Maggie Rose’s “Girl In Your Truck Song” (A Rant)
What in the all kinds of actual hell do we have here my friends. I think we have just unearthed the biggest cultural abomination that has ever been classified as “country” music in its 70 year existence. No, I’m not talking bad, awful, terrible, or any other such adjectives. Even those words would seem to instill this embarrassment of Western Civilization with a dollop of undeserved respect. Truth be known, there are songs that officially sound worse than this one out there for sure, or that are more stupid either purposefully or inadvertently. But the degree of slavitude and cultural backsliding celebrated and edified in this song is as abhorrent as it is alarmingly calamitous, and hovers only very slightly, and uncomfortably so, above genuine calls of gender downgrading and the erosion of sexual equality in American society, bordering on downright pleas for date rape. I am severely embarrassed that I have poured my lifeblood into something that utilizes the term “country” in a world where this song exists, and pray that I have the strength to steady my hands enough to coherently compose just how angry this song makes me.
But get this ladies and gentlemen. Before we even get into the heart of this matter, sit back and appreciate that the same exact day the brand new female country duo Maddie & Tae released their first single ever called “Girl In A Country Song”, whose verses include lines and titles of actual “Bro-Country” songs, young Maggie Rose released her song called “Girl In Your Truck Song” …. WHOSE VERSES ALSO INCLUDE LINES AND TITLES OF ACTUAL “BRO-COUNTRY” SONGS.
Yeah, big oops by Music Row as they inadvertently pull the curtain back to expose the inner workings of their institutionalized conveyor belt formulaic and copycat songwriting rubber stamp machine laboring away. “Pay no attention to the man behind the green curtain” they say with blushing cheeks, as they pretty much just released the same exact fucking song, on the same exact fucking day, and from institutions that are only 0.8 miles away from each other on the same exact fucking street on Music Row; only one song has a negative take and the other has a positive one. If there has ever been a moment where the country music industry has trumpeted emphatically how stupid they think you are, this is it.
From the heartfelt yet respectful concerns of some for how young women were being portrayed in country songs, to downright calls of sexism being perpetrated in country music from the “Bro-Country” takedown of the genre, sincere worry was already being transmitted from many sectors about female’s devolving role in the country music format. Now this alarming trend takes a gigantic leap forward (or backward, as it were), as a young woman voluntarily puts herself directly in the path of the misogynistic and materialistic locomotive that is modern day country music by pleading with her overbearing beau captor to allow her to become the subordinate piece of meat that is portrayed in all the worst hits of the “Bro-Country” era.
“Friday night I’m getting ready. Call you up so come and get me. I got my jeans on tight, I’m feeling sexy. Tonight, tonight … I want to be the girl in your truck song, the one that makes you sing along. Makes you wanna cruise, drink a little moonshine down, leave a couple tattoos on this town. Chillin’ out with a cold beer, yeah, hangin’ with the boys round here. Gonna take a little ride, That’s my kind of night. You and me getting our shine on, I wanna be the girl in your truck song. Gonna hop on in, so slide it over. Lay my head down on your shoulder. We can rev it up, or take it slow. I don’t care, I don’t care.”What the fuck did I just read? That has been the concern the entire time with this “Bro-Country” bullshit, that having guys that learned how to treat women from 90’s hip-hop songs dominating country music would result in actual behavioral changes in young women. The entire time we’ve been told, “Don’t be so uptight, they’re just songs.” And here is Maggie Rose not only releasing a song that takes a further subservient step, but then she confirms this is how young women are reacting to this trend, and they’re doing so “all over the country.”
Then Maggie Rose goes on to say, “Don’t fight it; embrace it.” Huh. Is it just a coincidence that these are the same exact creepy words a date rapist utters as he has his way with someone’s daughter?
READ: Maddie & Tae’s “Girl In A Country Song” Anti Bro-Country?
Fuck this song.
July 16, 2014 @ 10:21 am
This is sad. Her previous songs, especially “Looking Back Now”, have been very well-written (although that particular song is too violent for my tastes).
July 16, 2014 @ 10:58 am
Looking Back Now
YouTube’s blocked at my work, but I looked up the lyrics to that song. Holy crap, dude. This woman has absolutely no idea of the concept of irony, apparently.
July 16, 2014 @ 1:07 pm
I agree.
“Looking Back Now” use to be one of my favorite songs. She is a really talented singer. I liked her back when she was Margaret Durante and released it as “Whiskey and a Gun”
This song is just sad though
July 16, 2014 @ 2:47 pm
Totally agree. I have a playlist that starts with Brandy Clark singing about why she didn’t shoot, followed by Rose and why she did twice.
Hopefully this is a blip we’ll all get past, including her.
September 4, 2014 @ 10:47 am
She didn’t write Whiskey and a Gun. It is from Lisa Carver’s 2010 Album Bedtime Stories
July 16, 2014 @ 10:26 am
HAHA! Just saw this song mentioned on Farce the Music this morning and I thought, “Man, I can’t WAIT to see what Trigger has to say about this.” Well done. 😀
And I went to Google for the lyrics. I didn’t find them, but I did find this, from Rolling Stone. Key quotes:
“I travel all over the country and meet men and women who love this music.”
Yeah, well, that’s not exactly a ringing endorsement, of the music OR the people who “love” it.
“I want to be a big player in country music, and this is the kind of music people are gravitating towards.”
Nice to see she’s only in it for the money and fame. ‘Cause that’s just what country music needs, amirite?
July 16, 2014 @ 10:27 am
RS link: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/maggie-rose-puts-the-girl-in-bro-country-song-premiere-20140715
July 16, 2014 @ 11:42 am
Is she running for a congressional seat, or is she trying to obtain a hit single? Sounds more like a stump speech than anything! 😉
July 17, 2014 @ 4:48 am
Yeah, I’ve had that argument with people. People who’ve literally told me “if the music is crap, why are so many people listening to it?”
When someone’s in that mindset, the mindset that “popularity” and “quality” are synonyms, they really can’t be reasoned with anymore. Only pitied. And called an idiot, of course.
July 17, 2014 @ 7:03 pm
Yep, exactly. For instance, McDonalds grosses a lot of sales on a yearly basis.. and I don’t need to comment on the quality to make this analogy work.
July 16, 2014 @ 10:32 am
A-fucking-men, Trigger. I heard this song last week and had to unleash my own rant on it. It pissed me off just as much as it did you. We’ve had great music come from Kacey Musgraves, Lee Ann Womack, Sunny Sweeney and First Aid Kit this year. All very talented female artists that are trying to buck this trend against females in country music and then this damn song wants to undo it all. It’s ridiculous. By the way, RaeLynn, one of Blake’s proteges from The Voice, released a similar song to this one a couple of weeks ago titled “God Made Girls.” Not sure if you’ve heard that one also, but that one pissed me off just as much too.
July 16, 2014 @ 12:29 pm
I’ve heard it and it makes me want to cry.
So sad.
July 16, 2014 @ 10:34 am
You cannot make me listen to this song.
July 16, 2014 @ 10:38 am
I actually liked a few of the songs on “Cut to Impress”. When I heard a few weeks ago she was working with Davidson, I feared the worst.
What is most alarming to me, however, is her comments about the song.
July 16, 2014 @ 10:42 am
Same here, TCS ”” so much so that I posted them as well as the RS link in my comments not even realizing that Trigger had linked to this article. 😉
I mean, really, I can hardly believe any woman would willingly prostrate herself before the bros like Rose seems to be doing.
July 16, 2014 @ 11:23 am
Even not being overly familiar with Maggie’s previous work, I could tell this had to have been some sellout move. I suppose this will be her breakthrough hit, while the Maddie & Tae single gets buried…
July 16, 2014 @ 11:31 am
Not that my track record of predicting the success or failure of songs is anything to boast about, but if I had money to put down, I would put it on Maddie & Tae. Usually when it comes to the mainstream, the worst song wins out, but Maddie & Tae have Scott Borchetta in their corner.
And make no mistake, both camps knew they had similar songs coming out. My guess it was fevered race to get these songs out.
July 17, 2014 @ 10:23 pm
I don’t know about that Trig, My station refuses to play that song because it “talks negatively about other artists”
July 16, 2014 @ 10:44 am
Trigger , Trigger , Trigger …WE FEEL YOUR PAIN .
BUT ..There’s a reason all the Bro-Country artists are CLEANING UP on the charts . In fact there are millions of reasons , apparently , and they are all standing in the front 10 rows at every ” Country” music awards show aired in the past 6-8 years or more . ALL those little girls DO want to be the drunk half naked girl in the Bro-Country Boy’s truck . Maggie is singing FOR THEM not TO THEM . She’s their voice . She’s tapped into the universal emotion those kids all have when they see Luke’s teeth and tush and start fantasizing about being with a ‘bad boy’. Radio has made those Bad Bro Boys cool by finding an audience for them .
Look no further than those apocalyptic reality shows ..Big Brother , Kardashians BACHELORETTE ..whatever the hell they are called…. THEY ALL FIND AUDIENCES WILLING TO SPEND MONEY TO SUPPORT THEIR VACUOUS NATURE . We used to refer to these ‘harmless little forays” as guilty pleasures. However like it or not , we’ve spawned a generation of culture slaves who accept this stuff as the norm without actually questioning the negative repercussions of subscribing to a cult of pop culture .
I’m almost certain that one day soon I’ll either be running an ad for someone to poke my eyes out and deafen me ….. or tell me I’ve just been having a 10 year nightmare and everything’s gonna be OK . I’m not holding my breath !
July 16, 2014 @ 10:50 am
You are taking pop culture way too seriously. It’s meant to be silly and vacuous. Country music, on the other hand…
July 16, 2014 @ 11:13 am
Well, Eric, this pop crap is everywhere. I already cancelled my TV service and don’t listen to most radio. I suppose I’ll have to cancel my internet and live like a hermit to avoid it. When FGL was in town, I was trying to order a coffee in a drive though and couldn’t even hear the cashier talking to me because the outdoor stadium was blasting this stuff all over the city. Do they make sound proof cars? (sarcasm) – sorta………. 🙂
July 16, 2014 @ 12:36 pm
I think the sad state of pop culture is relevant in many ways. Young girls growing up idolize the Kardashians, which I don’t even understand. What do the Kardashians and their ilk even DO, other than whoring themselves out to reality tv? When I was growing up Madonna was the idol, which good or bad, at least meant you were singing and dancing along with her music. That’s something.
Now we have all these “reality” stars who do nothing but appear on reality shows and get famous for it. And someone who’s a young teen now, that’s normal for them. I absolutely believe that’s helped create a culture of shallow narcissism and attention-seeking. Which seeps into everything, including country music.
