Showing posts with label in this life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label in this life. Show all posts

Monday, May 26, 2014

Is Country Music Dead, Asks Collin Raye

Well, sure.

That's not exactly news.

It's not that country music is dead, really. It's that "country music" is dead.

Country music is just different now. It's a whole different genre from what many of us used to call "country". I'm okay with that. I know that the music I like, those two words that used to trip off my tongue, is now called Americana. It just takes some getting used to. Old habits die hard.

I never wanted to become one of those old-timers, the ones who say, "In my day..." Because the people who say that are simply sugarcoating the past. I've been listening to country music since the sixties. Sure, there were some poetic songs - simple poetry like the kind Merle Haggard wrote, and the more literary stuff that Kris Kristofferson penned. But there was also a whole lot of junk - throwaways - kinda like most of the Top 40 songs of today. Those songs didn't set out to be timeless; they set out to make a buck - kinda like most of the Top 40 songs of today. Collin Raye is romanticizing the past, which is what all of us do.

However.

Taken as a whole, yes, the country music of yore was eons better than the country music of now. I agree with Collin that there's far too much of the "yee haw", pickup truck, redneck blah blah blah stuff on the radio today. C'mon people! You can't possibly be that shallow? Can you? People today still have "feelings", right? How about writing about that?

What? You're telling me that the whole "feelings" stuff can't get played on the radio? Well, shame on corporate broadcasting! You're making kids look like a bunch of possession-obsessed androids. Kids aren't really like that. I have kids, so I know.

But enough railing. It simply is what it is. What do I care, really? I have all the "good songs" on CD and safely tucked away inside my computer. I can listen to them anytime I want.

Nevertheless, if you would like to read what Collin Raye has to say on the topic, click on "Is Country Music Dead?"

I could have thrown in a bunch of awesome country music videos here, but really, you can just envision your own. Mine would be different from yours anyway.

I do want to add, however, that if you think Collin Raye doesn't know whereof he speaks, then you haven't heard "In This Life".

Oh, shoot. I have to include it here, since I just mentioned it:







Saturday, January 12, 2008

New Feature - "Whatever Happened To This Guy?"

From time to time, I will include a feature I like to call, "Whatever Happened To This Guy?"

Back in 1992, a lot of people I knew loved "In This Life" by Collin Raye. Me, too.

Was it really 16 years ago? Where does the time go? I was working at US Healthcare then, in Bismarck, North Dakota (not that this is pertinent information; I just thought I'd add a personal note).

Anyway, I haven't heard much (okay, anything) from Collin Raye for a long time.

But I still like his songs.

So, whatever happened to Collin Raye?

"In This Life" isn't available on YouTube, but here's another Collin Raye song:






"Little Rock" was written by Tom Douglas, and it's a really well-written song. I wasn't familiar with Tom Douglas, but in reading his bio, I found that he's had cuts by other major artists, including Martina McBride.

It's always a treat to find a very well-written song.