A friend asked me why I liked Country music. He hadn’t been impressed with what he’d heard on the radio. So, Country girl that I am, I set out to write my own defense of Country music: why I love Country music.

I also asked my friend Melinda Lavorante for her perspective. And while I quote her to some extent in my article, I liked what she said so much that I want to share the rest here:

I think that the arts should reflect both truth and beauty. Country music reflects truth more than a lot of lyrical music out there. It talks about real people with real joy, real problems, real pain, and who know how to have a real good time. A lot of love songs are very unrealistic, especially in the pop genre. That is not how love is, nor how relationships work. But country music often displays real truth in the way that is reflects life how it is. In life the pickup does break down, couples break up, loved ones die, and money runs low. However, in life, people also fall in love that lasts forever, have children that they are proud to raise, and go to church and learn about Jesus. Country music presents many angles to life in a very heartfelt, authentic way.

Of course not all country music is like that. There are songs that do not portray truth. But I believe the majority of country music is admirable and hardly just “terrible, borderline and fair” all the time.

Country music often also portrays beauty in the way the lyrics and music are written and performed. Country music portrays beauty less often than truth, though, and that is its fault. However, it presents beauty and truth far more often than most any popular music.

It is true, it is beautiful, it strikes a chord, and it’s fun. Country music is great!