That’s right, a Special Country Music Edition! I can already feel your cursor hovering above that ‘unsubscribe’ button. But that risk just makes writing this newsletter even more god damn thrilling.
Country music songs have a reputation for being sad and depressing. Musicologists believe this stigma can be traced back to the fact that many country music songs are sad and depressing.
David Berman of Silver Jews sums up the sad sack stereotype nicely in ‘Tennessee’. Hopeful of wooing his love to move with him to Nashville, he sings:
“We’re gonna live in Nashville and I’ll make a career / Out of writing sad songs and getting paid by the tear”
I read recently that David Berman really admired Johnny Paycheck, known mainly for his kinda-novelty 1977 hit ‘Take This Job And Shove It’. Berman said Johnny’s got a few real tearjerkers, too. And I think DB was onto something.
In ‘Forever Ended Yesterday’, Johnny is devastated that his love—who he thought would be with him forever—has left. So devastated, in fact, that he requests an amendment to the dictionary.
"Webster’s gonna have to change the meaning of ‘forever’ / because ‘forever’ ended yesterday”
Sidenote: I really enjoyed seeing who Johnny Paycheck was married to …
That Webster’s line is probably why I love country music so much. The lyrics are sad, for sure, but usually with a funny or ironic slant. It’s a combination that, to me, feels pretty unique to the genre.
On the other hand, the lyrics can sometimes just be kind of badass. Like when Loretta Lynn physically threatens a woman she suspects of having an affair with her husband.
“You better close your face and stay outta my way / If you don’t wanna go to fist city / If you don’t wanna go to fist city / You better make a detour around my town”
And it wouldn’t be a real Special Country Music Edition! if I didn’t end on a sad note. Charley Pride, one of the first African American stars of a very white genre, died last year from Covid-19. When shopping for records, I’ve always seen so much Charley Pride. And for good reason: he rules. Pride was extraordinarily popular, and particularly important to Australia’s First Nations people. Daniel James, a Yorta Yorta man who hosts The Mission on RRR, gave this moving tribute to Charley Pride. Daniel is currently producing a five-part series on Charley Pride’s importance to First Nations people for ABC Radio National, and was sadly denied the opportunity to talk to Charley due to Covid-19. Nevertheless, I’m sure the series will be a must-listen. The rapper Briggs’ wrote in a tribute to Pride on Twitter: “Growing up there used to be an Autographed picture of Charlie Pride in my house. For the longest time I thought he was; in fact my actual Uncle. Kiss them angels for real now.#RIPCharleyPride.” The track Briggs is referencing, ‘Kiss an Angel Good Morning’, is one of the few country music tracks that will actually put a smile on your dial.
When people on the street ask Charley how he manages to always be smiling, he tells ‘em:
“You’ve got to kiss an angel good morning / And let her know you think about her when you’re gone / Kiss an angel good morning / And love her like the devil when you get back home.”