Thursday, November 08, 2007



It has been a series of very gray,foggy, wintry days here this week. I sort of like them because it makes you want to be inside where it is warm and cozy with a good book .It also cast the countryside in an etheral sort of glow as though we are in Middle Earth or some moor in Scotland.

Last night we watched the CMA's and I was reminded again of how much this type of music has shaped and been a soundtrack for my life.I love all types of music from Bach to New Age but Country is what has been a constant for all but a few years of my life in my teens. I grew up in the hills of northeast MS and until I was an adult you could watch three channels on TV CBS,NBC, and PBS.The radio picked up only Country so when I was little and growing up it was what was played in the house,car and restaurants and the shows you saw on TV each week were HEE- HAW,The Porter Wagoner Show and The Grand OLE Opry.The earliest songs I remember are Delta Dawn and The Pill by Loretta Lynn(lol) and in my teens I thought {why do people like this music?] but I have returned to my roots and love it.

I love country music because it is about real people, living real life, in the real world. It is music that reminds me of where I come from and where I am going and in whose echos you can still hear the voices of my Scotch-Irish ancestors who settled those hills andit is where this music started.It is about the people who work hard everyday, at everyday jobs and who never get recognition and who would lay down their lives for this country and do.It is the music that tells a story that isn't about murder and mayhem but about God , Home, Country and Family. It is the music that was played at my wedding and my mothers funeral(Keeper of the Stars by Tracy Byrd,and Go Rest High on that Mountain by Vince Gill.)In Kenny Chesney's new song Don't Blink you hear the refrain that life is short so don't waste it, in Brooks and Dunn's God Must Have Been Busy you hear that you need to have faith even when all hope seems lost, in Allison Krauss's beautiful voice you hear the bluegrass longing from which this music came from and in her song Simple Love that having a companion to share life with is really what life is all about.I could go on and on.

If you have never listened to country I encourage you do so. It is more than Twang and woman done you wrong songs.Oddly enough the other day I heard on the radio that the top three cds /singles on both pop&country charts were country.It was Carrie Underwood,Gary Allan and one other I can remember.

In my adult years I am grateful that I grew up in such a musically rich part of the country from which the birth of country , soul and R&B came from all within 4 hours of my houseand to the rich, soulful music sung in churches all over the south.

8 comments:

Shelby said...

You wouldn't believe this - but I was actually remembering that pill song by Loretta Lynn the other day. I actually did.

We're big country music people in my family too.. it's part of me.

Christy Woolum said...

Thanks for the advice. I have never been a country listener. It just wasn't part of my growing up ... then I met my husband and his country roots go way back!!

Jane said...

The photo is great - is this outside your back door?

I know what you mean about these grey wintry days and being cozy inside. These past few days I've been sitting in the breakfast room (in between walks on the beach with the pooch, overlooking the beach and sea updating our business website listening to the new Eagles CD (Long Road Out of Eden) and the best of Van Morrison (Still on Top).

What would we do without music to keep us going and nourish the soul? That and hot drinking chocolate....................

Jan said...

What is the haiku link? Do you write haiku? I am very interested in it.

Anonymous said...

It has been snowing here for 24 hours nopw. Winter Wonderland :-)

Monique Kleinhans said...

I grew up with only country around too (and being a classical lover I thought I would die every time I had to listen to the twang.) Since then I have discovered blue-grass and traditional country tunes that are everything you speak of in this post...pure, raw, honest, and connected to something bigger than the generic pop/rap/rock songs that are too popular today.

Popular country is still not my first choice to listen to on the radio either, but I certainly have more respect for it than I did growing up. And as for the older/blue-grass and traditional music....I LOVE it.

Thanks for the post!

Love Bears All Things said...

I loved your post. I also watched. I drove home Saturday through your homeland. For a while, I got away from country music. I've always been versatile. But, for a few years now,I've been back. Tim McGraw's song at the ACM awards runs through my head right now. It hasn't even been released and it is in the top songs requested on radio. Sure there are still Honky Tonk and cheatin songs mixed in but there are also some beautiful ballads.
Mama Bear

His Girl Friday said...

I grew up hearing about my American grandparent's Southern roots (Tennessee and Virginia, grey-coats, also Scots-Irish)
...I do like Celtic Bluegrass, and the Cowboy ballads. Not much into today's country music, (too pop), but there are a quite a few of the older songs that I like, the more 'cowboy' the better!! :)