July 16, 2014 @ 12:45 pm
Pop music is currently pretty much dominated by female singers, including Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Pink, Rihanna, Kesha, and a whole bunch of emerging female artists.
July 16, 2014 @ 7:09 pm
That’s exactly what I was trying to say , Melissa . The level that popular music has fallen to is a symptom of deeper social concerns . Pretty much the slogan written at the top of THIS site by Trigger .
July 16, 2014 @ 11:03 am
http://headlineplanet.com/home/2014/07/15/jason-aldean-responds-maggie-roses-girl-truck-song/
Predictably, Jason Aldean has come out to praise this piece of self-disrespecting garbage.
I mean, why wouldn’t he, right? Two of his hit songs are name-dropped in it, and Aldean’s lead singles in particular subjugate women to the role of tan-legged Juliet trophies.
July 16, 2014 @ 11:25 am
Plus he along with his bro ilk seemed to have all stopped maturing after the age of 17. So it’s no surprise he would praise a song that marginalized women to the point of being a truck accessory.
July 16, 2014 @ 11:33 am
Women as truck accessories. Good analogy.
July 16, 2014 @ 11:41 am
Forgive my ignorance, but doesn’t Justin Moore have some crappy song where he is basically talking about his girl as a hood ornament?
July 16, 2014 @ 11:44 am
I can’t recall, but this IS the guy who cut “I’d Want It To Be Yours”! =P
Not to mention boasts about growin’ Daisy Dukes in Brantley Gilbert’s current hit! 😉
July 16, 2014 @ 11:04 am
This song sucks and its full of cliches, laundry lists and the typical other lazy bullshit, etc., but I’m a little confused on what you’re getting at with the gender equality thing… How should men treat women? As equals?
July 16, 2014 @ 11:35 am
I believe you’re confusing gender for sex here! 😉
July 16, 2014 @ 11:07 am
This is the most awful figure of Country Music I have ever fucking heard, I bet her parents are real proud of her, SMDH! She sounds too much like Taylor Swift(er) lol…Pun intended….Go to hell and go to pop w this BS!
July 16, 2014 @ 11:16 am
What the fuck did I just read?
I had the same thought once I got through the lyrics and her explanation of the song. Good lord, I hope this isn’t a hit. I can handle overt pop influences but cultural backsliding is a completely different and far more damaging issue. This song is so desperate for attention that it’s palpable.
If anything, I’ve been convinced of these few things:
1. We need to quit terming certain songs “the worst,” because inevitably something else will come along and give new meaning to it.
2. We should quit complaining about name-dropping classic artists because now this new blood will just start dropping the names or verses of terrible but huge hits just to fit in.
3. Perhaps instead of basing our criticisms on the idea that a song “isn’t country,” we should come at it from a similar point of view as Trigger did in this article and delve into the actual lyrical content and its implications.
4. Country becoming misogynistic, racist or otherwise hateful and ignorant is FAR worse than losing touch with its sound. You could make the argument that many of these pop country songs are a part of the genre simply because they adhere to the hard-working, family life, blue collar aesthetic, if only superficially. Those ideals have NOTHING to do with ojectification of women or worshiping trucks like they’re some kind of shrine.
July 16, 2014 @ 11:32 am
I agree with most of this, Acca Dacca, although I might argue that the devolving lyrical content of country and its losing touch with its sound and roots go hand-in-hand. And as far as namedropping the greats, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do that, as Brad Beheler at Galleywinter put it:
Namechecking musical heroes of the past must mean something. There”™s a whole generation that only knows Willie Nelson as a marijuana activist that ocassionally makes funny cameos. They don”™t know Phases and Stages or Shotgun Willie. If you”™re going to talk about Willie, talk about his music first. He changed the game and you”™re still playing by many of the rules he created 45 years ago. If you”™re going to mention Hank, do it in the way Matt Hillyer and Jason Boland do, not the way Brantley Gilbert feebly attempts. And so on.
July 16, 2014 @ 11:54 am
I agree that the sound and lyrics go hand-in-hand, but I’ve heard plenty of songs that didn’t sound country or had overt pop influences that I count within the genre because they maintain the spirit of it. Tim McGraw is a good example of this (and of course I mean pre-“Truck Yeah”). As Trigger and others have stated, after his first few albums most of McGraw’s material could pass for simple adult contemporary on a bad day. That said, I’d still call it country, though the extent to which it should be included is highly debatable and dependent on your own feelings about what makes a country song. “Live Like You Were Dying” isn’t honky tonk by any stretch of the imagination but it’s a great song that I gladly consider a part of the genre. I’m obviously splitting hairs a bit and my logic can easily be twisted to include “Lookin’ For that Girl” or “Cruise,” but I hope you get my point.
July 17, 2014 @ 9:26 am
For me, it is impossible to separate the chauvinistic bent of “bro-country” from the decline in lyricism that has occurred in commercial country music generally. The replacement of traditional narrative songs in favor of “lifestyle songs,” once characteristic of commercial hip hop rather than country, made the objectification of the opposite sex in country songs inevitable.
Narrative songs feature characters with desires and intentions. “Lifestyle” songs list artifacts: bonfires, jeans, moonshine, country mixtape, girl, ecetera. Yes, the “girl” in the bro-country song is literally just another artifact.
On the other hand, when one is writing narrative songs about relationships, it is difficult to avoid alluding to the fact that the opposite sex are human beings that posses individual thoughts and feelings and the agency to make decisions. In fact, the existence of both love songs and heartbreak songs are completely contingent upon the fact that it takes two to tango. Even Hank Williams could never have been so lonesome he could cry if his woman hadn’t had the freedom of choice to dump his ass in the first place. The woman in a bro-country song doesn’t seem to have much of a choice at all.
“Git yer little fine ass over here, girl.”
July 17, 2014 @ 9:51 am
Wow, Applejack. Very well put, sir (ma’am?). I didn’t even think about any of that, but you’re absolutely right.
Of course, such analysis seems to be completely beyond the bro-country singers AND their audience. 😀
July 17, 2014 @ 10:37 pm
the pistolero,
Hey, thanks man. Also, I’m a guy, but there’s no need to call me sir. My knighthood with the British empire is still pending. 😉
Yes, I don’t think the bro-country crowd is putting much thought into the lyrical content of these songs, or … anything else. (Just kidding?)
Speaking of analysis, what *really* ticks me off is the preponderance of professional writers at big country music publications who gleefully write editorials assuring us all that mainstream country music is just the same as it ever was. (“You see, country music has always had ‘dumb’ songs: take for instance this lighthearted song written by Tom T. Hall in the 70’s. See? That proves that the critics of ‘bro-country’ are simply misguided fools.” ) That’s usually the point in the article when I vomit.
It seems like those are the people that ought to be providing critical analysis on the music and the ways in which it’s changing, but they’re totally deficient.
Thank God websites like SCM exist.
July 22, 2014 @ 3:37 pm
what *really* ticks me off is the preponderance of professional writers at big country music publications who gleefully write editorials assuring us all that mainstream country music is just the same as it ever was.
Yeah, that’s always pissed me off too. Country music has never been all about the stereotypes. It’s had happy, fun, lighthearted, even dumb songs from the beginning. But I don’t think those dumb songs that make the genre and its fans look bad ever came to completely dominate the genre as they’ve gotten to anymore.
Yes, I know. “That’s just radio! There’s more to country music than that!” Well yeah, but there are a lot of folks who still don’t listen to anything but what’s on the radio, and what kinds of impressions do they get from what they hear? Not good ones anymore, that’s for sure.
July 16, 2014 @ 11:56 am
Other examples I can think of right off of the top of my head is Clint Black’s “When I Said I Do” or Big & Rich’s “Lost in This Moment.” Both very, very adult contemporary sounding, but undeniably country in spirit and aesthetic.
July 17, 2014 @ 10:41 am
I do see where you’re coming from, Acca Dacca, but just the same I think we still need to be careful to watch over the sound of a song, otherwise you run the risk of the genre being defined into oblivion sonically because you could very well get people saying, “Hey, this is a country song! It talks about what a lot of country songs talk about!” (Colt Ford has actually said as much, albeit in different words.) Which brings me to one of my favorite hard rock songs, “Wherever I May Roam” by Metallica. I’ve heard it said (and agree) that it’s one of the best loner songs ever:
And the road becomes my bride.
I have stripped of all but pride, so in her I do confide,
And she keeps me satisfied, gives me all I need”¦
Wherever I roam, where I lay my head is home.
Compare that to Merle Haggard, from 14 years earlier:
My hat don”™t hang on the same nail too long.
My ears can”™t stand to hear the same old song.
And I don”™t leave the highway long enough, to bog down in the mud,
”™Cause I”™ve got ramblin”™ fever in my blood.
Both talk about the same thing. Are they both country? I certainly don’t think so.
July 17, 2014 @ 12:31 am
The misogyny is why after nearing breaking my car radio, I just couldn’t listen anymore. Pop can be catchy or it can be aweful on it’s own terms, but misogyny has no good side. In the year *2014* … hard to believe.
July 16, 2014 @ 11:20 am
Also, between “Girl in a Country Song” and “Girl in Your Truck Song,” which do you guys think will be the bigger hit? Sadly it will almost certainly be the latter. Hell, this might even kill some of the momentum for the former. I’ve had my music conspiracy goggles on all week, so could this be intentional? After all, one is a single song that is condemning a mainstream trend. The other is a song that is praising the trend whilst giving it new life in the form of a song directed at women as opposed to about them (just the “bros”). Sadly I fully expect many female listeners to somehow feel empowered by this song, if only it’s because the it’s from their point of view and telling the boy what THEY want, even if it’s ultimately the same thing bassackwards.
July 16, 2014 @ 11:31 am
My sentiments exactly. Given the audience for this kind of stuff, they’re less likely to gravitate to a song that dares to challenge (however playfully or humorously) the status quo than one that simply endorses it.
July 16, 2014 @ 11:37 am
I still think Maddie & Tae will win out, if for no other reason than Scott Borchetta. But I think releasing them both with diminish both of them, and very could knock the edge off of “Girl In A Country Song” that in my opinion was headed to becoming one of the biggest songs of the year. We’ll see.
July 16, 2014 @ 12:21 pm
Well, I hope you’re right about the Scotty B factor.
July 16, 2014 @ 12:07 pm
The one positive outcome of the whole country-rap movement is that country has at least partially shed its racialized image. When black rappers are prominently featured at country music awards, it will be very hard to call country music racist.
