On the plus side, it did inspire the immortal parody “Asshole from El Paso” by Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys.
I had noticed that the post hadn’t been mod’d, and I assume it was because there is not enough original lyrics in that song for copyright infringement to be possible.
I disagree. I think that song is an inoffensive celebration of a certain lifestyle. Okie is more about proud to be me instead of sucks to be you. But that might be because I thinking ‘pitching woo’ is a great phrase.
Copperhead Road
Pancho and Lefty
Bye, Bye and Little Red Rodeo
Stompin’ Tom doesn’t! Stompin’ Tom makes me smile; he sings about potatoes.
Other than that, I can’t stand country music. I was raised with CFCW in the house all the time. Until my Grade 9 science teacher set me straight by saying he was a big Uriah Heep fan, I thought all adults liked country and country was something I’d like when I grew up too. Mr. Guest saved my life.
I can respect about 0.1 percent of it. Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson may play country music, but they’re rockers. And Leo Kottke is very, very talented. I still don’t listen to 'em, though. The storytellers, like Tom T. Hall or Marty Robbins, interested me a bit when I was a kid, but by and large the rest was just twanging and whining and songs about unhappy people. I consider “country music” almost oxymoronic.
Just wanted to say I really enjoyed that, thanks for posting and it is a fine defense of country music IMHO.
Also, if not for the video I never in 1000 years would have associated such a sensitive song with that haircut.
As for the OP, yah I think it is more country radio that is the problem. It isn’t just commercialized, the songs have turned into commercials. Or even country propaganda. It’s too bad but if that stuff is someone’s biggest vice I will just let it go. Kinda like mariachi music- annoying for sure, but actually harmless. Did I mention annoying?
Oh, fuck Johnny Cash. He was a crypto-punk, vaguely reflecting the days when country music was about white boys going to prison. Sure, he looks like he been to prison, but that’s a crafted caricature, like how Reagan looked like a President. He got thrown in the slam overnight on a couple of occasions for pills and booze. (Sure, country boys did drugs, but only the ones that make you stupid.)
I can speak with authority on these things, being born and raised in Waco, the true heart of country music. I know they tell you its Nashville. But they’re wrong.
It hasn’t been Nashville for a long time. Let Mojo tell you why:
Ok.
Somehow it just seems like lyrics which one hears on the radio are different. But I guess not, now that I think about it. I guess I wouldn’t post whole speeches. Unless it was, like, The State of the Union speech, which is more like a public service announcement. I wouldn’t post that either, though, because no one would read it.
Anyhoo.
In recent decades, at least, that song is interpreted as humor by a substantial portion of Merle’s audience. I’ve seen “shaggy” folk smoking marijuana at a Merle show.
“Fightin’ Side of Me” may be a better example here.
About that Brad Paisley song…
I’m not a big country music listener, and a lot of what I hear on the radio these days, I don’t like, even though I like a lot of the older stuff. I have heard some Brad Paisley, and he’s usually one of the few I don’t mind.
Most of what I’ve heard of his that gets played on the radio has been sort of silly-ish tongue-in-cheek stuff, like Celebrity, Online, or Alcohol. I always thought that he didn’t take himself too seriously and made a lot of jokes and stuff that poked fun at himself and pop culture. The humorous slant on things is what made me actually like him more than some others.
But I haven’t heard the particular song people are talking about here, so I can’t really say. It could be a tongue-in-cheek one, or it could be a smarmy piece of crap.
I saw Haggard on Bill Maher’s show a couple of years ago. Maher asked him about the line about how they don’t smoke marijuana in Muskogee. Haggard said, “Yeah, well, that’s why I don’t spend much time in Muskogee.”
country music sucks.
Nobody is going to congratulate Brad Paisley on being one of the few musicians with eh ball to take a stance against cancer and mean bosses?
Please don’t say these things. I’ve managed to convince myself that my childhood years riding in the car on long family trips were good years, thanks to Kenny’s “Coward Of The County”, “Ruby”, “Lucille” along with assorted Neil Diamond songs thrown in for good measure. Please don’t make me question my Dad’s sanity/judgement.
ETA: and Arkansas’ “Roll On Eighteen Wheeler” and Oak Ridge Boys “Elvira”. Say it isn’t so, ooom boppa mile-mile!
Wrong state. “Eighteen Wheeler” was by Alabama. I know, those suth’rn states all look alike.
SS
I prefer a good beat and a nice story about bitches and ho’s. If you can mix in how you is a killa and have the bling bliggidy best gold teef then you are reeling me in.
Still, you gonna have to prove yo manhood by tellin me how you don’t give a fuck bout no job cause you takin whats yoz back from the man.
Fo realz.
There’s a line in of the MS3K parodies about how it’s a terrible idea to reference much better movies in your crappy movie (The movie they were talking about kept referencing Cassablanca).
Paisley should have heeded that before he referenced those much better songs at the end of This Is Country (And no, it’s not…not really).
And I think the “cancer” line is simply a strawman argument against the “PC” crowd.
Good job. 
This quote by The Pimps (aka The Goodyear Pimps) pretty much says it all “I can’t even listen to that goddamn radio anymore, they done put a new face on country and western, and I swear she’s as ugly as a pair of t*ts on a snake.”