Bo Burnham, the comedian, scratches my brain in a way most artists can’t. One of my favorite satirical songs he has written is his “Country Song”, that pokes fun at the ways country music artists often do not represent the people they make music for. Despite its satire and dramatization, there is still a lot of truth in these lyrics.
He specifically pokes fun at Bro-country, which has dominated the genre for the past 20 years within America, and has aligned with cultural events that have occurred.
After the tragedy of 9/11 when the twin towers were attacked in 2001, there was a major culture shift in the country genre, where music became a front for the political climate of the time.
Part One: Origins
“You don’t know what land you’re in, I’m in the land of pandering,” sings Burnham.
This is a pretty good encapsulation of the whitewashing of the genre from its earliest days.
Before the tragedy of 9/11, most country music was about the middle class and their everyday struggles. Much of the earlier songs from the 1920’s-1960’s were sounds of banjos, fiddles and yodeling that came from a melting pot of different cultures.
Country music has deep roots in African American history. The banjo, one of the most prominent instruments to the genre, descended from West African lutes that were brought to America by enslaved people and were a huge part of slave music and culture. Through standardizing and appropriating this culture, along with spreading through the racist minstrel shows of the time. These shows led to the rise of “hillbilly music” that was later renamed “country music”. The artists in the genre became predominantly white, but still had an appeal to the everyday, working class.
Going back to post-2001, these songs were not about everyday life, loving someone, going to work, etc. It seemed after 9/11 there was a big fear of “outsiders”, so almost all of country music became heavily patriotic and centered the USA. “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” by Alan Jackson, “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American)” by Toby Keith and “America Will Survive” by Hank Williams Jr. are all songs that came out within the following year.
Unfortunately, for people in my generation, this was pretty much our introduction to country music, and personally it was just never my style. It really wasn’t until college (in 2022) that I really started listening to country music. Part of me knows it was something that reminded me of home, but the genre has shifted these past few years making it more palatable for wider audiences. We have to ask, what is the cause for this shift?
Part Two: Changing the Genre
“I walk and talk like a field hand but the boots I’m wearing cost three grand. I write songs about riding tractors from the comfort of a private jet.” Burhamn highlights this still large divide between upper class musicians making these songs for the middle and lower class listeners.
Like a lot of things that have changed in the past few years, much can be traced to the pandemic. During this time, many agree they were spending much more time on social media and technology than they liked. A good deal of people were moving out of the crowded cities to suburbia. In returning back to a more “normal” society, people found themselves craving simplicity, lyricism, and just stripped back music in this overly technological world. Artists also have been feeling a similar sentiment with many making music in genres they never have before. Most notably Beyonce with her newest album “Cowboy Carter”, but also Zayn Malik, Post Malone, Ed Sheeran, Lana Del Rey, etc.
Beyonce was nominated for the most GRAMMYs this year for her album, which not only acknowledges this shift artists are making, but also celebrates it. However, the backlash to Beyonce and this album came from a large part of the country music community with artists like Alan Jackson and Travis Trett who have been naysayers since her performance at the 2016 Country Music Awards.
This award show and many’s reaction to it sparked conversations around what it means to be a country artist, and who gets to be included in the spaces. Beyonce performed at the 50th anniversary of the CMA’s with The Chicks (formerly The Dixie Chicks). Despite giving a lively, crowd-engaging performance, the reception online garnered a lot of hate and criticism. Some country fans had a distaste for this performance because of Beyonce’s activism and support of movements like Black Lives Matter. Along with The Chicks who have faced backlash for years over their critiques of the American government. There was also a stark contrast to the previous year’s pop-crossover when Chris Stapleton and Justin Timberlake performed together, which received very positive reactions. All of this seemed to reflect something deeper that might be within the country music scene, that still feels exclusionary to minorities, especially black people.
Many of these artists and country music fans that criticized Beyonce, sing the praises of Keith Urban and Hank Snow, who are arguably some of the biggest artists in this genre, despite neither being American born citizens. In contrast, Beyonce is a black woman who was born and raised in Houston, Texas, which is pretty much as country as it comes. However, country artists seem to want to be gatekeepers of this genre, so when they see someone that doesn’t fit into their narrow idea of what country is (white guys) they think they have no right to make music in the genre. The same people turn a blind eye to Keith Urban being from Australia and changing his last name to urban.
The genre is still struggling when it comes to inclusivity and paying homage to its diverse origins. I think this reflects something deeper about the genre, but also about American society right now.
Part Three: Country Music Impacts on American Politics
“Instead of people actually telling their stories, you got a bunch of millionaire metrosexuals who’ve never done a hard day’s work in their life” Burnham explains, “But they figured out the words and the phrases they can use to pander to their audience…raking in millions of dollars from actual working class people.”
This quote does highlight how so much of this genre is about pandering to an audience that really most country artists can’t relate to once they start gaining fame.
The same way many politicians pander to these same demographics like middle class Americans, when most national politicians are pretty removed from being a part of the middle class.
Looking forward, it is important to analyze something as simple as country music’s rise in popularity coinciding with the American political climate. Post 9/11 saw an influx in American patriotic themes within songs and decentered the middle class and everyday struggles that made up the bulk of the genre until then. Then the next big shift that appeared was around 2010, towards the end of the Great Recession. We started to see this pop-country mix that seemed to often have themes of beer, boots, and boobs that reflected the feeling many had to want to let loose after the stress of the previous years.
Now, with this increase of listening in the 2020’s, it is important to note the effect our current culture has on the genre but then henceforth how the genre impacts our society. In these past few years there has been this longing for simpler living, but especially in the political sphere, many on the right have a nostalgia for a former “greater” time in America. With the phrase “Make America Great Again” originally coined by Ronald Reagan and revitalized by Donald Trump, clearly yearns for an earlier time in America (though it is never even quite clear when they are talking about when using this phrase).
Though the genre has seen more variety in these past few years, it still is dominated by white, conservative men. There are artists like Jason Aldean, Anne Wilson, and Lee Greenwood who have made songs to endorse Trump that show the lengths some artists have gone to. Even the ones who didn’t outright support him, still played a part in the country’s obsession that I think found an untapped niche in new voters.
Those new voters were white, rural, Gen Z men, a category in which Donald Trump got majority votes. It is unfair to generalize all of country music for only conservatives, white people, men; when the genre (as explored) has so much more to it, and has diverse origins. However, it is important to question the ways these do have effects on our politics.
Is country music booming because many are becoming more conservative? It is growing because of the diversity we are slowly starting to see in the genre? What does this mean for country music and what does this mean for America?