July 16, 2014 @ 1:03 pm
I wasn’t saying that country is racist so much as that is the stigma. Anything associated with the south automatically calls to mind the image of the drunk, ignorant redneck that doesn’t know his butt from a hole in the ground. And regardless of classic artists like Charley Pride, modern artists like Darius Rucker or black rappers being featured on “country” awards shows and memorabilia, that stigma will probably forever be associated with our genre. Brad Paisley didn’t help matters last year when “Accidental Racist” dropped, either (although I sincerely believe both his and LL Cool J’s hearts were in the right place and that they had a point, they just did an extremely poor job of getting it across). All of these laundry list songs don’t help anything, either.
It’s not so much that I’ve heard one that’s racist and moreso that the general idea of most of them is “I’m country trash and proud to be it.” I’m southern myself and am in no way saying there isn’t such a thing as southern pride or being proud of where you come from, but many of these songs try to posit themselves as the direct opposite of the “city” folk. The stereotypical city boy is educated, well read, classy, etc. So, by proxy, laundry list songs are basically saying “we’re ignorant” and being boastful about it when they go by stereotypes. My favorite example of this is Justin Moore’s “Bait a Hook,” in which he basically criticizes a guy for being successful, driving a Prius help the environment and not being an alcoholic.
Unfortunately, the south is still associated with racism. Regrettably, this stereotype still has somewhat of a basis in the real world. See Trigger’s explanation on why Tim McGraw’s new album has an inadvertently racist title in that it refers to a sundown town (and these still exist in certain areas, by the way). Or you could look at a few racist tweets to Darius Rucker. Another commenter here on SCM even told me that his radio station got threatened with harm because they played a Cowboy Troy song.
July 16, 2014 @ 1:15 pm
Sundown towns are blatantly illegal under both the Civil Rights Act as well as every modern Court interpretation of the 14th Amendment, and so I am pretty sure they no longer exist.
As much as I regret to say this, it is rather clear to me that racism is much more prevalent among classic country fans than among modern country fans. Florida-Georgia Line and Jason Aldean seem to be the ones pushing the genre forward on racial attitudes.
July 16, 2014 @ 2:05 pm
Just because something is illegal DOES NOT mean that people don’t still do said thing. I’ve been to tiny speck on the map towns all over the country were I get discriminated because I’m not local, and I’m a 30ish white male from rural Texas.
Also, racists come in every color, shape, size, age, etc…When it comes to racist music fans, rap and hip-hop have been some of the worse offenders. But, its all about perspective.
July 16, 2014 @ 2:15 pm
“When Vanilla Ice invited Flavor Flav on stage at The Arsenio Hall Show, everyone in the studio appeared to go wild””everyone except Hall, who greeted the Public Enemy hype man somberly before politely asking him to wait off stage so he could conduct the interview. A few minutes into a heated Q-and-A session, Vanilla Ice points out that he and Flavor Flav are “homies” and other black rappers are just envious of his success. “Is that why you brought him out, just to show you have a black supporter?” Hall asks. Ice is clearly caught off guard, and the host continues, “I didn”™t see a purpose, it seemed like an unmotivated walk-on, and I wondered why you did it.””
July 16, 2014 @ 2:32 pm
Why are we having this discussion here? Let’s try to stay on topic please people. These race/politics/religion topics can get way out of hand. Thank you.
July 16, 2014 @ 2:35 pm
racism is much more prevalent among classic country fans than among modern country fans.
As Wikipedia so often says: citation needed.
I realize I probably can’t mention Charley Pride in this context without making him sound like “country’s black friend,” but just the same I think reducing him to that is a rather simplistic way of of looking at it. And I’m sure more than a few hip-hop fans would see FGL and Jason Aldean as co-opting and/or appropriating their culture rather than “pushing the genre forward on racial attitudes,” for many reasons that have been discussed in this very space.
July 16, 2014 @ 9:07 pm
You know, I saw a guy selling cocaine on a street corner the other day and also noticed someone who I knew to be a convicted felon (for armed robbery, no less) carrying a gun on his person. Perhaps you should go tell them that there are laws against that behavior, and as such doesn’t exist anywhere else.
July 16, 2014 @ 10:55 pm
Acca Dacca,
Could you please name me one example of a current sundown town?
July 17, 2014 @ 7:26 am
Here in Arkansas there’s a town out past El Dorado (I honestly don’t remember the name) that my friend visited. This friend is a black man in his early 60s. He and my father worked together at the VA hospital for thirty years before they both went to work at a kidney biopsy lab. That’s how I came to know him myself and forge my own relationship with him. He bought some tile from a gentleman in that town and went to pick it up. They were getting along fine when suddenly, the man stopped my friend and said “You really need to leave.” My friend then left and come to find out that there were people in that town that were waiting for sundown to cause him harm.
Now, I’m sure me holding back names makes this story seem fabricated but it happened. Of course you seem to believe that just because something is illegal that it doesn’t exist so I’ll leave it to you to decide whether you believe me or not. It doesn’t really make a difference to me one way or the other. Case in point: I can’t name you a business that has discriminated based on sex or race before but I know it has happened despite what the law says. I can’t name you a murderer but it doesn’t mean people don’t get killed. I don’t personally know any drug dealers but supposedly there’s still a war against the trade. There aren’t any rapists in my neighborhood but it still happens where people aren’t looking. Etc., etc.
However, this is the last I will speak of this. Trigger asked us to let this remain a moot point on this article and for us to focus on the song. I only answered this time because I figured you would take silence as an admission that I don’t know of a “modern” sundown town. I do and I’m ashamed that there’s at least one in my home state.
July 17, 2014 @ 6:47 pm
Have black people who refused to obey this informal sundown rule face any physical repercussions? If so, they should take the townspeople to court.
July 16, 2014 @ 11:29 am
I think the ideas in this song are idiotic but I don’t get the political angle. Yes, some young girls like to party and make out just as much as the boys do… and some of them like hunky dumb dudes driving trucks. Ah….. to be in high school again.
July 17, 2014 @ 8:36 am
The boys in country music have put out hit after hit by talking about women as if they are nothing more than sexy “truck accessories” (to borrow Shane’s terminology above). Now you have a woman singing “Yeah, that’s me, that’s the type of girl I want to be!”
This is shameful. I don’t ever want my daughter to hear this garbage and think that she should strive to be some guy’s “tan-legged Juliet.” She’s only 6 months old, so hopefully this breed of stupidity will be off of the radio by the time she can sing along.
July 17, 2014 @ 8:07 pm
Instead of playing the radio with her around, simply sow the seeds of real country music once bit at a time. A little Waylon, some of the Hanks, a bit of Possum, etc. I don’t ever listen to the radio in my car because I always have my iPod and an auxiliary cable to hook it up with 🙂
July 16, 2014 @ 11:30 am
This song basically proves that misogyny is alive and well and it’s never been solely males and patriarchal attitudes that have reinforced it: it is reinforced between many females as well! =(
As some of you know, I am a sex-positive educator and advocate who, among other things, condemns slut-shaming. So my hatred of this song has nothing to do with the way Maggie Rose or her fellow songwriters physically depict the narrator and how she dresses. Much like I said in one of several criticisms of “Girl In A Country Song”, I didn’t like that final lyric: “Can I put on some REAL clothes now?” because, at best, it implies women who dress in daisy dukes, bikini tops and have tanned legs are fake or phony and, at worst, suggests slut-shaming. I said the song could have easily done without that particular lyric when I otherwise agreed with the song’s broader message in calling out sexism in bro-country songs (albeit playfully).
No: my hatred of the song has to do with how insulting to the intelligence it is, and how Rose reinforces sexism within the commercial genre without a trace of self-awareness. To have the audacity to say in an interview: “There are females embracing that role that all these men are writing about.” is self-defeating and strikes me as a disgustingly disingenuous marketing ploy to draw a marker in the sand between her and Maddie & Tae and pounce on a landmine of an opportunity to finally score a breakout hit single by exploiting audiences who may find Maddie & Tae’s song too hard and want a “bra-country” song.
Especially considering the more-than-suspicious timing of its release, it would be impossible for the songwriters to convince me this came out of any personal experience or sincere sentiment. This is blatant marketing at its most insidious…………….and HOPEFULLY it backfires and target demographics don’t fall for it.
July 16, 2014 @ 11:44 am
Yes, how much do songwriters Gordie Sampson and Troy Verges know about being a young girl trying to grab the attention of a perspective beau?
I hope I did not come across as characterizing Maggie Rose as a “slut” or anything else. I did my best to leave her private life completely out of this. What type of person she is beyond this song I have no idea, and I’m not really sure it’s any of my business, especially because she’s a young woman, and such defaming remarks can be unnecessarily hurtful and out-of-place. Maggie did not write this song, and if it wasn’t for her defending it, I would have tried to deflect as much blame for her and put most of it on the songwriters and label. As she said herself, she wants to be a big star, and so she cut this song. Honestly, I struggled writing this because really these things needed to be said by another young woman. But they needed to be said.
July 16, 2014 @ 11:57 am
No, Trigger, I didn’t get that impression from either of your reviews, just so we’re clear.
I just choose to be vocal in my defence of those who do enjoy dressing or expressing themselves in certain ways, because I DO in fact see a lot of slut-shaming across social media. EVEN when it comes down to women wanting to wear black dresses or fishnet stockings when enjoying a night out on the town, and you often hear people comment: “Oh, she’s just ASKING for it because of the way she’s dressed!” and project the blame towards these women in hypothetical situations of sexual assault.
I desire not to go off on too much of a tangent here regarding this song, but I just wanted to provide a bit of a glimpse to the broader context and reality I see through my primary work………..and how it is no less relevant in the mainstream country music community. But I don’t believe you’re contributing to the problem, and your candid admission and mindfulness in struggling to write this review because you certainly don’t want to speak for young women underscores that.
July 16, 2014 @ 12:49 pm
I’d be interested to hear your’s and Trigger’s review of some of Hank Williams’s most misogynistic songs like : “You’re Gonna Change or I’m Gonna leave” or “I’ll be a Bachelor Till I Die”.
This is not a new topic by any means.
July 16, 2014 @ 3:24 pm
Just because, say, Conway Twitty cut “Tight Fittin’ Jeans” doesn’t excuse anything I’ve already mentioned about the song.
But even on the subject of songs of this ilk, let’s compare and contrast a song like “Tight Fittin’ Jeans” to the songs name-dropped in “Girl In Your Truck Song”.
Firstly, yes: some of the imagery of “Tight Fittin’ Jeans” comes across as a precursor to the most familiar elements of “bro-country”. However, Twitty actually sounds comparatively classier and refers to her as both a woman and a lady in the song, as opposed to a girl. And, secondly, Twitty also offers the female subject a speaking role in the song.
