Country music has always been about rural white exceptionalism to one degree or another. Its earliest lyrics a century ago lamented the Lost Cause. And starting in the 1960s, songwriters would use the same general tactic to pander to resentment of civil rights and women’s rights, mythologizing an idyllic past that never existed.
Even before the Civil War, the Southern image of Northern cities as dens of iniquity was largely about the latter’s immigrant population, and the common bashing of urbanites that runs all through country music cannot be separated from the cities’ ethnic diversity. Your points 1 through 3 are almost an exact description of the religious right, because it has the same cultural roots and generally the same fan base.
The genre has gotten worse in some ways since Garth Brooks. Bro-country stars offer pointless macho posturing and and mindless rural cheerleading, with “we’re country” used as a dog whistle. One country radio consultant took some criticism for saying that female performers are bad for ratings.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2018-02-08 10:39 pm (UTC)Even before the Civil War, the Southern image of Northern cities as dens of iniquity was largely about the latter’s immigrant population, and the common bashing of urbanites that runs all through country music cannot be separated from the cities’ ethnic diversity. Your points 1 through 3 are almost an exact description of the religious right, because it has the same cultural roots and generally the same fan base.
The genre has gotten worse in some ways since Garth Brooks. Bro-country stars offer pointless macho posturing and and mindless rural cheerleading, with “we’re country” used as a dog whistle. One country radio consultant took some criticism for saying that female performers are bad for ratings.