Andrew Wheeler. Section 8. Final Blog post 1.

The Philosophy of "Old Country" Post 1. 

The music of the past has been thought of just as that to many people now a days: music from the past.  Music is a part of culture that is ever changing.  It reflects how various groups of people feel about their lives.  It depicts their emotions, lifestyles, high points, and low points.  For most people music is a vital part of their lives.  It relaxes people by giving them an escape and lets people know their are others out their sharing their circumstances.  What happened to the “old country” attitude of music? 

Several artists were a part of this sub-genre of rock and country.  Most of these artists are still names recognized almost universally across the country, but their songs are no longer know by lyrics or titles.  It is what these artists represented that carries their legacy on to today.  This type of music was known for its excellent story telling ability.  Stories of heartache, financial struggle, and the lifestyle of blue-collar people are a common theme.  

The artists of this genre are who made this genre difficult to define.  Their appearance depicted a country persona, their music was a combination of rockabilly and old-school country, and their lives were that of a full on rockstar.  While today many artists just depict struggles in their listeners lives and in reality live lives of abundance, this era of musician depicted the struggles they actually faced.  

The artists I speak of are of course people like: Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, etc. As I said these names are fairly commonly known amongst people that have no clue what any of their music is or is even about.  They personified the time, telling stories of life that everyone could relate to or yearned to relate to.  

Their stories of their bad habits weren’t an attempt to draw young people to their destructive lifestyles.  An example of this is how Willie begged “ Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys,” urging mothers to convince their boys to pursue safe, successful careers.  They realized the path they had walked down as young men was not necessarily a good decision, it was simply one that had worked out for the them, which they were thankful for.  Despite their “rock-an-roll” lifestyles, they still had songs rooted in religion and family too.  

Waylon and Willie talking to mamas out their.