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Music today has changed from the generations before us. Of course, music is always changing and adapting to what the listeners like. Country music, for example, has gone from talking about the land to expressing family matters. When I am talking about the country music and our generation I want to clarify; I am not talking about the singers and their age. I am talking about the lyrics that they are singing about to this generation compared to the last. Country music, possessing a broader generation gap than other musical genres such as hip-hop, shows how our generation isn't necessarily the “Me Me Me” generation people believe we are. Country music used to be all about tractors and drinking; it has now transitioned into talking about things in more depth. One recent song “Mama's Broken Heart” by Miranda Lambert is about being depressed about losing a guy. In the song she says “go and fix your makeup/ girl it's just a break up/ run and hide your crazy/ and start acting like a lady/ cause I raised you better/ gotta keep it together/ even when you fall apart/ this ain't my momma...
Alan Shapiro is a poet whom uses the sorrowful tragedies that occurred in his lifetime and turns them into beautiful poems in which he greatly expresses through his poetry. Most of his poems symbolize either a type of sorrow or tragic death, and the expressions used throughout his poetry make it noticeable that Alan Shapiro endured a life of hardship and tragedy. While Shapiro was growing up he lost his brother and his sister in which the poem “Sleet” by Alan Shapiro beautifully encompasses his feeling of grief and sorrow due to the loss of his siblings.
Times have changed, and along with the times so has country music. American country music lovers have went from Loretta Lynn and Waylon Jennings, just two of the many classic oldies, to Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan, two very appealing country music artists. However, it is not only the tune of the music that has changed, it is the image, the appeal, and overall the type of icons the media is portraying these modern music stars as. Icons such as Lynn and Jennings had identifiable features within their music as well as their appearance that spoke sweet southern belle and rugged twang. Whereas Underwood’s and Bryan’s appeal now is much more sexualized than it was during the oldies. These changes affect the way modern day singers are marketed compared to former country music stars, instead of focusing on talent it is now looks.
George Harvey Strait, is a an American singer, actor, songwriter, and music producer, known as the “King of Country”, of the twentieth century to present. Strait was a vocalist blessed with good looks and a vibrant personality. He is one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. George was a 50s baby. He is also known for his neotraditionalist country style, cowboy look , and being one of the first and main country artists to bring country music back to its roots and away from the pop country era in the 1980s. George Strait has been a country music icon since the 1980s.
A true Aussie bloke would never leave the great country of Australia. He would never trade his life as a “battler” or a “bushman” for a more glamorous life in the spotlight. An Aussie bloke would never become absorbed by fame and fortune. Would he?
-The American people were hungry for new music, so they accepted the independent stations of the majors.
Tichi, Cecilia. High lonesome: the American culture of country music. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill. 1994. Print.
For many Americans, country isn’t just a type of music. It’s a lifestyle. From sippin’ sweet tea on the porch, drinking beer at a tailgate or driving a pick up down the backroads, country music has made its way into the hearts and minds of many Americans. It is one of the only truly home grown American art forms. Its relatability and wide appeal has made country music one of the most commercially successful and popular genres in the United States. Using the work of scholars Tichi, Pecknold, and Ellison, I will show how country music grew from its rural southern roots into an integral part of American culture.
George Harvey Strait was born and bred in the Texas cowboy tradition. He came into the world on May 18, 1952 in Poteet, Texas (“Strait Facts”) and was raised in nearby Pearsall, TX on his family's working cattle ranch, a legacy in the family for over 100 years. His childhood was spent working with his father and brother on their farm, and he carried on the ranching tradition by studying agriculture at Texas State University (Dickinson). In 1971, he married his wife, Norma, and shortly after enlisted in the United States Army.
The term class consciousness, like any term which attempts to define group mentality, is somewhat imprecise. This lack of precision, of course, lends itself to the provocation of scholarly dispute. Historians of the labor movement in the United States have written volumes about both the meaning of class consciousness and the question of whether American workers possess it, however defined. While there are some demurs, most historians, including the non-Marxists, have accepted a Marxist interpretation of the term "class consciousness."1 Generally, Marxists insist that class consciousness is composed of two elements, a recognition by a particular group that they occupy a common, usually inferior, position within a society, and a commitment to changing that position through some type of political activity. "Class consciousness," according to an oft-cited definition by the English Marxist historian E.P. Thompson, "happens when some men, as a result of common experiences (inherited or shared) feel and articulate the identity of their interests as between themselves, and as against other men whose interests are different from (and usually opposed to) theirs. The class experience is largely determined by the productive relations into which men are born or enter voluntarily.2
In conclusion this report has helped us understand the significance of Music in America. Also, the impact it has on music we listen too. Music is very much like a big chain reaction. Rock ‘N’ Roll, much like music today, stood out and was in a way rebellious. Parents now hate Rap and we love it. People in the 70’s loved Rock ‘N’ Roll and parents hated it. This shows that maybe no matter how much older people deny it, the time gap and generation gap is not too far apart. Without Rock ‘N’ Roll the World would without a doubt be changed. Any guess to that of which way would be a good one.
Have you ever came across a song that you like to sing, wrote, or heard, and you just love it? We all have songs that mean the most to us, that take us to a special place, or our escape. Another factor that helps us love the song is the artist that sings the tune. One amazing artist that has great vocals, emotion in her songs and not to mention is one of the biggest names in music today, is the one and only Carrie Underwood. Carrie Underwood has both influenced and been influenced by country music her whole life, especially the past decade that she has lived as one of Country Music’s biggest superstars!
The raw emotion that goes into a Country song is how I can relate to the song. The artist`s lyrics and the way the artist sings the song is how I can relate to what the artist is trying to say. For example, artists write their lyrics about many different things that they have been through
It has allowed us to go to another place, expressing the emotion and social issues of a particular decade. As our societies morals and beliefs change, music will continue to change with it. With the help of new advancements, music will always be a way for us to speak the language of generations to come and bring a variety of new music, messages, styles, and social expectations.
The debate whether commercialism has stripped country music of its authenticity is one that requires further examination into who ultimately holds the power. The sometimes-drastic changes made in music leaves people questioning the tastes of consumers when in fact they are the bystanders of an overpowering industry. Fans are people who buy the albums, go to concerts, and request songs on the radio, not the execs that market the music, and yet their opinions/tastes aren’t taken into consideration. Fans carry a lot of clout in regards to what they define as commercialism gone wrong and acceptable country music. Despite what may seem fair, those who are financially invested in its success drive the commercialization of music.
Country music was brought over by the first European settlers. In medieval times, storytelling was a tradition that allowed history to be recorded when few were able to read and write. When the first British settlers came to America, they brought this tradition with them, along with songs that they had learned in Europe. The people who settled the Appalachian Mountains and the West did not have an easy life and their music gave them an outlet to express their hardships.