Florida Georgia Line’s “People Are Different” Is More of the Same
WARNING: Sailor mouth below
Florida Georgia Line ruined country music as a couple of white boy tractor-rapping well-heeled fraternity brothers who spearheaded the Bro-Country onslaught and sent the country genre down the shit pipe. And now to save their own asses from impending Nickelback-style universal public shame and denouncement (they share the same producer as the Canadian butt rockers, a hoser named Joey Moi), they’ve decided to toss out this maudlin Kumbaya bullshit and hope we somehow forget all the offenses they’ve perpetrated in the past and present, including their current single wizzing all over country radio, the icky and inappropriate “Talk You Out Of It.” Yeah, fuck off.
“But Trig, what about Luke Bryan’s ‘Most People Are Good’ and Tim McGraw’s “Humble and Kind’? You actually said you liked those songs!” Yes, because those were actually decently-written, delivered sincerely, and were much more original in their time and place. “People Are Different” is now the fifth or sixth major mainstream act releasing what’s basically the same song. It’s trend chasing and pandering, and as opposed to those much better efforts, it’s riddled with shoddy writing. If you follow instead of lead, you fumble, and the entire premise of a song becomes fouled. That’s the case with “People Are Different.”
Don’t let anyone tell you this song is not political. Politics has absolutely every single thing to do with why this track is being released, regardless of how you want to interpret the verses. If you can’t see through this ruse, you probably deserve Florida Georgia Line as your favorite band. Florida Georgia Line see Brothers Osborne out there winning three consecutive CMA Duo of the Year awards and getting all the acclaim that Florida Georgia Line believes they deserve for selling 30-times the amount of tracks and records, and they see why.
One of the biggest threats to the integrity of the country music genre at the moment is not just acts like Florida Georgia Line. It’s media outlets and fly-by entertainment personalities writing for major periodicals who solely promote country artists based off of those artists’ political affiliations espoused on social media and in their songs. Brothers Osborne have been a huge benefactor of this trend. If you “celebrate diversity,” you’re not only given a free pass to then turn around a perpetrate whatever scuzzball filth you wish in perpetuity, you’re celebrated to a degree much above more worthy contemporaries and the quality of your output deserves (see: Kane Brown).
Florida Georgia Line used to be the universal laughing stock of entertainment media. They’re the specific reason esteemed writer Jody Rosin coined the term “Bro-Country” back in 2013. More than any other act, they’re personally responsible for the reprehensible vacancy of any and all women on country radio as they’ve left feminine country voices without a genre. But hey, they’re saying the right thing in this one specific song and came out for universal background checks, so let’s not just give them a pass, let’s celebrate their leadership.
The irony here is that even though the song and premise are that “People Are Different,” arguably nobody has done more to homogenize the music sphere and erode our differences in the past 365 days than Florida Georgia Line. They were personally responsible for a pop star spending an unprecedented and historic 50 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in the form of Bebe Rexha, single-handedly erasing decades of country music history. Yes, people are different, and so are their musical expressions. But you would never know that looking across the Billboard charts at the respective genres, primarily the fault of genre-blurring acts like Florida Georgia Line.
Of course people are different. We learn that at six-years-old. Of course everyone should be respectful to each other, and try to see other people’s perspectives. But this is the premise for a nursery rhyme, not a country song. Adults use subtly, nuance, and story to get important points across they wish to convey in music. “People Are Different” is akin to if Barney the purple dinosaur wrote a country tune. Are we really going to turn to the Beavis and Butthead of country music for sage wisdom? Florida Georgia Line has made millions upon millions of dollars and launched a wildly successful career by being country music’s airheaded party animals, and at the risk of paying them a compliment, they pull that off pretty well. So keep doing that. Be you. Leave it to the Americana acts who actually know how to convey a deep thought to try and help bridge the human divide acts like Florida Georgia Line helped create.