As for a song like “I’ll Be A Bachelor ‘Til I Die”? I’ll agree that a couple of lines in the first verse sound a bit condescending (like the image of her cooling him with a fan in the parlour)………….but calling that song misogynistic would be a stretch in my view. The narrator is simply stating he has no desire to get tied down and commit to marriage. If anything, I’d almost interpret it as a song well ahead of its time that speaks prophetically to the state of marriage today among many. And, in spite of that, Hank makes specifically clear he still desires being there for her if she needs emotional support and thus evidently values the friendship.
I don’t consider “You’re Gonna Change (Or I’m Gonna Leave)” misogynistic either. I’m curious to hear your interpretation as to why you consider this song such. The only remote hunch I have pertaining to your view centers around a lyric in the second-to-last verse: “The way to keep a woman happy and make her do what’s right, is love her ev’ry mornin’, bawl her out at night.” And while I’ll agree the way it’s phrased is clumsy and vague…………when I evaluate the whole of the song, I just don’t get the vibe it harbors a misogynistic tone.
*
Finally, I have to say I find it mildly amusing that some defenders of the song have argued that this is meant to be empowering to women, when the title of the song is “Girl In YOUR Truck Song”.
When the possessive is applied to the second person as is, I don’t doubt that the narrator feels a sense of gratitude toward the subject (which is absolutely fine)………….but one is really going off on a limb to claim it’s empowering in this context.
July 16, 2014 @ 5:04 pm
I’ve always called Conway Twitty the sexual miscreant of country music, and I stand by that today. Still, we’re talking about men. It’s a different thing when it’s women talking about themselves. I guess the classic equivalent would be something like Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man”, but for that song, she’s got 20 “Good Girls Gonna Go Bad”.
July 16, 2014 @ 11:38 am
Granted I don’t live in a huge city, but I have never heard a Maggie Rose song played on my local radio stations, so the “outrage” may be a moot point if no one hears it. That said, I have watched some of her stuff on youtube and she is really talented. I think if this song was performed with a big ol wink it would be great.
July 16, 2014 @ 11:48 am
You know, what bothers most is that I know that country singers are primarily singing songs other people have written. I try to remind myself of this when I hear the next load of Nashville crap come down the line. But that quote right there in the article is what pisses me off about the state of country music today. You should embrace your niche? Something that’s there just to be good looking?
July 16, 2014 @ 11:52 am
Three things to note:
— While I don’t take issue with your hatred of the song (or the genre), I do take issue with the analysis in the second half of this piece.
As it stands right now, women are far bigger supporters of “bro country” than bros. They’re the ones buying the songs and going to the concerts, and they’re not (for the most part) the ones writing blog posts about how much country sucks. Male critics, justified are not, have been taking a very obviously paternalistic approach to the subgenre. They’re protecting women who aren’t asking for protection.
So Maggie is absolutely not wrong to suggest that the women she meets at country shows embody the women in bro country songs. Whether it’s a chicken or the egg thing is open to debate, but it’s definitely an accurate thing.
— The key to this song, as I wrote elsewhere, is the line “Tight jeans on, *I’M feeling sexy.*” It’s not Luke Bryan telling her she’s sexy. It’s her feeling like she looks good. That’s what I hate about so many of the “empowerment” songs (like Colbie Caillat’s new “Try” and even the Maddie and Tae song). They suggest there is an inherent fault in wanting to look pretty. That you can’t take any PERSONAL satisfaction in looking good (and even in catching the eyes of cute guys).
Also – the rest of the song also deals with things she’s doing. Why is she not allowed to be “one of the boys” and get her shine on while riding in a truck? Why do we assume she has no agency and she’s just trucking around as a prop?
— Maddie and Tae might have conceived their song with sincerity, but they’ve already backed away from it. They’re now saying they LOVE bro country songs — and the men who sing them — and wrote the song to poke fun at lyrical cliches and *unrealistic expectations* of women.
Forget the line about how they “used to get a little respect” or how they’re going to slap Thomas Rhett. Now the song is about how women are portrayed unrealistically.
July 16, 2014 @ 12:05 pm
First off, let’s not give the two guys and a girl that sat around a voice recorder in a cubicle farm too much credit for subtly of perspective imbibed into delicately thought out lyrics. They were trying to write a hit, and if it rhymed, it worked. What perspective we should take on how to perceive feeling sexy is not worth a subplot in my opinion.
So Maggie is absolutely not wrong to suggest that the women she meets at country shows embody the women in bro country songs.
Actually Daw, I totally agree, and really that was the entire premise of this rant. It’s one thing for women to be disrespected. It is another for them to feel it is commonplace and expect to be disrespected to the point where they take it as flattery, and that’s what “Girl In Your Truck Song” symbolizes. I don’t see how that somehow lets Maggie Rose or the songwriters or label off the hook. But I completely agree with the setup to your premise.
As for the Maddie & Tae song, I’m not necessarily comparing and contrasting the two at this point. I want to see how they both fare in the court of public opinion. But I do think a song written by two young girls, and one written by three professional songwriters and assigned to an artist are two completely different worlds, and should be dealt with accordingly. But in the end, of course they’re both marketing.
July 16, 2014 @ 12:14 pm
You raise some most worthwhile and reasoned points here.
Here’s where your argument is considerably tested, however:
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1) Two of the song’s three writers are male.
2) This was released at almost the EXACT same time “Girl In A Country Song” was released.
3) This song was produced by Dallas Davidson: the frequent subject of scrutiny surrounding how he depicts women in his lyrics.
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Whether or not there are indeed many women who genuinely like to subsume the bro-country song fantasy (which I’m sure you’re right about based on callout data alone) is hardly the point here. The point here is that this is all blatant marketing. It’s all about demographic claiming much like Gretchen Wilson’s “Redneck Woman” was (at least Wilson had a minor hand in penning that hit, though John Rich wrote the bulk of it).
To suggest Rose has an underlying commentary in this track calling out paternalistic critics or insisting women have agency would be futile here. This song has no such thing. It’s simply intended to command the attention of everyone who may feel “Girl In A Country Song” is a little hard and unfair. That’s really how shallow this is.
July 16, 2014 @ 12:14 pm
Male critics, justified are not, have been taking a very obviously paternalistic approach to the subgenre.
Sigh. It’s as if we just can’t win. If we speak up against this crap we get accused as paternalistic by one side, yet if we don’t we get accused by the other side of promoting rape culture. Frankly, I don’t see why it’s so “paternalistic” for us to want our mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters to aspire to more than what they’re portrayed as in the bro-country trash. The women may not be asking for protection, but there are still those out there who feel they’re being degraded by the bro-country movement, and with all the mentions of sugar shakers, Dixie cups, fine asses and whatnot, it’s pretty easy to understand why.
July 16, 2014 @ 1:18 pm
The best solution here is to treat women as individuals. Some women like the fun associated with bro-country, while others find it disrespectful.
October 29, 2014 @ 3:18 pm
It”™s like, F””d if we do, f””d if we don”™t. We just can”™t win.
July 16, 2014 @ 1:13 pm
In addition to my comment below (which covers some of the same ground), I will say I largely agree with Daw.
Bro-country is making big $$ not based on just under 50 percent of the population buying it; a significant number of women “like” it, too. You can make the chicken-and-egg argument that IF they played strong feminine songs on ClearChannel, then….maybe. But that kind of music is out there if you seek it out. Kasey Musgraves probably got about as close as you can get and while staying inside the “country” box.
And there is a paternalistic bent when us men want women to forgo the cut-off shorts. They have the right to wear them. They have the right to drive trucks. I don’t have a neat, short definition for what a “strong female” is; but it’s not “one who disdains anything a man likes.” I would agree with Trigger that women shouldn’t mistake being disrespected as flattery. But, just as it’s hard to define “strong woman,” it’s hard to define “disrespect.”
Lastly, if you read the interview with Maddie & Tae in Rolling Stone, I see nothing about the creation of the song that sounds different from typical country. They had a male co-writer, mention being in a songwriting session, talk about their team moving fast to get the song out, etc. I’m not buying that they’re starting a female empowerment movement within the genre. They’re capitalizing on the hope from Nashville suits that there’s money to be made off anti-bros.
I’m trying to raise a couple of strong daughters. They don’t like country music at all. While i wish they could see some of merits of what the genre used to/should/could be, I can’t say that I blame them.
July 16, 2014 @ 2:25 pm
Nobody is arguing that it isn’t women themselves that are driving this trend. In fact most of this rant is about that very thing. I think there’s some misconceptions here here about implied or assumed stances. I agree the dissent may be driven in part by parental-type motivations. But yes, the women here are playing a seminal role in this trend, and they’re doing it in a subservient manner that I believe is driven by cultural roles being promoted in misogynistic country songs.
As for Maddie & Tae’s “Girl In A Country Song”, please don’t think that I personally don’t see right through the song as marketing, or see it as some type of antidote to Bro-Country, or the exact opposite of this song. I wrote in detail about this in the review for the song, and in the follow up about how Music Row is looking to capitalize off of ANTI bro-country sentiment. The only reason that song was presented in this context because of the dramatic lyrical similarities. I do think it is a better song overall.
July 16, 2014 @ 2:43 pm
I understand your point. Songs like “Truck Song” do reinforce the subservient image, but I’m not sure how much better “Girl in a Country Song” does (that might be part of your point, as well). I think it again goes back to your chicken-and-egg reference; these gender roles are being reinforced in their churches, home life, etc. Is the music a cause, or a symptom? I’d argue it’s more of a symptom, so I’ll just listen to Sturgill Simpson. But since you’re Saving Country Music, you’re not willing to write it off, and I applaud you.
July 16, 2014 @ 6:06 pm
Nobody is arguing that it isn”™t women themselves that are driving this trend. In fact most of this rant is about that very thing. I think there”™s some misconceptions here here about implied or assumed stances. I agree the dissent may be driven in part by parental-type motivations. But yes, the women here are playing a seminal role in this trend, and they”™re doing it in a subservient manner that I believe is driven by cultural roles being promoted in misogynistic country songs.
Wait, what? Driving this trend?
Look, I’m not going to sit here and act like there aren’t a lot of women who fantasize about being Luke Bryan’s scantily clad beer-bringing sex object. But a lot of comments here are ignoring the reality that the bro country trend was, in fact, geared towards attracting more men to the country genre, specifically more men between the ages of 18-34, men who are accustomed to listening to rock radio.
First, data. As some people who follow me on Twitter know, I would occasionally tweet out demographic-based data from Callout America. That data consistently showed that while yes, females 18-34 supported some bro country songs, they also supported in equal measure songs from males that treat them as human beings and songs from female voices. Diversity. That data also consistently showed that the female 35+ demo, the much-maligned soccer mom demo, strongly disliked songs like Florida Georgia Line/Luke Bryan’s This Is How We Roll and other bro country smashes. Females of all ages favored diversity within the mainstream. It was in fact the male 18-34 demo that created a drag on practically all non-bro country songs, and all songs not sung by a male lead. And the playlists reflected their taste. Another data point: last year’s CMA Awards hit a 9 year high in the Male 18-34 demo (link).
