Boston Herald Braceras: Mid-life crazy and country Tuesday, October 22, 2013 By: _Jennifer C. Braceras_ (http://bostonherald.com/users/jennifer_c_braceras)
Some people respond to middle age by buying fast cars, having plastic surgery, or cheating on their spouses. At age 46, I’ve found a less expensive and more socially appropriate outlet for my mid-life angst: I’ve gone redneck. It didn’t happen all at once. Perhaps it started with that trip to visit friends who had relocated to Texas. Or perhaps it started years ago when Jon Bon Jovi teamed up for a crossover duet with country singer Jennifer Nettles. All I know is, for the past year, my car radio has been set to, not one, but three different country stations. And on any given day, you can find this life-long New Englander driving around suburbia belting out songs about trucks, beer, catfish, and “chicken fried.” Last month, I even donned cowboy boots and hat and headed down to see Kip Moore and Toby Keith at the Comcast Center. So what explains my transformation to redneck, country music fan? Some might attribute it to politics. It is true that my political views are more aligned with those of Toby Keith than Lady Gaga. But this is more over-simplification than explanation. After all, Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi are big-ol’-lefties, and I haven’ t given up on them. So is Sheryl Crow — and she’s recently gone country too. Although politics, in the sense of party affiliation, is NOT the reason I now listen almost exclusively to country, the genre’s culture certainly plays a role. Admittedly, I am inspired by country music’s unapologetic expression of love for God and country and its simple tributes to farmers and factory workers, small towns, summer days, football, and plain ol’ appreciating what you’ ve got. And I am grateful that — for the most part — country music doesn’t embarrass me in front of my kids or require me to turn off the radio or television to avoid exposing them to profanity and misogynistic, sexually-degrading lyrics or behavior. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know there’s plenty of bad behavior in country music too: tales of drinking, fighting, chewing tobacco, and ending up on the wrong side of the law. And country music certainly has its share of violent revenge songs (think “Goodbye Earl,” by the Dixie Chicks; “Before He Cheats” and “Two Black Cadillacs,” both by Carrie Underwood; “Independence Day” by Martina McBride and, most recently, Taylor Farr’s “Redneck Crazy”). But, for the most part, these songs present as fictional stories, parables, or cautionary tales. They are a far cry from the self-indulgent, “f--- authority” anthems of hip-hop and pop music sung by wildly-inappropriate starlets utterly lacking dignity. Call me crazy, but I’m more comfortable singing along with my kids to songs about drinking or the fury of a lover scorned than to songs that glorify drug use, uninhibited sexual promiscuity, or abusive relationships. Perhaps most important to understanding the move to country — not just by me, but by an increasing number of teens — is recognizing that the genre has changed. This is not your daddy’s country music. Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood probably deserve the most credit for blending country and pop in a way that brought a whole new generation into the country fold. But one cannot underestimate the contributions of other crossover artists such as Florida Georgia Line, Lady Antebellum, Blake Shelton, and Darius Rucker (formerly of Hootie & the Blowfish). The popularization of country isn’t without its critics. Purists grumble that the new country is too commercial and isn’t true to its roots. That may be. But for this New England mom, it might be just the cure for my middle-aged blues. Jennifer C. Braceras is a lawyer and political commentator. -------------------------------- Selected Comments If you play a country music song backwards, you get your truck back, you get your dog back, you get your girl back and life is good --- God Bless you Jennifer, you warm the cockles of my heart. Whenever anyone from deep blue New England admits to embracing the message of country music, it gives me hope. I'm an old dog who has lived all over the country at various times in my life. I lived in San Francisco when it was still legal to buy and sell goldfish there, but still illegal to dined stark naked in public, regardless of weather you placed a towel on the chair or not. Because of family ties, I've lived in New York for the last 30 years. That being said, I've recently retired. When I sell my house for an obscene amount of money, I'm heading for Florida, Texas, Arizona, or some other state that is guaranteed never to turn blue in my remaining years! I am in the twilight of my life now, but so happy that I lived most of my life when I did. America is becoming like the end of the Roman Empire. Bread and circuses, while Nero (substitute any politician's name for his) fiddles. --- Great article, thank you. As a music lover and mom of two girls (22 and 18) the move to country music has been steady over the last 8 years. (I grew up with it in the house, but gravitated toward R&B while growing up and it was my main staple in my adult years). Like you I love the profession of faith, earning an honest living, family, and gratitude that no other genre can exhibit as pure as the American spirit that flows through country music. --- Great story. Country music fans are not as rare as one might think in New England but certainly not the norm. And whether the country singer is red or blue, the stories told, the straightforward way they are told, but most of all the music, make country a great partner (yes, I meant that) in life. --- A middle age suburban "lifelong Yankee" woman driving around greater Boston (perhaps even in a high dollar 2WD SUV never off pavement) and listening to country music while imaging herself a "redneck" is like a Phillips Andovor kid lounging in a shopping mall Panera Bread over their retina display macbook pro and imagining themselves an urban hipster. She should move to rural Alabama and live there for at least a year, and then see how much she still wants to call herself a "redneck." I speak as the grandson of a white sharecropper (ie actual redneck), and someone who knows rural Alabama inside out. (It's all in fun). ================================================= Lyrics Redneck Girl Redneck girl likes to cruise in Daddy's pickup truck And a redneck girl plays her heart when she's down on her luck Living for a Friday afternoon She's gonna show one ole boy that weekend moon And I pray that someday I will find me a redneck girl Redneck girl likes to stay out all night long She makes sweet rock n' roll while she listens to the country songs She's waitin' for that moment of surrender Her hands are calloused but her heart is tender And I pray that someday I will find me a redneck girl Oh give me a give me a give me a redneck girl Give me a give me a give me a redneck girl Oh give me a give me a give me a redneck girl Give me a give me a give me a redneck girl A redneck girl got a name on the back of her belt She's got a kiss on her lips for her man and no one else A coyote's howling out on the prairie First comes love then comes marriage And I pray that someday I will find me a redneck girl Yeah give me a give me a give me a redneck girl -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