In a vacuum, no, “People Are Different” is not a terrible song. Give it credit for including some steel guitar, and trying to do something more subsnative than, I don’t know, delivering lines like “Stick the pink umbrella in your drink,” or trying to smooth talk a woman out of her clothes (voluntarily or not) like Florida Georgia Line’s current single. But “People Are Different” starts off with the most aggressive list-tastic lyrics on the way to running through one mawkish cliche after another. Oh the irony of Florida Georgia Line preaching to us about celebrating our differences and understanding each other, when they’ve been shitting all over country traditionalists for years for voicing fair concern that Florida Georgia Line’s pop/hip-hop music doesn’t belong in country, and is undermining the genre. About the only good advice “People Are Different” conveys comes in the bridge…
Change the channel if you don’t like what you see
You can get your money back if it ain’t your size
You can throw it in the trash if you don’t like it
Yep, this song’s getting balled up tight, secured in the palm, and sent on a 3-point arching fadeaway toward the recycle bin. Swoosh. Being opposed to Florida Georgia Line and “People Are Different” isn’t about being closed-minded to people who are not like you. It’s about raging against the sameness that is spreading across popular culture like a contagion on the tips of tongues of performers like Florida Georgia Line. Sorry fellas, but this is one of those instances where you just can’t divest the message from the messenger.
Merry Christmas.
1 3/4 Guns DOWN (2/10)
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December 22, 2018 @ 11:25 am
See, the problem is if I turned off the tv every time I saw something I hated, I’d never turn it on.
And since everybody thinks I’m a judgmental prick, I’d like to announce that I sat through an episode of Mike and Molly the other night fully intending to review it negatively, since every other episode that has started up after the Big Bang Theory has made me turn it off.
I went in expecting to hate it, since I’d never sat through a whole episode before (something about the character’s annoys me)
I actually wound up really enjoying it.
So there you go, a last minute change of mind before the end of the year.
But I won’t ever turn a radio on in my life again if this FGL Boob Rhehxa Puke Bryan Flake Shelton Sham Hunt Jason Al-I-bet-you-forgot-that-I-liked-doing-these-this-get-over-my-affair-can’t-spell-probably-doesn’t-know-where-milk-comes-from-thinks-songwriterly-is-a-word-man-it-feels-nice-to-do-this-again-Dean is all I ever hear.
I’d love to change the channel, but where the hell am I supposed to turn it to get Country Music now that these tools mucked it all up and ruined it?
I know I said in another comment that the people ruining Country Music know what they’re doing and are enjoying it, but these guys are the exception.
These guys are the two most out of touch, clueless, ridiculous trashy white dudes I have ever seen and when the Dallas Davidson Museum of Trashy White Dudes is erected it will have a statue of these jokers out front.
the production on this is almost good, if we set the bar really low. the problem is that these clowns can barely sing, their harmonies are about as bad as the two drunk dudes at your local karaoke bar who managed to find a friend to drive them off of their porch to get MORE drunk in a public place, their hokey clown-attire makes the Shark Week B-movies look authentic, they always have this ridiculous show-offy hand-signing stance but look like they’d run away and cry if a Cody Jinks fan yelled at them.
I bet these two jokers would cry if their food touched together on the same plate
December 22, 2018 @ 2:32 pm
no the problem is every time I come down here wun of yall yankees or down town austin sissys can not help yur self’s from carryin on about kane brown or luke brian or Fflorida gorgia lines and how much yall dont like em thees are good Christian boys just haven fun n all andtrigg my pastor tolt me a close personelle frend of his that’s is a big wig in Nashville said ole Brian Kelly from the fgl has a solo record comin out that is gonna put music row up side down on it’s hed boy a reel step outta the shadows for ole brian aint Hurd u talk about that wun finnally found some thin u do not no about country music boy and were talkin about ground brakin stuff that ole sturgiss and Chris stapalldan aint Evan doin now look yall pussys want to give me a hard time cuz I like Sugarland and other radio station country songs and I do but I like the oldys to and I no wut Im talking about here and if I tell u that the new boys are good and ysll otta give em a chanse then yall better
Boise St -3.5
GA Tech -3.5
TCU -1
December 23, 2018 @ 5:41 pm
” I’d like to buy a ‘period’ Pat
December 25, 2018 @ 8:13 pm
@Lil Dale Yes, you are a trend follower. Right down to failing to use any punctuation.
Stay cultureless.
August 12, 2022 @ 6:49 pm
And I just became a FLorida-Georgia Line fan. Thank you. Gonna download their music right d@mn now.
December 22, 2018 @ 11:30 am
???? Bless you, Trigger. This made me belly laugh. As much as I dislike everything that FGL stands for, boyhowdy do they have some earcandy melodies.
Just when I thought I was all through laughing, you tagged this article with “the shit pipe.”