So yes, some women are certainly willing participants in the objectification and one-dimensional portrayal of females by males. But to assume this whole trend is driven by females distorts reality.
If that data’s not enough, go back and read Eric Church’s career creation story, where he talks about how when he started out. Here’s an interview from September 2012:
And here’s Eric’s interview with Spin magazine from this year:
Go back and read that recent Rolling Stone Country article about how to write a country hit, interviewing Craig Wiseman, Shane Minor, & Dallas Davidson. Here’s a direct quote from Craig Wiseman:
Here’s another from Shane Minor:The core country music listener is probably the guys that lost rock & roll before Nirvana came along and the hair bands [died out]. So, we”™re probably the closest things they have.
As other comments show, not one of those writers is even thinking about writing to a female target. Davidson shows his disdain for soccer moms in that article, as well. Read any radio discussion about country radio’s ratings, and country personnel will crow while rock radio personnel will admit with chagrin that country radio has picked up a lot of former rock radio listeners.
Rock radio has an even worse gender imbalance than current country radio. And rock radio as a format had gotten to the point in the past decade where feedback from female fans was no longer solicited by radio stations trying to program playlists (link). The result was, predictably, a further choking off of rock radio’s audience. That is where country radio was headed, but recognizing the issue, the industry seems ready to pivot.
I think it’s important to properly diagnose the problem here. Mainstream country for the past few years has been chasing after the 18-34 male demo, and yes, it is perfectly happy to accept the demo of young females who go for the guys who like the bro country anthems. That’s the demo who Maggie Rose is aiming “Girl In Your Truck Song” to, but Maddie & Tae are aiming for a different demo with “Girl in a Country Song.” Scott Borchetta mentioned in the Maddie & Tae EPK that there hasn’t been an act to mobilize the teenage female demo at country since Taylor Swift. “Girl in a Country Song” aims to do that, and the label also hopes that the song will gain support from adult women who dislike bro country for its misogynistic tendencies.
In other words, Dot Records is hoping to mobilize a different demo than the bro country core currently driving country radio playlists. Why? Because the industry seems to agree that whatever gains have taken place from that demo are played out. It’s time to chase a new demo and take advantage of the mainstream media buzz the shift will generate.
Bottom line: both genders are part of the bro country problem on the fan side (and now that Maggie Rose has entered the gray, on the performing act side too), and both genders are part of the solution, on the fan side and the performing artist side.
By the way, Caitlyn Smith, Gordie Sampson, and Troy Verges are all terrific songwriters IMO, which makes it disappointing that they’re responsible for the song. It is in no way reflective of the quality and orientation of their usual work, so I agree this is just an instance in which they were writing to radio.
July 16, 2014 @ 8:28 pm
As always Windmills, you’re completely correct.
I think what I was trying to say by saying, “Nobody is arguing that it isn”™t women themselves that are driving this trend” is to drive home the idea that I believed that women did have a role in what was going on. My response was to the 3rd comment on this article saying that I was making women out to be the victims solely, without giving them proper due for helping perpetuate the “Bro-Country” trend. So maybe in my third time responding to this, I drove it home a little too forcefully, wanting to stamp out this misconception. In the end I think we’re all in agreement here.
I think what were seeing with all of this demographics baiting in country music is what can happen in a music environment that lacks diversity: you swing from one trend to another, chasing demographics states, trying to hit the sweet spot, instead of a sincere purpose of trying to find the best music and serve it to the public. I know, country music is a business and everyone needs to get paid. But just like any business investor will tell you, a diversified portfolio is the gets to a healthy financial environment.
July 16, 2014 @ 11:55 am
One issue with this article: the date rape comparison is unfortunate. The “don’t fight it; embrace it” comment refers to song styles, not sex.
July 16, 2014 @ 12:16 pm
One of the markers of date rape is women feeling like they’re obligated to fulfill sexual roles in situations. Nobody said that quote was about sex, but I think the parallels are ominous, and that’s why I made them.
July 16, 2014 @ 12:20 pm
Date rape involves either force or intoxication, not a feeling of obligation. If it were about obligation, it would be pressure but not rape.
My point is that feelings of disrespect are highly subjective, and many women seem to be enjoying their portrayal in bro-country. I think it would be better to just focus on the quality of the songs instead of going too far with the misogyny angle.
July 16, 2014 @ 12:44 pm
You’re correct on the proper definition of date rape.
http://blog.fair-use.org/2008/05/17/susan-brownmiller-on-statistics-stranger-rape-and-acquaintance-rape-from-against-our-will-1975/
Of course, it is to be understood that “date rape” was only first termed relatively recently. Feminist author Susan Brownmiller is credited to be the one who first coined that term in a 1975 publication.
Many scholars still contest the scope and proper definition of the term, however, so to distinguish it from acquaintance rape (which focuses on relationships of various sorts in a broader sense)
July 16, 2014 @ 2:28 pm
“many women seem to be enjoying their portrayal in bro-country”
This has been brought up numerous times in this comment section as if this is a point of contention. Nobody is saying these women are not voluntarily submitting themselves to this trend. The question is why, and what does it say about society that women are accepting, embracing, and now celebrating subservient roles?
July 16, 2014 @ 8:21 pm
I don’t like the use of “subservient role” here. if this song was written exclusively to a boyfriend I’d see no problem in it other than being shittily written. I think the danger is more in this girl is literally offering herself up as a “hood ornament” to any good ol boy with a jacked up truck. it’s creating a whole new crop of girls to be taken advantage of and for any bro country douche it’s gonna be like shooting fish in a barrel. it’s saying “hey if you get drunk and throw yourself at a guy it will make you cool and desirable to him.”
but maybe I’m just misunderstanding what you mean by “subservient role” here.
July 16, 2014 @ 10:52 pm
In my opinion, it says that women have already become so powerful in society that many of them do not care if they are not portrayed in a chivalrous manner in songs.
July 16, 2014 @ 12:03 pm
Amen. I already commented on this over at Farce the music, but I’m just sickened by this song and even more so by her comments to rolling stone. With all the struggles young women face, to have a fellow young women come out and say “you can find your niche if you don’t fight it, just embrace it” is almost shockingly irresponsible. Does she seriously not get the undertones there? Thank God for Kacey Musgraves giving young women a real voice.
July 16, 2014 @ 3:04 pm
I’d like to add that from the perspective of “saving” country music, this song doesn’t worry me much. It might be a small top 10 hit, it might go nowhere. But if anything, a song this hack is a sure sign of a dying trend.
From the bigger perspective of the culture of young women, I find this and especially Rose’s comments in RS quite troubling. I think some women are taking on the “if you can’t beat em join em” mentality just for acceptance (though they may not be self-aware enough to realize it). These women feel overpowered, because they lack something EMpowering. At least the Maddie & Tae song strikes the right note there, regardless of its intentions.
And some women are probably just drinking and partying and having a good time, which is perfectly fine. Not everyone has to be Susan B. Anthony all the time. But I think statements like “Don”™t fight it; embrace it” are incredibly harmful, to music, to women, to culture as a whole. Go against the grain!
July 16, 2014 @ 12:05 pm
Thank God for Sunny Sweeney’s new album for next month. I’m just gonna go jam to her pandora station now.
July 16, 2014 @ 12:16 pm
I can’t wait! Sunny is awesome.
July 16, 2014 @ 12:20 pm
Hopefully we won’t wake up hearing…..
Sunny Sweeney: “………..oh, about that. Actually, I woke up the other day and realized: ‘Yeah, country music DOES need to evolve, and I actually have been very close-minded about bro-country! So I got together with the Peach Pickers and Chris Brown and we wrote this truckin’ awesome, dope new song called ‘Hell Truckin’ Yeah I’m Country, B****! It’s so awesome it’s actually hashtagged in the official title!”
😉
July 16, 2014 @ 12:07 pm
Don’t worry friends, this song will go no where for a few reasons. First off it’s far too derivative. The ideal audience for this song would rather listen to an actual truck song by Luke Bryan rather than some girl singing a generic song about being in the Luke song.
As stupid as mainstream audiences can be they can spot a ash grab when it’s this transparent. Think of that movie Vampire Academy from earlier this year. As dumb as Twilight fans are, they could tell a movie with that name was just an attempt to cash in and the movie bombed. The same thing will happen to this girl.
Plus remember Triggers view that Bro-Country ended over 6 months ago and we’re just blowing through the excess inventory at this point. We’ve probably just got a few more bro songs to sit through, and this by the numbers song does not have what it takes to kick life back into that fading sub-genre.
So fear not, this song will only ever enjoy life residing on the playlists of female tween “country” fans alongside some 5 year old Taylor Swift tracks and that first song from The Band Perry.
July 16, 2014 @ 1:16 pm
Something tells me you’re looking at different numbers than the rest of us. Twilight didn’t even REMOTELY bomb, much less its sequels. However, if you’re speaking of some rip-off with the same name I can’t say I know what it is.
July 16, 2014 @ 2:46 pm
Re-read my comment, I’m not talking about Twilight bombing. I’m talking about Vampire Academy, a movie that came out earlier this year, which was an obvious attempt to cash in on the Twilight fan base.
But like I said, as dumb as Twilight fans are, they saw right through it and Vampire Academy bombed at the box office.
July 17, 2014 @ 8:13 pm
Whoops. I actually read past that line by accident. Disregard that comment, sir 😛
July 18, 2014 @ 5:38 am
It’s all good my friend
July 16, 2014 @ 12:08 pm
And the thing that pisses me off the most about this song? Maggie Rose’s former single, “Better” was actually great. I thought she had the potential to follow the path (or arrow 😉 ) carved by Kacey… oh well. Just another singer put to death by the Nashville machine
July 16, 2014 @ 12:10 pm
I’ve been fascinated by all the love for the Maddie & Tae song…I listened to about half of it, and found it to be just as cliché as any of the bro-country songs (from the overwrought country accent right on down to the lyrics). The interview I saw with Maddie & Tae in Rolling Stone made it pretty clear they are a Nashville creation — they told the story of having a list of bro-country clichés that they got into the song, very work(wo)manlike. There’s no new ground being covered in the lyrics — “Well shaken”™ my moneymaker ain”™t made me a dime/And there ain”™t no sugar for you in this shaker of mine” may be mistaken for female empowerment by some — it’s not.
Periodically, the country music world gets enamored and hangs the “rebel” tag on some female just because she disses some guy’s truck. We’re not covering new ground when the little lady gets sassy. Truly strong female songs would get nowhere in pop-country.
