolerance. I just had a flashback to the time we were driving through western Pennsylvania on a Sunday, and the only radio stations we could pick up were all featuring shows with names like “Polka Party”. I’ve never felt the same about Frankie Yankovic since then. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495/31 "2011-02-25T00:03:57Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Oops, I meant to say “Austin City Limits is **not** just limited to country.” > > Wow. That verse is a tad defensive isn’t it? Looks like he’s following Ludovic’s Law of Pop Perversity: the more an artist screams about not doing something (e.g. caring what the critics say, caring about the money,) the more they _are_ doing it. So according to my law, Brad most likely is doing what he is doing precisely because he thinks it is hip. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495/32 "2011-02-25T00:05:03Z")
Bluegrass is certainly country music. It just seems disconnected _because_ the representation of country on radio is generally so bad and so narrow. (We actually do a little better around here, where smaller stations have classic country, bluegrass and even old-time string band shows sometimes. The high-power stations in the bigger towns are the same pop country crap y’all are hearing.) ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495/33 "2011-02-25T00:17:24Z")
I’m disappointed that the “cancer” song the OP mentioned was Brad Paisley. I usually like his stuff. But yeah dude, America’s always had this weird viewpoint of the “superiority” of the small town life. From the brave militia who single handedly beat the British with their good shooting and hiding behind trees (that’s not how it really happened), from the Kentucky (I think) militia who beat back the British at New Orleans, to now with the politicians saying small town is the “Real America” despite [79% of Americans live in urban areas, if I’m reading this chart correctly.](http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/census/cps2k.htm) It’s really weird. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495/34 "2011-02-25T00:25:28Z")
The Census methodology counts you as “urban” if you live in a solitary town of just 2,500 people, or in a suburb within an “urbanized area” with a total metropolitan population of 50,000, which means a not-insignificant fraction of that 79% are people who _certainly_ don’t think of themselves as urban-dwellers, and may well listen to country music. 😉 Still, there’s no denying that there are more city folk than country folk. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495/35 "2011-02-25T00:27:31Z")
I used to think I hated country music, but then I read something on this board that has steered me right for many years: > [@unknown doper](#): > > County music is like cholesterol. There’s the good kind too. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495/36 "2011-02-25T00:37:02Z")
jrbor76: 1.) I think this shit began in the ‘70’s with the song “I Was Country Before Country was Cool.” Before that country had always concerned itself with love songs, hymns, honky-tonkin’, trucks and adultery, but at that point it began the bullshit of “We’re so cool because we listen to country and only in a free country can we listen to this shit and if you don’t like it, go screw yourself.” I think the country stations and artists that sing jive like that have helped spawn the Republican radicals. 2.) Most of the stuff they call country today is nothing but rock ‘n’ roll and bad rock ‘n’ at that. Fifty years ago, most of today’s “country” acts would have been hooted off the stage of the Grand Ol’ Opry. As my late father, who was a country fan, used to say: "I would rather hear a hog scratch its ass with a bristle Give me bluegrass, Patsy Cline, Hank Sr., Johnnie Cash, Jimmy Dean, Marty Robbins, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495/37 "2011-02-25T00:40:51Z")
> [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](#): > > Most of the stuff they call country today is nothing but rock ‘n’ roll and bad rock ‘n’ at that. Fifty years ago, most of today’s “country” acts would have been hooted off the stage of the Grand Ol’ Opry. Fifty years ago, the Opry wouldn’t let you take the stage at all with a drum kit. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495/38 "2011-02-25T00:50:32Z")
I love the line from _The Blues Brothers_: > [@](#): > > Oh, we have _both_ kinds of music here, Country _and_ Western. I’m rather a blue-neck myself, but still enjoy much Country music. What drives me berserk is hip hop. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495/39 "2011-02-25T00:58:16Z")
> [@jrbor76](#): > > … > I mean, I grew up in the early 80s when the outlaw stuff was still pretty widespread. They knew they were country but at least they had a sense of humor - fairly dark at times - about it (see David Allan Coe’s “You Never Even Called Me By My Name”, prime example). … Those were good times. David Allen Coe, Waylon and Willie, lots of stuff. there is still good stuff if you look. You just have to look. Brad Paisley has “Ticks” and “Nervous Breakdown” (he can shred), Dixie Chicks had “Goodbye Earl”, Toby Keith has “Trailerhood”. Not everyone out there is super serious or sanctimonious. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495/40 "2011-02-25T01:03:39Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > I say you should turn on George Jones or Waylon Jennings. > > Alternatively, you could switch on Steve Earle or Drive-by Truckers or Patsy Cline. > > And when they complain, and they might, ask them why they don’t like REAL country music. I added the REAL and I absolutely agree. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-officially-lost-all-tolerance-for-country-music/572495.md?page=3)