# Is Country & Western Music a Uniquely (North) American Phenomenon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 24, 2000, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-western-music-a-uniquely-north-american-phenomenon/26642 "2000-07-24T13:56:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-western-music-a-uniquely-north-american-phenomenon/26642/21 "2000-07-25T00:10:58Z")
Manny: you’ll LOVE the German version. **"Ich habe ein Mann in Reno erschossen, nur um ihn sterben zu sehen!"** ---
**Author:** ![magdalene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@magdalene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magdalene)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2000, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-western-music-a-uniquely-north-american-phenomenon/26642/22 "2000-07-26T17:21:19Z")
Zastrel jsem cloveku v Reno, abych se ho dival umrit. ---
**Author:** ![mipsman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mipsman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mipsman)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2000, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-western-music-a-uniquely-north-american-phenomenon/26642/23 "2000-07-26T17:51:13Z")
Last May, I was driving around in Turkey and came across a station playing US country music. After two weeks there, I had become a little tired of tonal progressions that are foreign to the Western ear, cultural allusions which I could not understand or relate to, and somewhat alien-sounding intonations in the melodies, so I switched over to the BBC. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2000, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-western-music-a-uniquely-north-american-phenomenon/26642/24 "2000-07-26T18:55:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Last May, I was driving around in Turkey and came across a station playing US country music. I had a similar experience. I was driving to Avila, Spain, late at night, and came across a station playing a Conway Twitty marathon. It was pretty surreal. ---
**Author:** ![Osakadave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f07891/32.png) [@Osakadave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osakadave)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2000, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-western-music-a-uniquely-north-american-phenomenon/26642/25 "2000-07-27T05:05:43Z")
As mentioned above, country music is known over here in Japan. It’s not that popular, but there certainly is a hard core following, mostly based in the Kyoto are. ---
**Author:** ![Osakadave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f07891/32.png) [@Osakadave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osakadave)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2000, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-western-music-a-uniquely-north-american-phenomenon/26642/26 "2000-07-27T05:08:54Z")
::ahem:: …mostly based in Kyoto. Stop. Period. End. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2000, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-western-music-a-uniquely-north-american-phenomenon/26642/27 "2000-07-27T14:33:15Z")
I understand that country music is popular in Nigeria because it sounds very similar to the local folk music. ---
**Author:** ![jayron\_32](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/41988e/32.png) [@jayron\_32](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayron_32)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2000, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-western-music-a-uniquely-north-american-phenomenon/26642/28 "2000-07-27T15:13:44Z")
\*\* Swiddles\*\* said: > [@](#): > > I hate, hate, hate modern pop-country. Excerpted from “Let’s Go Burn Ol’ Nashville Down” by Mojo Nixon and Jello Biafra, from the album _Prairie Home Invasion_ All rights reserved. Not availible in WA, PQ, NSW. Shake Well Before Using. > [@](#): > > Let’s go burn ol’ Nashville down > Set it all aflame > Barbecue the greedheads that > Made country weak and tame > Burn Burn Nash Vegas > Char it’s rancid soul > Burn Burn Branson too > Make it as big black hole > > Country Music is killing itself > Tryin’ to be what it ain’t > Garth’s as big as Manilow > Lee Greenwood is a saint I thought you might like this little ditty. It keeps on going like that. Great song. There is also an L.A. based country-punk band named The Knitters that plays rockabilly. John Doe and Exene Cervenka from the band “X” are in it. John Doe’s debut solo album “Meet John Doe” also has some great country-roots music on it. There IS still good country & western music being made, just not the crap they play on country and western stations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-country-western-music-a-uniquely-north-american-phenomenon/26642.md?page=1)