Merry Christmas, Trigger, you deserve it.
December 22, 2018 @ 11:44 am
Ladies and gentlemen, yet another swing and a miss for Florida Georgia Line.
December 22, 2018 @ 12:08 pm
But, but, but…it’s a song with a universal message & the FGL-version of “Love Wins”. Dan & his Shay will have to wait 2-3 more years to win the new CMA cutest country couple of the year award.
CMA award-show 2019: dumb & dumber dressed in recycled environment-friendly designer-shirts with a children’s choir in the background singing…well…performing…”People…”. Bebe whatshername joins FGL for the chorus. Standing ovations.
Cut to the stars in the first row…tears rolling down the faces of Carrie, Kelsea, Tim & Faith, Luke, Kane, Blake, Alan…Alan?…Alan Jackson?…oops…he is outside with Sturgill & where is Miranda?…oh ok…ladies-room.
December 22, 2018 @ 12:19 pm
What demon from hell dresses them?
December 25, 2018 @ 8:15 pm
Had to be someone who is a fan of the Canadian tuxedo combined with a pseudo-“working class” look.
December 22, 2018 @ 12:21 pm
…so the lyric makes ONE point …25 times in 25 ways…all designed to rhyme …not inform , or sincerely engage anyone emotionally . its a very weak title ….racists serial killers , arsonists and uni-bombers all all people who are different .
the track is boring , the vocals are grating , monotone-ish , the melody is almost non-eistent , the and dynamics are ignored..the auto-tune is cranked to 11 and the pandering to 12 .
I didn’t like Currington’s weak payoff in People Are Crazy , I didn’t like McGraw’s Hallmark-y Humble and Kind , and detested the same cow-towing by LB in People Are Good .
All we know form this stuff is that People are Crazy ,Good , Different but they should all be Humble and Kind . All I needed to know I learned in Kindergarten .
This stuff may SOUND a bit more trad ….but trying to dupe listeners into thinking they are hearing something profound ,philosophical or enlightening is just pandering and exploiting the weak , the passive and the easily swayed . Just like they’ve been doing with all of the other crappy stuff they shit out . WHERE IN GOD’S NAME ARE THE Hugh Prestwoods , the Schlitzs’ , the Erin Enderlins’ …” where have all the writer’s gone ..long time passes ”
An aside ….Blake Shelton’s latest single may be firmly in the running for actually being the WORST song lyric of the year . Surprise surprise ..
December 23, 2018 @ 6:29 pm
Since this is my last time here I’m going to give in. What a bunch of pretentious assholes you are. I don’t care about FGL. But the constant dragging of other artists who have nothing to do with these guys is absurd. I understand this is a small group of regulars who regurgitate the same drivel (although I do like TX Music). But I was new to country music and hooed tp learn something. Trig when you do articles like the one about Country Music and the NRA there is no one better. But for the past year it’s ripping artists who did not ruin Country Music. From what I can see it’s changing and evolving. No stopping it. So good luck.
December 23, 2018 @ 8:58 pm
It’s a difficult balancing act to take traditional songs and do something new without short-changing what was good about the old music, but country music has always done this, starting with the first recorded country song, Eck Robertson’s “Sally Goodin.” From what I’ve seen, the artists championed by a majority of folks here do that, and the poseurs who only pretend to innovate come in for criticism. What SCM fans are objecting to are musicians who neither respect the past nor create something new. And regardless of what genre you like, fake music is a threat to creativity. Real musicians who change and evolve country music (like Sarah Shook or Mike and the Moonpies) are praised here.
December 24, 2018 @ 1:56 am
S……….what altaltcountry said .
yes ..it takes a bit to understand the ENTIRE issue here but altalt does a good job of summing it up . I don’t think anyone here has ever slammed an AUTHENTIC artist or band …and therein , I believe , lies the misunderstanding and ensuing dissension: defining ‘authentic’ .
can you honestly say that 9 out of 10 contemporary ‘country’ singers don’t sound almost exactly the same in terms of vocals, song content, groove and instrumentation? and in your heart of hearts would you call ANY of the similar-sounding singers authentic in terms of vision , substance in the material , sonic approach and vocal phrasing . do you consider 9 out of 10 rap singers authentic ?