“Girl in a Country Song,” in my mind, is no different from “Girl in Your Truck Song” — they are both churned out by a Nashville machine looking to make money. For all the talk about positioning these two songs on opposite sides of the spectrum, I wouldn’t be surprised if the same label had released them to hedge their bets.
The truth is, the people (both men and women) buying pop-country music are likely to identify with “Truck Song” just as much as “Girl in a Country Song.” I well remember my mom telling me when I was quite young that she didn’t think a woman could be President because she wasn’t cut out to handle the job. My mom likes country music — I’m not saying she represents 100 percent of the demographic — but she represents a majority, I believe.
July 16, 2014 @ 1:08 pm
Hmm I don’t know if I agree with the no woman president thing… However, show me a woman who would tell Luke Bryan that he was a chauvinist pig over “hopping up in his truck” for a few hours and I will show you a liar. Overhyped Maddie and Tae included.
July 17, 2014 @ 10:43 pm
Kacey Musgraves, Brandy Clark (trick question), Ashley Monroe (if he doesn’t have weed), any of the older female singers.
July 16, 2014 @ 12:25 pm
Truth be told, I walked away from “country” music over a year ago. Someone message me when real country music returns.
July 16, 2014 @ 2:19 pm
This is your first time on this site, isn’t it?
July 16, 2014 @ 12:41 pm
Chase Rice has responded to this song. And it’s taking every ounce of self-control for me not to respond to his bullshit:
https://twitter.com/ChaseRiceMusic/status/489485784748425217
July 16, 2014 @ 12:46 pm
Chase Rice: a lionhearted, fearless feminist activist!
Who knew? 😉
July 16, 2014 @ 12:47 pm
Frankly, these guys are just feeding off the criticism. The best way to deal with them is to ignore them completely.
July 16, 2014 @ 4:47 pm
Chase Rice tries way too damn hard. He’s the worst of them all in my opinion, and I hope the bro bubble pops before he has a chance to get established on radio.
July 16, 2014 @ 4:55 pm
I think Chase Rice very well may be the guy without a chair when Bro-Country officially dries up. Which in truth, it already has. We’re just working through excess inventory.
October 20, 2014 @ 2:20 pm
I actually found this site via Google, of all things. I’m originally from NY but made FL my home for over 10 years now. Growing up, I was a hip-hop/rap junkie until the genre became redundant and incredibly generic. So I found hard rock/metal and country instead.
I’m a part of the demographic that country radio panders to these days, but I can tell you that I am NOT a fan of this Bro-Country bullshit. It doesn’t matter if its coming from Tyler Farr, Luke Bryan or the boy band posing as a country duo FGL (if anything, FGL can stand to learn a few things from the true country duos from the past. Brooks & Dunn come to mind, among others). As for Maggie Rose’s song, it really just helps keep the Bro-Country trend going.
Instead of giving songs like this the time of day, I’ll go listen to Sturgill instead. Thank God for Rhapsody and being able to pick and choose the music that I want to listen to. If it doesn’t have substance (which most Bro-Country songs DON’T), ain’t a chance in hell you’ll catch me melistening to it.
July 16, 2014 @ 12:43 pm
and then girls wonder why guys stop talking to them and flirting after they give them their way. I bet this girl thrives off the amount of “likes” she gets from posting selfies of herself on Instagram and hashtagging “hillbilly” “countrygirl” “redneck” and “countryboy” on them to make sure she grabs the attention of some Brantley Gilbert wannabe who lives five states away. a little self respect goes a long way with guys, and when it don’t you quickly find out they’re not the guys worth your makeup and fake tans anyway. I feel so bad for the crop of girls eating this song up who have yet to learn these life lessons
July 16, 2014 @ 1:01 pm
Maggie Rose is from Potomac, Maryland.
Let that sink in for a second.
I’m sitting in my Potomac, Maryland office right now. I take a glance out the window and I see more luxury cars than anything else in the parking lot. A Ferrari is 3 cars down from the Maserati which happens to be parked across from a Rolls Royce.
This is one of the wealthiest areas in the world. If you’ve ever been here you’d know what I’m talking about. She went to a very expensive private school. She grew up in a multi million dollar house.
How the fuck is this girl in the country music business in the first place. I doubt she had ever seen a truck by the time she was 18. Maybe a snow plow or the gardener’s truck that came to take care of her mansion’s landscaping.
This pisses me off.
July 16, 2014 @ 1:09 pm
One does not have to be from a certain economic or even cultural background to enjoy country music.
July 16, 2014 @ 1:27 pm
Quite right Eric. Though i believe his argument is what does she know about country music or anything related? It’s like a guy rapping about ghetto life when he has never been in one.
July 16, 2014 @ 2:12 pm
Pretty much.
July 16, 2014 @ 1:22 pm
That type of criticism is why we have songs like this. “Girl in Your Truck Song” is a laundry list tune if there ever was one, the laundry in question just happens to be a tad different than usual. Laundry list songs have come into more and more prominence as of late because of the huge dissent against modern country music’s direction. I’m not saying that criticism is unfounded by any stretch, but these artists are trying to save face by blowing stereotypes off in their lyrics. Heck, even David Allan Coe made one of these when people said he was country (“If that Ain’t Country” and I believe “Long Haired Redneck” mentions a line or two about his “cred.”) As Trigger and others have stated, the first requirement of good modern country music is respect for the roots of the genre and substance, not growing up in a trailer park in Texas. Let’s not forget that Merle Haggard and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band are from California.
July 16, 2014 @ 1:24 pm
Also, growing up country doesn’t guarantee anything of the sort. As far as I know Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan are “real country” boys but they make poppy music. Colt Ford is as well and look at his output.
July 16, 2014 @ 2:16 pm
Luke Bryan has some very “country” songs.
I was just making the point that this girl never experienced any of the things in this songs which makes it even worse in my opinion. She’s literally just feeding into the hot trend to try to get a hit. Hopefully it backfires on her.
July 18, 2014 @ 12:43 pm
The trend point notwithstanding, let’s not forget that Johnny Cash never shot a man in Reno, wasn’t a boy named Sue nor did he break his rusty cage. You see what I mean? It certainly helps the song to have had the experience but I don’t think it’s required. Billy Ray Cyrus might have had an achy breaky heart at one time and Flordia Georgia Line might have cruised down a backroad with a girl, but that doesn’t make those songs very good does it? I’m not defending this song or Maggie Rose, but claiming someone has to experience something to make a song about it is missing the point.
July 16, 2014 @ 1:18 pm
The age old “test” of moral values is the question ” If your kids were starving and you had no money , would you steal a loaf of bread to feed them ? 99 times out of 100 the reply is ‘Yes …of course’.
Ok …so here’s a stretch , to say the least , . When an industry is in dire straits financially and employees , families , contracts , mortgage payments and other overhead threaten to put it under , are they not somewhat obligated to producing whatever will sell by the truckload to meet all of those obligations and commitments ? Well guess what – the music industry IS in dire straits. This is no secret to anyone at this juncture and there are countless articles and stats to illustrate and support the fact . There is no ‘mad money’ around to invest in and nurture artists . There is no time for a label to allow a groundswell of support to develop for something they ‘believe in ‘ . They need cash flow NOW ..and the paying customer just ain’t paying any more so the industry needs to find a more desirable ‘impulse purchase’ for a younger , less discerning customer. They are just doing what they need to do to survive . The Music , Movie and TV industries are not government funded Arts Councils or public mandated guardians of social mores and values. They are selling breakfast cereal for the ears , as it were . Throw in some candy , peanuts HEAPS of sugar , a funny picture of a bear on the box , a coupon for another free box etc..etc..-anything the buyer is willing to pay for , stopping short of being illegal . Nutritional , educational and moral content is not a factor , if it ever really was. We can only hope that REAL artists continue to understand this sad but necessary business approach to the marketing of entertainment and MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE themselves . Yes , that is , indeed , expecting a lot .
Most of us don’t make the right choices for ourselves about so many things …particularly , and ironically , our health . We eat poorly , we sleep far less than we should ,drink too much, we don’t exercise our bodies OR our brains the way we KNOW we should . Sadly , any significant changes to our unhealthy lifestyles has come about through legislation – new laws that TELL us what to do . We knew cigarettes were unhealthy for decades ….even had medical proof . BUT it took legislation to force us by law to do something about it in our individual lives. The same with diet . We know we eat shit and we are , as a society , very ill because of those choices. Now we see legislation pending which will force us to eat better by way of policing the providers .
Unfortunately ,however , we’ll wait a long time for government to legislate cultural changes to improve what we are exposed to entertainment -wise . WE need to make the choices for the industry to understand that we’ve had our fill of fluff and non-nutritional , watered -down and, in many cases, insulting and demeaning ‘product . We do it by turning off all of this garbage and seeking out something more meaningful , more substance-filled , more in line with what we know is healthy for our bodies and our souls .
Yeah , yeah ,….I know . ‘Over-the-top , Albert ‘.
But I’d gamble that a part of every one of us knows all of this to be true .
July 16, 2014 @ 1:30 pm
Albert,
The idea that it took legislation to change food and smoking habits is just dead wrong. Smoking has declined dramatically over the last 50 years even in places where the laws have not changed. Food habits have become far healthier without any laws (fat and cholesterol consumption has declined massively over the decades). In some cases, popular culture has actually gone overboard on fat consciousness, as is evidenced by the rigidness of the thinness ideal.
It is unfortunate that you would use this blog to promote authoritarian government policies. For me, free speech in entertainment is an absolute red line. I may hate bro-country, but I will defend to the end people’s right to sing it.
July 16, 2014 @ 2:01 pm
Eric . Perhaps I should qualify my points by saying that I know these things to be true here in Canada and was quite sure America and other countries had taken the same steps .
Smoking has been outlawed in every public place here in Canada including parks and beaches …anywhere outside of your own property AND where second -hand smoke will not harm a child – which means in your OWN home ) Our schools have been ” persuaded” by grants etc..to remove vending machines selling anything but healthy snacks . Contracts with large soda pop and candy manufacturers ( which included subsidies to school programs for stocking THEIR product exclusively , in many cases ) have been terminated. My point was that it is unfortunate that these kinds of fundamental concerns needed to be addressed by law to be implemented on a scale that makes a difference. In particular where a society’s health is concerned . I realize Canada’s approach to health care IS somewhat different to other countries and is more socially oriented cost -wise which , of course , gives governments a vested interest in a country’s health. Yes …thinness is an issue unto itself- but again ..its an issue perpetuated by our cultural obsession with making money from our vanities and impressionable natures….. the same way , ironically , obesity is a by-product of industries making money from a culture’s lack of wherewithal and/or addictive predilections ,very often , to address it individually .I think most of us in these times are aware of what constitutes a healthy diet…yet it still takes these unilateral initiatives by governments to implement the changes at times .
