Pop Country Music Is Crap, Stop Listening To It

Pop Country Sucks And You Need To Stop Listening To It

I love country music. I’ve listened to it since I was a kid. Honestly, it’s my favorite genre of music. That being said, I’m stuck in an awful situation: I can’t listen to today’s country music. Why? Because modern country music — pop country — absolutely sucks.

Now, don’t get me wrong. There are some catchy songs out there and a few artists have produced some decent music, but overall, the music that’s come out of Nashville recently is absolute trash. Garbage. It’s honestly pathetic. Considering the great heritage of the genre, this shit is downright insulting to the legends of the past. It’s all the same, it’s not even “country” anymore, and you need to stop listening to it.

Country music used to mean something. When Hank Williams was penning songs and performing across the country, he was singing from the heart. The words that came out of his mouth had meaning. The same goes for the great legends of country music who followed in his footsteps: Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, and so on. You could relate to what they sang because they were singing something real. Can you do that with what you hear on the country stations today?

Aside from the songs being unappealing musically, as they are certainly more pop than country, lyrically, they’re just selling an idea. This whole “sitting on the tailgate with your high school sweetheart sipping moonshine by the railroad tracks” is made up. The whole “take you home from the honky tonk in my jacked up Chevy” shit is, too. Do some people do that? Sure. But is that what country music is really about? I don’t think so, and I certainly don’t think it should be.

Country music, in its most true, basic form, should be an expression of emotions, feelings, and experiences common to the average American. After all, it’s the American genre. Sure, it can have a bit of a rural slant to it, but that’s to be expected. Country music used to be like that– about love, heartbreak, life and death, joys and sorrows. It was about shit that was actually real. There were songs that told stories, true or fictional, that left the listener feeling as if he were there when it happened. Does any of that exist today? When you hear one of these “drinking Fireball in a tree stand with my girlfriend” songs, do you feel like you are a part of that story?

Of course you don’t. The pop country music that is played on the radio these days is meaningless. It’s just words and chords thrown together to be catchy. Now, I certainly understand what they’re doing, and I realize they sell out huge arenas with this crap. The performers and producers are professionals; they do what they do to make money. And if that’s what’s working for them, then good on them for using their talents to make a buck. But compared to real country music — the stuff of the past or what’s played by those few musicians who cling to the roots of this great art form — the country of today just doesn’t do anything for me, nor should it for you.

What you hear today on pop country stations is not country. It’s pop music with “country” themes thrown in, sung by a man or a woman with a forced southern accent. If that’s what you like, then who am I to tell you what to listen to? But if you truly enjoy and appreciate this classic form of American music, you need to stop listening to pop country. Listen to the legends, or listen to Red Dirt country. There were great musicians and singers in the past who could, in the words of David Allan Coe, “make folks feel what you feel inside.” If you’re not into that, then there are definitely contemporary artists who are staying true to their country roots. Some are more old-school than others, but all of them make music that is good, relatable, and meaningful. In the end, that’s what country music is supposed to be all about.

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  1. Lake Superior

    When a “country” band has the lyrics “all I wanna do is lace my J’s” in their song I just can’t take them seriously. Fuck Florida Georgia Line.

    10 years ago at 11:50 am
    1. ZacBroBand

      And/or do a remake with Nelly. They are fucking garbage.

      I’d abort my first born if I didn’t have to hear their shit ever again on “country” radio.

      10 years ago at 12:08 pm
      1. SharkWeekTFM

        “Country music is supposed to be relatable and make you feel something”
        “If you relate to pop-country and it makes you feel something inside, by all means listen to it.”

        I’m on board with your opinion 100% don’t get me wrong. Nothing impresses me more than a guy chicken pickin’ the shit out of a T style guitar.

        That being said, there are few things worse than a music genre snob. Metal elitists might be the worst but country elitists aren’t too far behind. And isn’t elitism a bit ironic considering it’s country music?

        9 years ago at 12:00 pm
      1. Rperry2016

        Hell yeah, saw them open for josh abott a while back. Lead singer was ripping cigs and playing a hell of a show

        10 years ago at 9:12 pm
    2. Fratasaurus

      I can’t figure what’s worse: people like Florida Georgia Line or metrosexuals like Hunter Hayes who could pass off as girls.
      Anyways, Earl Dibbles Jr is better than all of them.

      10 years ago at 1:47 pm
  2. Dillon Cheverere

    Red Dirt/Texas Country seems to be mostly undiscovered. Bands like Turnpike Troubadours, Stoney LaRue, Wade Bowen, Randy Rogers, Ryan Bingham, Robert Earl Keen, etc. are infinitely better than what you’ll find in Nashville.

