Southern livin'

As anyone who knows me is well aware, I am no fan of country music. In fact, I hate it, loathe it, detest it, abhor it--and besmirch it every chance I get.

I don't really listen to much of it either. (Ha!) But, naturally, that's never stopped me from having an opinion to share . . .

For me, contemporary country is like a lot of contemporary pop music. Despite the aw-shucks, shit-kicker, country-road cred it claims to have, the whole meshugas seems like a corporate job, music by committee, and rapidly becoming a parody of itself. Blue jeans, beer, "mah wuhman" being the one and only. "Red Solo Cup," the "Margaritaville" of the tailgatin' and suburban lawn-mowin' set. All that crap that makes America grate (sic).

Maybe if it all had more of a connection to the life of gay, 50-year-old, I'd get interested. But then I don't feel moved (to dance or otherwise) by any song performed by Lady Gaga or other performers that are marketed to my tribe. (Although, admittedly, "Poker Face" was kind of catchy.) It's even why I've gone off the once pure pop and stylish fun of Kylie Minogue, something I thought I would never do. But if your handlers are going to have you do nothing but bleat to the beat of disco lady-boy dance music instead of belting out adult-oriented pop, let alone songs that mean something to you personally, then, well, I can't be arsed to listen.

*Cough* Where were we?

Ah, yes . . . despite the repulsion toward I feel toward contemporary country music, I do listen to some from today (mostly alt-country stuff like Ryan Adams, Roseanne Cash, Shelby Lynne, and My Morning Jacket, to name less than a handful) and occasionally enjoy some from yesterday.

A case in point: Glen Campbell's "Wichita Lineman."

Mr. Campbell was featured in a profile on CBS News Sunday Morning earlier today. He now has Alzheimer's but, nevertheless, is performing on stage in a farewell tour with three of his children and even has recorded a new album, Ghost on the Canvas. According to the reporter on CBS Sunday Morning, this will, obviously, be his last tour and his last album of new material. As his daughter and wife noted, he forgets things, loses track in his daily life and on stage, yet still can perform from memory and with the aid of a teleprompter.


It was painful for me to watch the interview, especially at moments when his wife was discussing his Alzheimer's with him, a disease that he does not realize that he has. "What is it that we have?" he asked his wife. "You have Alzheimer's," she replied. "Well, I don't feel like I have it."

Oh. So early Alzheimer's. Dear Campbell Family: Hang on tight for when things move to middle or late stage Alzheimer's.

Because I've been there, done that. I've watched two family members fade away from Alzheimer's, the most recent one being my father, who died almost five years ago. That's quite incredible to me--that one can pass away from "memory loss" (although, in reality, Alzheimer's is so much more) and that my Dad's been dead for a long five years.

Anyway, on the plus side of the pain, the profile reminded me of listening along with my Dad and brothers to Glen Campbell records in the late '60s and early '70s and watching the Glen Campbell Good-Time Hour on TV with them, my Mom, and sister. Incredibly, that was 40 years back in time. While it feels like it was longer ago than just a moment, it doesn't feel that long ago.

But before I go all Our Town on you in this rambling little posting, let's just say a few things--

I miss my Dad, and I guess I always will. I didn't always get along with him, but there was nothing that tragic or complicated in our relationship: We just both had strong personalities and senses of self. (Who me?) I wish I had been a little more forgiving of that, and I wish he had been a little more relaxed. Otherwise, he loved me unconditionally; provided me with a home, creature comforts, and an education; and he and my Mom gave us security, safety, and honesty, things that are all-too-lacking in the present day. But, hey, I at least enjoyed them once. I know what they're like, how it's supposed to be. And I know enough not to settle for less.

Apparently, I don't hate all country music after all. I have fond memories of Glen Campbell along with a lot of other "classic" country-pop from back in the day. "Rose Garden" by Lynn Anderson. "Harper Valley, P.T.A." by Jeannie C. Riley. "Ode to Billy Joe" by Bobbie Gentry. Jim Reeves and Faron Young. Porter Wagoner and Johnny Cash. It wasn't so bad then, after all. In fact, a lot of it was quite good, catchy, satisfying pop.

My Southern roots are showing. I often forget about them these days, living on the wrong side of the Mason-Dixon Line, or get bummed out over them, especially seeing how some Southerners behave in the name of God, religion, America, and "rightness." But there's more to the tale: The music, the food, the literature, the landscape, the humor, the language, and, yes, even the people. Despite some cheap creeps and flint-souled folk, there are a quite a wealth of people just being people, just being themselves, and doing the best they can in the system and society in which they live.

But good lord, if I hear "Red Solo Cup" or "Margaritaville" one more time, y'all are on your own. Hell, even The Beverly Hillbillies got the joke better than contemporary country.