I really believe that if listeners could take the time to understand the music being peddled as country FROM THE ABOVE PERSPECTIVES they would totally appreciate the ‘product’ for what it is : derivative , unoriginal , cliche , and drifting ( not ‘evolving’ ..there IS a difference ) further and further from any semblance of truth , tradition , authenticity and ORIGINALITY . Not to seem condescending but I think that nearly ANYONE at any level of intelligence would be enlightened by a quick study of country music and a regular visit to this site and how it introduces people to AUTHENTIC music-first artists while calling out the outright trend-chasers and fakes .
December 25, 2018 @ 3:09 pm
Jimmy Work, one of the great honky tonk singer songwriters, passed away Dec. 22, at 94. His songs are still fresh today. Barely a mention in the news, though. When the true musicians get the attention the posers do, I’ll shut up about FGL.
December 22, 2018 @ 1:00 pm
“White boy” may have become an insult in most sectors of the painfully right-on entertainment industry, but I’d have thought country music was an exception? Don’t mistake me for one of those alt-right scumbags as I’m a stone cold liberal, but really now…
December 22, 2018 @ 1:14 pm
“White boy” is actually part of a longer phrase criticizing their ill-equipped appropriation of hip-hop as opposed to a criticism of the color of their skin. It’s like Steve Earle says, today’s country music is rap for white people who are scared of black people.
December 24, 2018 @ 6:01 am
Steve Earle nailed it in his previous quoted comments about ‘country music is rap for white people.’ Listen to the unimaginative beat(s), force-rhymed trite lyrical content (with no stories!), and too many words per line without a sung melody. Sounds like rap, smells like rap, … you know the rest!
December 22, 2018 @ 1:14 pm
Florida Georgia Line, the moral voice of country music and the industry will fall over each other to support. They must have went to the crossroads with Robert Johnson and sold their sole to the devil so the could be famous. It is the only rational explanation.
December 22, 2018 @ 3:07 pm
A deserted crossroad, in rural Mississippi, in the middle of a dark night, in the 1930’s. These two would have shit themselves.
December 24, 2018 @ 10:45 am
Oh please. These two would be shitting themselves on any Mississippi road, in broad daylight, in 2018.
December 22, 2018 @ 5:59 pm
They sold the bottom of their shoe?
December 23, 2018 @ 4:26 am
Just poor sharecropper kids who were so poor they couldn’t afford shoes with soles. Walked five miles to a one room country school every day with those shoes. Bless their pitiful souls.
December 22, 2018 @ 7:14 pm
Robert Johnson had talent. These fools don’t. No crossroads for them.
December 23, 2018 @ 9:50 am
The Devil must not of been in a real giving mood that evening. That’s the only explanation I can see to account for the large talent disparity between one of the greatest American musicians of all time and two jackwagons destroying an entire genre.
December 22, 2018 @ 1:17 pm
David Duke isn’t going to see this video and suddenly embrace diversity. People who are truly tolerant don’t need FGL to tell them how to act.
So what’s the point? It’s to make people feel good about liking FGL. “We’re not racist rednecks. We don’t do anything to fight intolerance, but hey, don’t you love our catchy hooks? Yeah, you’re cool too.”
December 22, 2018 @ 2:31 pm
As soon as I heard this twits voice I shut it off. I cannot stand them that much apparently. They are the worst.
December 22, 2018 @ 2:38 pm
two words per line lyrics. basically written in the form of a nursery rhyme .
Nice of them in a way; the stupidest, and most hammered of their fans can probably remember a line or two, and sing along.
It reminds me somewhat of what we used to call “bubblegum music”.
You’ve put some bad tunes here, this one is up there with the worst of them.
Music is also nothing much, but at least it’s well played.
December 22, 2018 @ 3:33 pm
So are these articles. This group sucks a lot but there’s no new discussion about it. Just 100 commenters shitting on their terrible music. I know it’s your site, but i feel like we’re good on FGL or Kane Brown articles for the next few years.
December 22, 2018 @ 6:14 pm
They’re still funny as hell, though. Besides SCM does an awesome job providing listeners with better alternatives.
December 22, 2018 @ 10:18 pm
I’ll stop writing articles rebutting the bad shit Kane Brown and Florida Georgia Line put out when Kane Brown and Florida Georgia Line stop putting out bad shit. Mkay?
December 24, 2018 @ 11:55 am
That sucks, but okay.
