The Country Music Hall Of Fame
I happed to be in Nashville, TN last week, so I went to the Country Music Hall Of Fame.
I have to admit I’m not entirely sure how this happened, but I had like six hours of sleep in the previous 48 hours so everything was a little fuzzy. 🙂
Anyway, the museum was extremely crowded that day, and I soon realized it was because of Taylor Swift. My Taylor Swift knowledge is very low, but apparently the crowds where there to see Ms. Swift’s sweater. This sweater featured in a 2020 album, and I expect many people latched on to that album to the emotional upheaval of that time period. (I spent 2020 writing an epic fantasy series and learning Photoshop, so I coped somewhat differently.)
However, my knowledge of country music is very low as well. No one in my immediate family listened to it when I was a kid, and I didn’t really encounter it on a regular basis until I went out into the world and started working. I routinely worked with guys who had the front seat of their pickup trucks filled with various country CDs. (For those of you born in this century, “CDs” were what people used to listen to music before MP3s and mobile streaming.) I just never connected emotionally with it, and I have an odd relationship with music in any event – I have such a hard time picking out sung lyrics from a song, and it usually sounds like warbling to me.
(Ironically, since we’re talking about country music, one of the few musicians I have no trouble understanding is Johnny Cash.)
So the museum was interesting, and it was also interesting to see the history behind the various currents and trends in the genre.
Overall, I noticed that country songs tend to break down into the following categories:
-I Got My Dog & My Truck.
-I Got My Dog, My Truck, & My Girl
-I Lost My Dog, My Truck, & My Girl
-My Girl Took My Dog And Truck, So It’s Time To Drink A Lot Of Jack Daniels
-The Boss Man Is Screwing Me Over
-The Boss Man And The Government Are Screwing Me Over, So It’s Time To Drink A Lot Of Jack Daniels
-I’m A Woman And I’m Poor
-I’m A Woman And I’m Poor, But I’ve Got A Good Man
-I’m A Woman And I Treat My Good Man Right
-I’m A Woman And I’m Poor, But My Man Is A Cheating Dog
-I’m A Woman And I’m Poor & My Man Is A Cheating Dog, But I’ve Arranged His Death In A Clever And Untraceable Way, Often Involving Pie Filling
-I’m A Woman And I’m No Longer Poor, But I Feel Very Conflicted About It
Overall, the Country Music Hall Of Fame was a very interesting museum. Though I recommend going on a less crowded day. 🙂
-JM