Does Country Music Really Glorify Alcohol Abuse?
The recent Country Music Association Awards saw top honors for Musical Event of The Year, and Music Video of the Year go to Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss for "Whiskey Lullaby." A heartbreaking story of two lovers who could not escape the grasp of the bottle.
Alcoholism is a difficult lifelong battle for many folks. Do songs like this, as well as many others, play to a stereotype of a hard-drinking life that goes with the territory of being a country music fan? Is it time for parental groups to start a campaign against the alcohol imagery in country music?
to wit:
¤ Her Cheatin' Heart Made A Drunken Fool Out Of Me
¤ Drinkin' Bone
¤ If Whiskey Were A Woman I'd Be Married For Sure
¤ If Drinkin' Don't Kill Me Her Memory Will
¤ Whiskey Bent And Hell Bound
Maybe the answer lies with the Hank Williams, Jr. song "Family Tradition"
Country music singers have always been a real close family
But lately some of my kinfolk have disowned a few others and me
I guess it's because I went and changed my position
Lord, I guess I went and broke their family tradition
They yell, they wanna know:
"Hank.."Why do you drink? Why do you roll smoke?
Why must you live out the songs that you wrote?
Stop and think it over - try to put yourself in this position
When I get stoned, I'm just carryin' on and old family tradition.
Now I am very proud of my daddy's name
Although his kind of music and mine ain't exactly the same
Stop and think it over - try to put yourself in my position
When I get stoned and sing all night long it's just a family tradition
Don't ask me: "Hank..."Why do you drink? Why do you roll smoke?
Why must you live out them songs that you wrote?
If I'm down in a honky tonk, and some ole slick's tryin' to gimme some friction
I says "Leave me alone, I'm stayin' all night long 'cause it's a family tradition"
Lordy, I have loved some ladies, and I still love Jim Beam
They both tried to kill me in nineteen seventy-three
When that doctor asks me "Son, how'dja get in this condition?"
I says "Hey Sawbones, I'm just a-carryin' on the old family tradition."
So don't ask me: "Hank..."Why do you drink? Why do you roll smoke?
Why must you live out them songs that you wrote?
Stop and think it over - try to put yourself in my unique position
When I get stoned and sing all night long, it's just a family tradition."
posted by ResearchGuy® @ 1:27 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
that put the bottle to his head song is the most maudlin thing i have ever heard. upon hearing it the first time, i thought "my god is this terrible" but then it struck me. this is the EXACT sort of thing the C & W mindset love in a song. gak
Although I am not a fan of country music, I have to say that there are plenty of songs in other genres that are about drinking and poor behavior based on drinking...
Why not add Jimmy Buffett's "Why Don't We Get Drunk And Screw" to the list of songs promoting alcohol consumption with reckless behavior? (and you know how I feel about his music in general) Or George Thorogood's "I Drink Alone" to promote the loneliness that alcoholism can bring to someone?
I don't pretend to know what alcoholism can do to you or the ones you love, I've never been directly hit by it. I do know that there are plenty of songs out there that have nothing to do with country music that touch upon the subject in some way, though.
(wow, did I just defend something about country music?)
-J
My name is Eio and I am doing research for my Master's Thesis on this topic and any research information you may have might be beneficial to my research. I am trying to figure out if the repetitiveness of the references to alcohol in country music lyrics make the listerner want to go out and "get drunk" as Keith Anderson sings in his "Three Chord Country, American Rock-n-ROll" album. Any insight you provide with be beneficial to my research project. If you are really serious about this issue i would be more than willing to share my findings.
Eio
eiocaban@hotmail.com
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