January 30, 2019 @ 7:52 pm
Oh quicherbellyakin’ shut-up man-up or leave and please don’ check to see who’ll missya. Obviously, by all yardsticks and tape measures and slide rules and avoirdupois scales, FGL’s measuring up quite well at the time they’re in. I also listen to classical music. Do you? Hate it? Like it? Same thing, who cares? Grow a pair – and up.
December 22, 2018 @ 3:45 pm
“More than any other act, they’re personally responsible for the reprehensible vacancy of any and all women on country radio as they’ve left feminine country voices without a genre”
Don’t give them (FGL) all the credit. Just look at the current crop of uninspiring “mainstream” female artists. I think some of the credit for their overall lack of success has to do with themselves. It definitely is a mixed bag of reasons, many of which are not the female artists’ fault. But they also have to shoulder some of the blame.
I’m sorry, but Morris, Aleana, etc. do not compel me to listen to them. Has nothing to do with FGL.
December 23, 2018 @ 11:02 am
There are many reasons why women have disappeared on country radio. One of them is due to the rise of Bro-Country. It’s no coincidence that this paralleled the disappearance of women in the mainstream. Another is yes, the talent pool in the mainstream at the moment is a little shallow. Don’t misunderstand, I think there are TONS of talented women, but they’re not the ones getting the major label and radio support. Instead the theory appears to be that to break through the glass ceiling, country’s women need to become even more pop, even more palatable to the masses, even more derivative, instead of pushing forward women with unique talent and personalities who can break through, artists like Catilyn Smith, Ashley McBryde, and the Pistol Annies—artists who actually have fan bases because they’ve toured and paid dues instead of sitting in Nashville waiting for radio to play them (which the never will).
My underlying point was that the media used to criticize acts like Florida Georgia Line. Now, they’re lauding them because they’re taking political stances that align with those in the media, overlooking the impact their music has had on society as a whole, and specifically on country women. I stand behind Florida Georgia Line’s right to say whatever they want, and participate in political discourse if they choose. If people want to boycott Florida Georgia Line’s music, they should due to how bad they are, not because of personal stances they choose to take. But let’s be honest about their motivations, and their music. What decisions they make in their personal lives shouldn’t allow us to overlook how poorly this song is constructed.
December 22, 2018 @ 4:12 pm
I get what you’re saying, but that doesn’t explain why there is an over abundance of just as uncompelling male artists on country radio.
December 22, 2018 @ 6:30 pm
They are grasping at anything to stay relevant. We may be seeing another little shift in country radio as a couple more older acts are showing cracks in their hold. Blake Shelton just had his worst performing single in a decade or so, Kenny Chesney’s ‘Better Boat’ has sank in the 20s and Tim McGraw is struggling with his first new single in a couple years. ‘Talk You Out Of It’ isn’t exactly racing up the charts either as it’s still in the mid 30s after a couple of months. And at this point FGL is closer to those guys than they are to Luke Combs, Kane Brown and Brett Whatshisname so they are going to release whatever they can to hang on.
What a sad state of affairs.
December 22, 2018 @ 6:38 pm
The song is obviously not great…but it is better than meant to be… 2/10 seems fair to me.
December 22, 2018 @ 6:53 pm
I LOVE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE
December 23, 2018 @ 7:26 am
Yes. It is unacceptable that you love Florida Georgia Line.
December 22, 2018 @ 8:45 pm
This was almost a good song. But then they opted for terrible electronic production to open it and abundant autotune. Then they made the first verse into a laundry-list of random garbage. Then they sung a monotonous chorus with ugly harmonies. Then the second verse was just as bad as the first one. And the bridge seems like it belongs in another political song.
Again, they could’ve written a good song. They just screwed up the execution. Big time.
December 23, 2018 @ 7:05 am
I’ll take boundaries and a sense of proportion over diversity and inclusivity any day.
December 23, 2018 @ 7:55 am
I actually liked their song “Simple”, which was shocking to me Haha! But this trash? No thanks. Just your typical FGL thinking there talking about something when they’re really talking about nothing. Ever since Stapltom blew up, everyone has been trying to add more substance in their music. Especially when it should’ve been there all along. FGL are just jumping on the damn bandwagon as usual.
