Self-destruction via alcohol was always a common theme in the lives and work of C&W musicians. Hank Williams introduced drug abuse into it; others followed: not surprising since while audience demographics differ, show business culture is universal and tends to attract addictive personalities.
Country acknowledged adultery as part of the human condition more openly than any other form of popular music, back when jazz and rock hinted at “being untrue.” Country was darkest at its earliest roots in the form of Appalachian murder ballads, covering themes of killing lovers and spouses and unwanted babies.
But even with that, to my unschooled ear, I wonder if Ms McCready went “off-script” this week?
(And I do mean unschooled, since the closest I can recall is the Violent Femmes’ Country Death Song, more of a parody C&W song)
Drug abuse in Country songs predates Hank Williams. For example, "Cocaine Blues", which was popularized by Johnny Cash in the 60s, was originally recorded by Roy Hogsed and the Rainbow Riders in 1947.
It’s not a major theme, but it’s certainly there. If not the singer himself/herself, then someone close.
Ode to Billie Joe by Bobbie Gentry
Class of '57 by the Statler Brothers
Last Letter, written by Rex Griffin, dating to 1937
I Think I’m Gonna Kill Myself by Waylon Jennings
“Whiskey Lullaby”, a duet by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss comes to mind. Especially the lyric
“He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger”
There’s “Kill Myself” by Tim McGraw. I saw him do that song on some talk show once, and I remember people cheering after the chorus. I was wondering if perhaps some of his dumber fans thought that perhaps killing yourself “for” someone is a really romantic and loving gesture.
Huh? I think I have a pretty extensive knowledge of old time country going back to the 1920’s, and I can’t think of any song about killing unwanted babies.
Illegitimacy is mentioned sometimes, such as in the Statler’s Dance, Little Jean and in another tearjearker song Spring by a woman singer whose name escapes me now. But songs about abortion or murder of children? Nope.
Please note. I am not calling abortion murder. Let’s not hijack this thread.
I can think of a few songs about pregnant women who were killed because their babies would have been problematic. There are a couple songs about Freda Bolt, who was murdered by Buren Harmon in 1929, just up the road from here.
The Band Perry has a song out called “Better Dig Two” in which a woman threatens suicide or murder if her husband leaves her by dying first or leaving her. The title is her instructions to the gravedigger.
In “Trying To Get Over You,” Vince Gill sings “I’ve been tryin’ to get over you/It’ll take dyin’ to get it done.” I’ve always inferred that he was considering suicide.
“This article assesses the link between country music and metropolitan suicide rates. Country music is hypothesized to nurture a suicidal mood through its concerns with problems common in the suicidal population, such as marital discord, alcohol abuse, and alienation from work. The results of a multiple regression analysis of 49 metropolitan areas show that the greater the airtime devoted to country music, the greater the white suicide rate. The effect is independent of divorce, southernness, poverty, and gun availability. The existence of a country music subculture is thought to reinforce the link between country music and suicide. Our model explains 51% of the variance in urban white suicide rates.”