I’m not suggesting government should be involved in ‘policing ‘ the arts in the same way .I’m suggesting that we have the capacity and the technology to make far better choices about what is available to us and the onus is on us to send a message by making those choices and not just accepting what the media selling those products feeds us . They are doing THEIR job . We need to do ours .
July 16, 2014 @ 11:02 pm
I think we just have fundamentally different worldviews about the role of government in regulating lifestyle choices.
With regards to music, the fact is that the Internet has given listeners more choices than ever before. The key lies in more effectively marketing the lesser known options, and that is where SCM and similar sites become essential.
July 16, 2014 @ 1:26 pm
I actually discovered Maggie Rose a few years ago with a single, “I Ain’t Your Mama” which I really like. When I heard this new single a day or two ago I was greatly disappointed. She’s obviously sold out to the record company and music row with this horrendous song that I believe was purposely released to counter “Girl In A Country Song”. This will be the only time I will wish that Scott B. has success with a song.
July 16, 2014 @ 9:09 pm
I think we may be rooting for Scott Borcheta more in the coming days
July 16, 2014 @ 1:43 pm
Well, I can’t actually remember even hearing of Maggie Rose before, so ”¦ yay for first impressions like this. :p
July 16, 2014 @ 2:11 pm
It’s incredible how culture falls off the rails from time to time. I just hope it’s able to correct itself. I am active in a few different circles around the media and internet. They all have little to nothing to do with each other, yet they all seem to be stuck in the same rut. It’s the greedy and out of touch trying to dictate what real, flesh blood and soul human beings ought to be doing. It’s a control aspect at work, for sure. I’m always the last guy to dog on capitalism, and have often disagreed with Trigger’s stance that corporate Nashville is obligated to ‘do’ or ‘stop’ doing anything. However, I think it would be wise for them to take a step back. Look at what happened at the Luke Bryan shows, or Dallas Davidson’s recent pubescent-style meltdown. You can only pervert your brand so much before it destroys you. At this rate, they’re not only pushing garbage music, they’re plowing over any attempt at real art. What happens when drunken looting becomes violence, rape, and rioting? Here’s an example of macho stupidity being promoted and lusted after, which can only serve to empower legions of scumbags to up the ante on aggression and over sexualisation. Let this garbage create a few media headlines and see what happens to the revenue stream.
As an avid NRA member/ gun rights supporter, let me tell you a thing or two about culture and what a few idiots can do for your cause…
July 16, 2014 @ 2:25 pm
As an avid NRA member/ gun rights supporter, let me tell you a thing or two about culture and what a few idiots can do for your cause”¦
You wouldn’t happen to be talking about Open Carry Texas, would you? 😀
On topic, you’re absolutely right about art getting pushed aside for garbage. We can go round and round all day long about being paternalistic vs. wanting our women to be portrayed as more than just truck accessories, as Trigger and Shane so astutely put it, but there’s so much more wrong with the bro-country movement than that ”” specifically, that it seems to discount everything else that country music is about, that it reduces our existence to one big party. Life’s not a party for a bunch of folks at all, let alone constantly. Like I’ve said before, there’s nothing wrong with singing about drinking around a bonfire and whatnot, but there’s more to life than that, and there ought to be more to country music than that. And not so long ago, there WAS more to country music than that.
July 16, 2014 @ 3:17 pm
Exactly. Country music used to be about the OPPOSITE of that. Hard times, real life, working mans blues, and maybe a six pack on Friday night if your check was big enough. Just like some of the political movements and cultural movements lately, country music is morphing into what it used to be against, for the sake of power and advancement. The purists are left to look like the outcasts while the new wave dictates the direction of the movement/ genre. They’ll end up turning it into a laughing stock (if they haven’t already).
I’m so glad genuine folks like Sturgill Simpson are finally getting recognition for being able to keep to real while still being innovative. Problem is no big record label would ever let somebody like that alone to their own imagination.
July 16, 2014 @ 3:12 pm
I think the biggest problem with this is that she admits its not good and still is doing it. At the very least, someone like Jason Aldean at least thinks his own music is good. She clearly is saying, “I know I shouldn’t make songs like this but it’s going to sell so here we go”.
July 16, 2014 @ 3:15 pm
Seeing how she’s down with the “bros” using women and objectifying women,I guess it’s okay to say she’s got some GREAT Titties!
Or is there a bro country term that sums that up?
July 16, 2014 @ 4:23 pm
If there isn’t yet, I’m sure Montgomery Gentry are working on it.
July 16, 2014 @ 5:48 pm
FGL will beat them to it.
July 16, 2014 @ 3:53 pm
I’m actually surprised no one has talked about the single cover yet.
Even that looks creepy to me: with the way the driver’s face is blurred out somewhat but you can tell he is smirking…………..while Maggie Rose can’t help but appear somewhat uncomfortable in how stiff her expression and pose is and her teeth flashing somewhere between a grin and a grimace.
I’ll be the first to admit I over-analyze often and this is probably no exception here. But the single cover nonetheless looks a bit creepy to my eyes.
July 16, 2014 @ 9:03 pm
Yes, and notice how she’s also bending forward ever so slightly to put more emphasis on her cleavage. I think Trigger nailed it when he drew up the comparisons to date rape and gender equality. It’s even worse that this girl is so bereft of what this means for her and other women that she endorses the song by saying that everyone should just play their part. I hope she enjoys her right to vote.
July 16, 2014 @ 3:57 pm
http://headlineplanet.com/home/2014/07/15/luke-bryan-cole-swindell-address-girl-truck-song/
Cole Swindell and Luke Bryan (predictably) have also offered their endorsements for “Girl In A Country Song”.
The article actually also mentions Jana Kramer offered her approval as well.
July 16, 2014 @ 4:25 pm
It just hit me what this song is. It’s like bad country music fanfiction.
July 16, 2014 @ 4:33 pm
No. No. Please no. This is awful. Absolutely terrible. America is gonna eat this song up and then lick up the crumbs.
July 16, 2014 @ 7:36 pm
I don’t care for either song. It’s so hard for me to take any of these new women singers seriously, and I don’t even know why. Quit trying to fit in or stand out and just make good music!
Good Lord. It’s like I’m at work, watching all the managers and wannabees trying to kiss up to each other… and they think I’M the crazy one for making fun of and being disgusted with them.
July 16, 2014 @ 10:32 pm
Just when I thought things were looking up for country music… Dallas Davidson gives us all the middle finger.
July 16, 2014 @ 11:05 pm
Ugh again! Trig why focus on the negative. You gave the song 2 guns down great. Boy how many bro-country types come on this site? There is so much great country music that you should be focusing on. As country music fans we may not be able to bring bro-country down. However, as a whole we should be able to “save country music.” Maybe not all at once but maybe one artist at a time. The 80’s had George, Ricky Van and Skaggs and my favorite Keith Whitley. But when Randy came to town…that was the day of reckoning.
Brother keep it real please. All you did was give this song publicity. And as the saying goes there is no such thing as bad publicity. I am just one cat but it’s time to focus on the positive. My suggestion, which may not mean crap to you. But have a site where people can forward songs to you via facebook etc. And every weeks or so post those on your site and how we can support those guys/gals. Lot’s of respect to you my friend.
July 17, 2014 @ 12:06 am
This again? How many times am I going to have to address this concern?
Look. This article, this rant right here, has gone and will go farther to promoting the ideals of independent music and the artists that adhere to them then 20 album reviews, and 20 song reviews combined. I could hold your hand and walk you through all the steps of why this is the case, but I have done this so many times at this point that it makes me want to vomit even thinking about it. I understand that you may have not seen any of that discourse, even though I have posted it probably 200 times at this point, including dedicated articles about this very subject (including this one https://savingcountrymusic.com/why-criticize-bad-music).
Saving Country Music is posting more album reviews, more song reviews, more positive features on artists than it ever has. And if your eyes gravitate to the ONE negative article out of 13 on the entire home page, a news story on Dallas Davidson notwithstanding, and including the latest article I posted that is at the very top of the page and includes a huge list of cool Canadian country artists to check out, then it says more about your browsing habits than it does my content.
I am just one cat but it”™s time to focus on the positive.
No. you, not me, chose to focus on the negative by coming to this article, and not the 12 other articles, and leaving a comment here, and not there. Have you ever picked up a newspaper or a magazine and found every single article fit your particular tastes? Of course not. If you don’t want to read the negative, DON’T READ IT. But in DROVES, THIS content is the content people choose to read 10 to 1 to the positive, yet I’m the one that is getting shit for it.
Not all the sacrifices I’ve made in my personal life, not all the financial sacrifices including not knowing where I’m going to pay my bills next month, not dealing with bullshit accusations like how Saving Country Music promotes child molestation, not the numerous death treats I’ve received over the years, nothing, NOTHING makes me want to shut Saving Country Music down and walk away more than this type of comment, especially after I have doubled my efforts to bring more positive music coverage than ever before.
You want positive stuff? Here it is. Now someone, ANYONE, actually go fucking read it.
Just from the last 7 days:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/corb-lund-lindi-ortega-land-canadian-country-nominations
https://savingcountrymusic.com/album-review-old-crow-medicine-shows-remedy
https://savingcountrymusic.com/the-metamodern-rise-of-sturgill-simpson-a-timeline
https://savingcountrymusic.com/willies-granddaughter-raelyn-nelson-looks-to-make-her-own-name
https://savingcountrymusic.com/song-video-review-the-tillers-willy-dear
https://savingcountrymusic.com/tommy-ramones-country-music-love-ran-deep
https://savingcountrymusic.com/10-badass-kris-kristofferson-moments
https://savingcountrymusic.com/mary-sarah-bridges-the-old-new-in-new-album
PS Marc, I don’t mean to insult you, or make a public example of you. But this has become the mother of all slanderous and inaccurate accusations against Saving Country Music, and I no longer have the clear mental state to handle it with anything but vehement rejection.
PPS: Fuck Facebook. Facebook killed underground music, and if it has its way, it will kill Saving Country Music. And that has never been more evident than in the last 24 hours. I have a system set up for people to submit their music to be considered for coverage. If they’re too lazy to use it, and instead want to blame me for their music dreams not being realized, that’s their problem. Nobody has a right to be heard. You want my attention? Then wow me.
Sorry for any unpleasantness Marc, and thanks for reading.
Kyle “Triggerman”
July 17, 2014 @ 1:32 am
Now, THAT was a hell of a rant!