December 23, 2018 @ 9:26 am
I’m at the point with FGL where I just know it’s going to be crap & avoid their music. I didn’t listen to this new song; there’s no need for me. They wont surprise me with a good country song and if they do it’s just an act not authentic which is just as bad
December 23, 2018 @ 11:17 am
“My underlying point was that the media used to criticize acts like Florida Georgia Line. Now, they’re lauding them because they’re taking political stances that align with those in the media…”
Trig,
Very true.
December 23, 2018 @ 12:03 pm
I wouldn’t say they’re taking a stance. That would mean someone else is saying “Everybody’s identical” and that FGL is arguing with them. The religious tracts you find on toilet paper holders in public bathrooms are edgier than this song. Nor is anyone in the media this bland. The reason reviewers are giving attention to this kind of pablum (or the Kane Brown phenomenon) is that these reviewers have stereotyped traditional country musicians as conservative reactionaries, and believe that this piddling pseudo-political drivel is newsworthy.
In reality, traditional country music has always been more of a champion of the working class (of any race) and the rights of women than has any other major genre, and it has done so boldly and bravely. FGL is a step away from this tradition.
December 23, 2018 @ 12:18 pm
Can’t say they ain’t country. I mean, just look at that distressed barn wood in the photo…
December 23, 2018 @ 7:55 pm
FLORIDA: How long we gotta hold this pose?
GEORGIA: Long enough to show off our tattoos and these designer clothes.
FLORIDA: Five hundred dollars for a pair of jeans with holes in them? We’re in the wrong business. Hey, maybe we should sell fancy tequila.
GEORGIA: Naw, I think this is the best we’re gonna do. George Strait did make some real music.
FLORIDA: Yeah, but the chicks love us. Okay, not the Dixie Chicks. Bunch of stuck-up feminazis.
GEORGIA: Chill out bro. We’re supposed to say people are different.
FLORIDA: Yeah, but some people are more different than others, if you know what I mean.
GEORGIA: Different like this stinking barn.
FLORIDA: What did they do, keep animals in here or something?
December 23, 2018 @ 8:44 pm
The problem is lack of diversity in the country music audience. I mean, let’s be honest. The rise in the female gender within the country audience has coincided with the rise of FGL, Kane Yuck Brown, Keith Suburban, Sam on-the-Hunt, etc. I mean, even Ellen Degenerate loves country music and cannot have enough of these pop-crap artists on and fawns over them.
What we need is more diversity. Where are the bare-knuckle, hard-drivin’ males? Oh yeah, they are listening to classic country.
Face it folks. I am not homophobic, etc. But it is the increasingly female make-up of the modern country audience that is pushing artists like Urban. I demand diversity! Come on good ole’ country males. Where are you? Oh yeah, I already answered that.
December 24, 2018 @ 7:46 am
Lack of diversity in the country music audience?…
I am a French Canadian who appreciates a variety of different cultures.
The problem is as follows:
1) Media claims that they are promoting diversity but in reality they are killing diversity.
Argument: Diversity implies that we have various cultures and that those cultures are promoted.
Problem: they are removing cultural and traditions to create a monogenre world. Therefore, diversity dies.
The only reason why female country singer can’t find a spot on the radio is because of this formula approach. Almost all acts are the same (monogenre music) and everything that is different from this formula is considered “a risk”. Those acts are Luke Bryan, FGL, Kane Brown, Sam Hunt, etc. Fake Drums, Clap Clap, hip hop EDM stuff. Predictable, background noise with stupid lyrics and poor instrumental.
If the media were so right, the music would be so much better and we would all agree that their product is the best ever made. How come anyone with minimum brain power is able to realize that country music on the radio is the worst product on the market?
December 26, 2018 @ 7:46 am
That is a popular misconception, wayne. As I have recently said on another thread, go drive by the parking lot next time a bro country act is in town, and you will see plenty of the “country men” and their nice big trucks. It’s far from just women or sissies supporting this crap, unfortunately.
December 25, 2018 @ 5:35 am
I feel like caught in a time trap. This review sounds like it was written in 2016 and just slightly updated. Keep on reusing the same targets, until everyone is sick of it. It may just turn out to be the review instead of the desired target.
Saying, that FGL are personally responsible for the lack of women on radio is like saying that this site is personally responsible for commercial country music being so prominent on radio. But then, maybe it is the reason. Because who actually wants to be associated with a hateful and derogatory crowd, like the one presenting itself on here?