    10 years ago at 11:54 am
    1. BlutarskyTFM

      Turnpike is probably my favorite act right now. REK has always been a staple for me, as well. All these guys are incredibly talented but get no recognition from “country” stations you can find on the radio across the country.

      10 years ago at 11:57 am
      1. Ranger_Bush

        Agreed, but I do really love that these guys do not give two shits about being mainstream. They get their recognition from true fans, not 12-16 year old girls. The good music is out there just a lot harder to find than it used to be. Long live Waylon, Willie and Cash, but now it’s time to support your Jason Boland, Cory Morrow, Turnpike and Sturgill Simpson. Fuck pop country #FPC

        10 years ago at 12:36 pm
      1. GeedsAreRuiningAmerica

        You say the same thing about hip hop below in the most lapped comment on this article. Try hard much?

        10 years ago at 12:58 pm
      2. Presidente

        Well you’ve obviously never banged an 18 year old to Merle Haggard’s greatest hits.

        10 years ago at 1:32 pm
      3. TheWhiteFlame

        EDM gets girls to take their panties off. Women don’t fall for that shit. I’ll be honest with you, I go to a smaller school near Baltimore, and we listen to both along with rap. EDM will get you laid but by some stupid STD ridden shacker just looking for dick who loves the “hype” of fucking a guy in a fraternity. Nothing is better than finding a woman who appreciates real music. The high schoolers will lap me for this but the grown men here know im right

        10 years ago at 4:35 pm
      4. Geaux_Cope

        How have you not been blackballed yet? Everytime I see you comment, it’s some dumb ass shit like this.

        10 years ago at 9:14 pm
    2. USArmy

      I disagree. The artists are well known in the genre itself. But those fans who believe in only one kind of “country” are quick to dismiss Texas/Red Dirt music. There are festivals all year featuring these artists. In fact, the Steamboat Springs Music Fest just wrapped up. That’s the biggest of the year. There are cruises with these artists, as well as small, private events. I think the Texas/Red Dirt artists like being able to have that connection with the fans.

      10 years ago at 1:12 pm
    3. Mark Daniels

      Big fan of Randy Rogers, I’ll need to check out some of these others that you mentioned.

      10 years ago at 2:14 pm
      1. SAEhorse

        That’s like saying Nirvana was good until Kurt Cobain shot himself… Stupid fuck.

        10 years ago at 12:07 am
    4. Wabernasty

      Roger Creager and Cory Morrow too.. A couple Sons of Bill songs, Bleu Edmondson, Sam Riggs.

      10 years ago at 6:34 pm
      1. Gungho624

        The thing I like about the Texas Country artists are that they aren’t “too cool” for their fans. Guys like Casey Donahew and Cody Johnson are class acts and will hang out all night to make sure everyone who wanted to talk or get an autograph got one.

        10 years ago at 7:31 pm
      2. Kappa Lig

        Jack Ingram in my opinion is a badass along with Aaron Watson and Casey Donahew.

        10 years ago at 1:07 am
    5. Tucker

      Texas Country/Red Dirt > everything.

      Once George Strait steps down, Cody Johnson will be the next king of Country. You heard it here first.

      10 years ago at 9:36 pm
    6. TwinKegs

      Spot on. Nashville just regurgitates the same bullshit because it’s easy to make a quick buck off of it from high school kids. There are still guys like Sturgill Simpson and ZBB out there making great country though and it’s not too hard to find if you try

      10 years ago at 4:34 pm
  3. Broties n Boatshoes

    Blutarsky, this might be your best, and most relevant article you’ve ever written. Spot on. “Nashville Country” (as it’s taken the name of) is basically the same lyrics to the same computerized backing instrumentals with a visually good looking singer/singers. You hit all the problems with it right on the head.

    10 years ago at 12:06 pm
    1. GetPhKTUp

      Brutal. To be honest I thought they had potential when they first came out but then they became the reincarnation of kid rock.

      10 years ago at 10:35 am
  4. Fratximus

    Waylon needs to come back to life so he can hear this shit and set all these “country” artists straight

    10 years ago at 12:10 pm
  5. texasfratguy

    It pisses me off when Hunter Hayes shows up on my George Straight radio on Spotify

    10 years ago at 12:11 pm
  6. Girth__Brooks

    When the country stations start to sound like (and even bleed over to) the top 40 stations, you know something is wrong.

    10 years ago at 12:12 pm