Follow Your Arrow

I figured, because it's the lat post of the semester, I'd change things up a bit. Looking at the music industry, the first names that seem to come to mind when people think of progressive, inspirational female writers are those of Beyonce, Meghan Trainor, etc.

If you're not a country music fan, then it would make some sense that you haven't heard of her, but a newcomer to the music scene that I feel deserves some credit is Kasey Musgraves. Her music ranges from being about love, life, and the usual, but a lot of her music is about bettering yourself and making the most of your life. 

By and far, my favorite song of her's thus far is "Follow Your Arrow". The song talks about how any given choice will evoke criticism from others, therefore one's best course is to remain true to oneself. Billboard listed "Follow Your Arrow" at number 2 on their list of 20 Best Songs of 2013, saying that "you didn't have to be a hardcore country fan to boogie along to Kacey Musgraves' lighthearted call to "make lots of noise and kiss lots of boys -- or lots of girls, if that's something you're into". "Follow Your Arrow" received mixed reviews due to some of the song's controversial lyrics. Some called the country tune "An attack on Christians", while some called it "signs of shifts in country music" due to the song's positive reference to homosexuality. Regardless, she is definitely an artist that is worth checking out and giving her music a listen. I'll make it easy... Here's "Follow Your Arrow". Enjoy!

Why Country Music Was Awful in 2013

A lot of people look down on country music. It doesn't fit their taste. They don't care for the Southern twang or the whining and that's fine. It happens however, to be my favorite genre of music. When I first came across the video "Why Country Music was Awful in 2013" I was curious about it. I watched it and while the video does a decent job at showing the similarities between different male sung country songs from 2013, it does not do a good job at explaining why these things make country music "awful"

Country singers have always sung about alcohol, trucks, and pretty girls, and I'm sure that isn't going to change anytime soon. But why is that a bad thing? How is that any different than when rap and hip hop artists sing about girls in the club getting drunk on shots of vodka shaking their "asses"? Why is saying "You got your hands up You’re rocking in my truck You got the radio on You’re singing every song I’m set on cruise control I’m slowly losing hold Of everything I got You’re looking so damn hot" any different than "The way she move her body she might see the Maserati?"

Another thing I don't particularly agree with in this video is the fact that they only mention songs by male country artists. There are so many popular country songs sung by female artists from 2013 that this video doesn't even mention. You can't say that all of the music in a genre from a given year was crap when you're only looking at a portion of the genre.

Nashville

I recently have begun watching the show Nashville. As a huge fan of country music, I was very excited to see how this show would interpet the country music scene. Immediately I was drawn in to the rivalry between country queen Rayna James who is struggling to remain relevant and new “it” girl Juliette Barnes. The show features a bunch of original songs that could hold their own in the real country scene and realistic but engaging drama. I especially like to draw my own comparisons to who the characters are supposed to “be”. My guess is that Rayna James is supposed to be a Martina McBride type (once a superstar, but now releases smaller records and writes her own songs) and Juliette is supposed to be Miranda Lambert (a newcomer known for her rage-filled revenge style songs). Everyone should definitely check it out—even if you don’t like country music!