By the way, have you considered getting a guest writer for SCM? I think someone like Noah Eaton could fulfill that role very well…
July 17, 2014 @ 1:38 am
Sorry, got disconnected. I get the immpression that you have heard the concerns that I have expressed many times before me. There may be a reason why.
Honestly Trig as much as I respect you and this site it is quite disappointing that my comments would offend you more than someone comparing this site to promoting child molestation. I guess at this point I as a reader will have to distance myself from this site. I wish you and all the readers the best and hope you continue the cause.
July 17, 2014 @ 1:53 am
The way I interpreted that comment is that outlandish accusations are less hurtful than ones that are seemingly reasonable on the surface but are fundamentally not true.
The idea that SCM promotes child molestation is so idiotic that it is worth a good laugh (though, to be clear, SCM comments in the early days could get into ad hominem territory to a rather extreme extent, sometimes even stretching into threats of violence).
However, when a writer spends much of his life writing reviews to help popularize unknown artists, and word spreads that he only writes negative articles, the writer will naturally feel a deep sense of hurt and anger.
July 17, 2014 @ 11:55 am
Marc,
I apologize if you think I was comparing you to people who accuse me of child molestation. I personally can’t see in any way how you could come to that conclusion, but if you took it that way, I’m sorry. The point I was trying to make is that this particular sentiment that I do not talk positively enough about music, especially after the years of sacrifices I have made doing that very thing, is not just incorrect, it is very personally hurtful to me. I’m sorry if I offended you, but there are many out there that are actively spreading that conversation in connection with Saving Country Music, and I am going to defend myself full throttle whenever it is brought up.
July 17, 2014 @ 8:47 pm
Marc,
I kinda get what you’re saying. “Why give publicity to something bad?” But here’s the deal, as far as I’m concerned anyway:
It’s one thing to say “This sucks.” It’s quite another to spew out 1200 (made up # here) words eloquently stating your position on why it sucks and to equate that with what you are trying to promote.
I have a little piss-ant blog that I do mostly for my own amusement. I do 99% positive stuff, stuff I like. You know what gets the most hits? The 1% that has a negative connotation. Why? In my opinion, because somebody else identifies that “Hey, I’m not the only one who thinks this sucks even though everybody I know is raving about it.”
Personally, I don’t come to SCM for the rants. I come to discover new music. But I do enjoy the rants just because of the thought and writing that go into them.
And if you don’t think this makes a difference, you are mistaken. From this site and several other blogs I frequent, there has not been one kind word said about this song. I have followed Maggie Rose on twitter for quite a while because I thought her 1st album was pretty good. She is now desperately retweeting anything positive said about this song trying to save face.
If my tongue were as biting and my wit as sharp, I might go more snark. But I leave that to the experts.
July 17, 2014 @ 12:33 am
This site has almost single-handedly renewed my interest in checking out new country music. I see positive reviews here almost daily. I may not comment on everything I like with a “hey I like this,” but I’ll speak with my wallet if I really like it, and I sure bet I’m not the only one. And that’s where the real positive change comes.
Rants like this can be fun, and venting is healthy and even necessary. “Vent: An opening permitting the escape of fumes.” Gotta let those toxins out somehow! 🙂 But there’s a healthy dose of positivity mixed in too.
July 17, 2014 @ 1:18 am
Trig,
Thanks for the reply. Constructive discourse is always good so no offense on my part. First things first I said Facebook when I meant youtube my bad, though you may feel the same about both. However without those types of social media some artists may never get there music out there.
My browsing are this. I will read the articles and if inclined to do so I will leave a comment. I hace dobe so in the past for both articles I agreed/disagreed with.
July 17, 2014 @ 11:51 am
Marc,
A lot of sites simply post videos as content. No offense to those sites or that forum, but I am a writer. People come here to read my opinion and perspective. I don’t want to say that posting videos is lazy in general, but it is lazy for me. I do post videos, but only when I think they are really worthy of people to view, in only in the context of a review.
The simple fact is people are too busy to listen to just any song from someone. There’s a lot of people out there promoting this idea that we all need to “support music” by giving attention where it really is probably not warranted. Being a musician that is able to make a living at it is not a right, it is a privilege, and it doesn’t matter how good your songs are. Hard work pays off, even in the music business, and if your music is good enough, it will rise to the top. But as much as people love to promote how much they “support music”, good music supports itself. It is very very cool right now to act like you’re really really supporting the music. But in truth many of these endeavors lead to nowhere for both the artists, and the overall cause of trying to make music better in general.
July 17, 2014 @ 4:46 am
Honky Tonk Man Honky Tonk Girl
Cowboys Cowgirls
Bro Country Guy Bro Country Girl
Two sides of the coin. You will always have that. Men will take the dominant role. Women will take the submissive role. Wipe the shocked expressions off your faces.
July 17, 2014 @ 9:35 am
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Wasn%27t_God_Who_Made_Honky_Tonk_Angels
July 17, 2014 @ 1:28 pm
Country music’s rich legacy actually reveals a streak of independence, wit and fearlessness that defined many female artists and their legacies.
Loretta Lynn is a perfect immediate example. By many counts she would be considered a prototypical feminist by contemporary accounts. “The Pill” was met with so much resistance prior to its release, but turned out to be one of her most memorable hits and has proven just as relative as ever (especially in light of the recent Hobby Lobby ruling). “Rated X” is about as audacious as anthems lamenting double standards pertaining to sex are concerned can get.
When you size her up to at least commercially viable artists like Miranda Lambert today, the divide becomes immediately apparent. Now, I genuinely find plenty to like and appreciate about Miranda Lambert. She does have lots of charisma, stage presence and I can respect her for actually trying to tackle tropes that don’t get touched on as much as others in the commercial genre.
Yet, when you really stop and reflect on not just her music but that of the Pistol Annies in the broader sense, and all of the histrionics and bad girl swagger……………in contrast to much of Loretta Lynn’s body of work, her work and that of the Pistol Annies can’t help but seem safer. And by safer I mean it still subscribes to a sort of typology. I can still admire them for their energy and not completely succumbing to the big machine, but it still sounds notably more conformist compared to what Lynn has already done.
So I think, if anything, there were actually MORE outspoken female artists who challenged the dominant/submissive binary before who also enjoyed commercial viability than today.
July 17, 2014 @ 4:52 am
It reminds me ever so slightly of the answer songs that were popular in the 50s and 60s – things like ‘It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels’ by Kitty Wells answering “The Wild Side of Life” or Skeeter Davis doing “(I Can’t Help it) I’m Falling Too” in response to “Please Help Me I’m Falling” – only it’s addressing a genre rather than a particular song.
Horrible though!!
July 17, 2014 @ 5:16 am
Judging by the fact that I can’t get the goddam chorus out of my head, I think this will be a big hit.
The reality is: some girls want to be the girl in a truck song, for better or worse. This is a song for them. I’m not too worked up about it.
July 17, 2014 @ 6:08 am
I appreciate what you’re getting at in this review, but in that vein, I think you ought to reconsider the sentence “Is it just a coincidence that these are the same exact creepy words a date rapist utters as he has his way with someone”™s daughter?” If the idea is to push back on the objectification of women, you ought to avoid describing a date rape victim victim first and foremost in terms of her relationship with other people.
July 17, 2014 @ 9:32 am
Yep, Maggie Rose sold out big time, not only because she’s releasing this uncreative, cliche-regurgitating song which literally consists of the song titles of other incredibly crappy songs, but because she’s jumping on the rotting bandwagon of a musical movement which has been horrible for the portrayal of her own sex.
July 17, 2014 @ 12:47 pm
Girl In Your Truck Song is fun and clever. It sonically sounds great and organic. Maddie and Tae song is a drum machine with two girls slamming bro-country on a label that helped create bro-country. Pretty silly…
Glad you are saving country music tho, bro.
July 25, 2014 @ 11:37 pm
http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/131795/rpme-eliminates-promotion-team
Some terribly inauspicious news for Maggie Rose’s promotional staff surfaced today.
RPM Entertainment has announced a full elimination of their promotional staff and will divert resources to publishing and management instead.
Of course, I don’t wish schadenfreude on Rose and her career just because of one atrocious single. But while she still has her manager and I think it’s highly likely she’ll be picked up by another label, this may well be the death knell to “Girl In Your Truck Song” if she doesn’t find a new home sooner rather than later.
July 26, 2014 @ 1:12 am
Yes, and RPM was already one of the smaller outfits in the business. This does not bode well for “Girl In Your Truck Song”. Can we recall a time when this many important singles were released at one time? And how they all fare could tell a big story of where country is headed.
July 26, 2014 @ 12:35 pm
Well I agree country music has gone downhill; however, you need to get your facts straight. You don’t understand the point of the song, actually all of the comments here show no one understands the point of the song. She could say she wants to be that “blue jean girl” “sitting in my truck” “drinking a beer”; however, she names songs that are all about that. She’s criticizing them.
July 30, 2014 @ 11:53 am
It is unfortunately your reading that is incorrect.
I, too, initially thought it might have been sarcastic (given that everyone had the context of the Maddie and Tae song in their head), but through interview quotes and tweets, Maggie has 100% confirmed it is sincere.
September 3, 2014 @ 9:02 am
Having heard this song on the radio before hearing Maddie and Tae”™s “Girl in a Country Song” I must say go with my initial reaction that I did like it. It is unfortunate that it has been overshadowed by the other arguably stronger, more entertaining message.
Looking through this thread and noticing that most of the comments represent the perspective of men – I felt as though I should comment from the perspective of an actual country woman who drives a truck and can do, around the farm, what her husband can do and more, here”™s my take on what the writing is attempting to say to/about country women….
Even when a woman is strong, smart, and independent she loves to ride in the truck with her lover, a mans-man for sure! She wants to feel loved, appreciated, and beautiful. She wants to be in love and to know that her company is treasured and valued. Even strong, smart, and independent women like to have a couple of drinks and be a little wild now and then. Finally, just because a woman wants to go out on a date and fall in love with a man with a truck doesn”™t mean that she wants to fit into the clichés of country music (the bikini tops and painted on cut-off shorts referred to in “Girl in a Country Song”), spend her life as a passenger, and it especially doesn”™t mean that she wants to be date raped. To me the song implies nothing other than consensual, light-hearted, romantic fun between two people who might be falling in love with each other – it is a love song about the thrills of young romance.
It sad that the unfortunate timing of these two releases has resulted in a time to criticize and pick favorites between strong young country women when they should be celebrated and congratulated. Both are great songs that should be celebrated for their views about being a county woman; we are not one dimensional – we can identify with both sentiments.
December 30, 2014 @ 1:36 am
Still better than “God Made Girls.”
May 3, 2021 @ 11:42 pm
There you go blaming hip hop again.
Be more racist. Please.