Saturday, February 26, 2011

Yeah, not so much

Forgive me for two music posts in one day (swear I'm not turning into my husband), but I couldn't let this one pass by without commentary.

So, I'm over at Borepatch's catching up, and I come across his Saturday Redneck post on Hank Sr's "Lovesick Blues".  And I'm all over that stuff, 'cause Hank Williams.  Senior, Junior, or III, any Hank's a good Hank so far as I'm concerned.

Anyhow, BP's tells this story about how his dad's fraternity didn't allow Hank Sr.'s music to be played there because it wasn't "high class", and this is the first of the comments:

wolfwalker said...

Well, there ain't no room for Hank Williams -- senior or junior -- in my music library either, but not for that reason. Nah, my reason for avoiding them is simple: I HATE depressing songs, and they both epitomize the 'life sucks and then you die' style of country-western. None of that for me, thanks.

And, yeah, I guess I should be all "different strokes for different folks", but really?  Hank epitomizes the "life sucks and then you die" style of country music?  As I said over there: Dude, have you ever bothered LISTENING to their music?

Don't think I'm getting all hipster "dig deep into the discography" either, 'cause I'm not.  I listened to Hank and Bocephus quite a bit growing up, but only what was played on the radio.  Leaving aside the fact that the song Borepatch featured is in fact a pretty peppy little ditty in spite of its subject matter, some of Hank Sr's best-known music isn't depressing in the slightest: "Honky Tonkin'", "Mind Your Own Business", "Hey Good Lookin'", "Jambalaya"...and that's just off the top of my head and limiting myself to songs of his I really, really like.

Lumping Hank Jr. in there makes even less sense, to be honest.  I say Bocephus, and chances are the first song that pops to mind is either "Family Tradition" or "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight."  There's also "Texas Women", "Dixie On My Mind", "Born to Boogie", "This Ain't Dallas"...I could go on.

And that's not even touching Hank III, who memorably sang about trying to "get in Miss Shania's pants".

To tell the truth, the "country music is depressing" meme is one that's always annoyed the living crap out of me.  Yeah, "Your Cheating Heart" may be a sad song, and there's no denying "Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound" is too, but if you concentrate on that aspect, you're in danger of overlooking the fact that they're both really fucking great songs.

Which reminds me of this, which I'll leave you with, as it's one of the best lyrical rebuttals to the whole "country music sucks" thing there is:

1 comment:

Borepatch said...

I love that Trace song.

But in Wolfwalker's defense, if you want a good howl at the moon, it's Country or the Blues.

Your point is a good one, that there's a whole 'nother side. But some can break your heart. More properly, "re-break" your heart.

But I do love this Trace song. And Eric got what Trace sings about, lovin' and livin', and good hearted women ...