Reviews like this support that notion and try so hard to appear as an objective reality and influencer, that anything has to serve this purpose.
I do believe that the lyrics of this song can stand by themselves, but when the only lyrics quoted from the song are taken out of context to purvey a message that is not being said, how far is that from manipulation? Most everyone here will believe it is just another justification for their music (change the channel if you don’t like it), when it is actually trying to remind you, that we should not treat people like the materialistic throw-away culture that surrounds us.
But don’t worry FGL, you cannot do anything right. You get either trashed for bro-country lyrics with no meaning, or the opposite.
December 25, 2018 @ 11:28 am
While I generally disagred with your rant, I agreed with your last sentence.
FGL truly CANNOT do anything right.
And when they inevitably disappear and turn into facebook “remember when” memes full of comments mocking them I’ll be a lot happier
December 25, 2018 @ 8:09 pm
Fuzzy,
Great comment. But of course we are mean-spirited, narrow-minded, homophobic and non-inclusive.
December 26, 2018 @ 1:45 pm
“One of the biggest threats to the integrity of the country music genre at the moment is not just acts like Florida Georgia Line. It’s media outlets and fly-by entertainment personalities writing for major periodicals who solely promote country artists based off of those artists’ political affiliations espoused on social media and in their songs. ”
Excellent line here. And that’s coming from someone who goes out of his way to see Steve Earle and Hank Jr. alike, I don’t mind disagreeing with an artist as long as they put out something that’s worth listening to. Heck, if I only listened to people I found myself in agreement with, politically, I’d have a really small listening catalog.
December 27, 2018 @ 10:32 am
We know they suck. Why did you bother to write an article about them?
December 27, 2018 @ 10:47 am
Why did you pass over five other new articles to leave a comment on a five days old article?
December 27, 2018 @ 11:23 am
Because it was the article on the main page. I don’t control what is put on the website. So thanks for your sarcasm! If they want to talk about saving country, why write article and in essence promote non country. Maybe coming to this website was a mistake?
December 27, 2018 @ 12:10 pm
Rich,
I appreciate your concern. I am glad you found the site, and hope you choose to stick around. 90% of the content on Saving Country Music is positive in manner, and the primary focus is on independent, traditional, and up-and-coming artists. However I also believe that challenging the mainstream, and calling stuff out that claims to be country is a critical aspect to saving country music. It’s artists such as Florida Georgia Line that are keeping the best artists in country from thriving. It’s a shame that these types of negative articles get WAY more attention than the positive stuff, 10 to 1 usually. It’s pretty incredible. And comments like your are some of the most common comments on this site. But staying positive is a two-way street. Saving Country Music writes and publishes many positive articles, but it is up to the public to engage with them as well, otherwise they get downgraded in people’s social media feeds, and all of a sudden, the public thinks that running down Florida Georgia Line is all this site ever does.
Again, I appreciate your feedback. But if you don’t want to see articles like this, by all means avoid them. I’ll always provide many more positive alternatives.
January 30, 2019 @ 7:34 pm
Trigger, when are you gonna git it that creative people ain’t gonna check in for your approval before they put out stuff for the masses? Yep, bright people like me. And yep, people are different. And you’re an arse-ful o’ envy. Get over your messianic delusions. Savin’ Country Music – from what? Where’s your stuff that everyone wants to hear? Again, with apologies to Waylon, “Jus’ leave dem boys alone, let ’em sing their song.” Nothing lasts forever, but FGL’s in the moment. Remember how your forebears hated Elvis and prayed for him? Which moment in time are you and your 50-IQ sycophants calling in from? So deluded. Just have Maalox (not gonna get that either; bet).
July 4, 2020 @ 8:39 am
Oh my, I just came here after listening to (suffering through) Can’t Hide Red. I think this might be the best and most accurate article I’ve ever read in my life!! You go, Trig! Made my day, and Happy 4th of July! There is plenty of bro country and/or modern pop country that is catchy or good, , or at least falls under “guilty pleasure”, but this Brantley Gilbert / FGL stuff that is covertly political and uses the same tired cliches and tropes to pander to other insecure rednecks about “look how country I am! look how redneck I am!” makes me ill. I ask anybody who has to shout who “they are” as often as loud as them, whether in music or on their FB page…”who you trying to convince – me, or yourself?” And we know it’s the latter. Peace!