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Topic: No Country Songs About Real Life ? |
Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 21 Jul 2010 5:34 pm |
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If you look at the lyrics of country songs, they can be summarized as:
[1] Generic love songs.
[2] Trains, cars and rambling the highway.
[3] Bars and drinking.
[4] Jail and lawbreaking.
But that's not how most people spend their day. Where are the songs about...
[1] Accounting.
[2] Gardening.
[3] A Staff Meeting.
[4] A Business Lunch.
[5] Commuting on the Subway.
[6] Milking the Cows.
[7] Cleaning the Kitchen.
Okay, so to set a good example, let's put together one. Here is the...
Bank Reconciliation Blues
(words by Alan Brookes, 2010)
I'm fifty cents out and I can't find it nohow (x2)
I've called all the checks over and the sweat is coming from my brow.
I just wanna go home and I can't till I find where I'm out (x2)
If I don't find it my competence will be in doubt.
I have to get out of here because the traffic on the bridge is building up (x2)
And I've drunk all the coffee I had in my cup.
I've added the same figures up many times over now (x2)
I've gotta find what's wrong but I don't know how.
Wait, there it is, that twenty five cents over there (x2)
Should be debit not credit, so I can stop pulling out my hair.
I'm sure it'll be an enormous hit.   |
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David Beckner
From:
Kentucky, USA
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Posted 21 Jul 2010 6:39 pm songs
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Alan
I agree with you 100% about having songs about real life and the struggles of everyday living..Especially with the shape of the economy and such.But unfortunately the producers wouldnt be able to glitz and glamour it up and I am almost sure you couldnt talk Carrie Underwood into trading her slutty dresses and high heels for a house dress and worn out tennis shoes.. 
_________________
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PARTS CASTER.Gospel and Classic Country Music
http://www.dbupholstery.yolasite.com |
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Leslie Ehrlich
From:
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
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Posted 21 Jul 2010 11:32 pm
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I don't know how to write romantic larger than life lyrics. Most of the stuff I've written is about everyday things that people must endure.
_________________
Sho-Bud Pro III + Marshall JMP 2204 half stack = good grind! |
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Joe Casey
From:
Weeki Wachee .Springs FL (population.9)
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Posted 24 Jul 2010 4:38 am
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| Whats wrong with kabonkadonk badonkadonk or Save a Horse ride a Cowboy?? Now thems good old Country Lyrics.. |
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Ray Minich
From:
Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
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Posted 24 Jul 2010 9:10 am
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| Quote: |
| I have to get out of here because the traffic on the bridge is building up (x2) |
And the bran muffin I ate is working...
_________________
Lawyers are done: Emmons SD-10, 3 Dekleys including a D10, NV400, and lots of effects units to cover my clams... |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Posted 25 Jul 2010 10:31 am
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What's more country than "Trailerhood" Toby Keith or "Pretty Good at Drinking Beer" Billy Currington? Then there's that one about "rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey, whiskey makes my baby frisky"...whadda you guys want? 
OK, maybe not country....more trashy? |
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Theresa Galbraith
From:
Goodlettsville,Tn. USA
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Posted 25 Jul 2010 12:18 pm
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| "The House That Built Me" by Miranda |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Posted 25 Jul 2010 12:26 pm
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| Good one Theresa. One of the best I've heard from her. |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 25 Jul 2010 6:08 pm
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| Jerry Overstreet wrote: |
| What's more country than "Trailerhood" Toby Keith or "Pretty Good at Drinking Beer" Billy Currington? Then there's that one about "rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey, whiskey makes my baby frisky"...whadda you guys want? ... |
"Trailerhood" comes in category [2], "Rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey, whiskey makes my baby frisky" comes in both category [1] and category [3]. That reinforces what I wrote.
| Joe Casey wrote: |
| Whats wrong with kabonkadonk badonkadonk or Save a Horse ride a Cowboy?? Now thems good old Country Lyrics.. |
I should have added the obvious fifth category...
[5] Cowboy and Gunslinger songs. |
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Peter Dollard
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Posted 26 Jul 2010 7:11 am Wishbone
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If you want some very good lyrics and songs on the plight of people check Slaid Cleaves out. He is a master of well written lyrics. To wit:
"Day after day after trying to understand while the world tries to grind you down, make a ghost out of a man" That is the opening line of a song he wrote called "Wishbone". Actually if you are tired of commercial Nashville music he would be a good person to listen too. Peter |
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Larry Rafferty
From:
Ballston Spa, NY
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Posted 26 Jul 2010 8:02 am
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I always figured that "Home Grown Tomatoes" written by Guy Clark was about the closest to a real life country song. Here's a link to John Denver doing the song with a great dobro background.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0C4FOL1qIw&feature=related
_________________
Mullen D-10 8x5; Sho-Bud Super Pro D10 8x6; PedalMaster 5 Star SD-10 3x5; Dekley D-10 8x4;
Sho-Bud S-10 3x1; Fender Lap/Floor Steel; Peavey Power Slide; Supro Lap Steel; Peavey Nashville 400;
pair of Peavey Vegas 400's; Peavey NV112; Webb 614E with matching extension cabinet; Fender Twin Reverb and 3 cats.
They laughed when I sat down to play, cause' somebody pulled my chair away... |
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Rick Campbell
From:
Sneedville, TN, USA
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Posted 26 Jul 2010 4:13 pm
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Alan,
Not true. Milk Cow Blues was a very popular song.
BTW: Johnny Paycheck had plenty of songs about real life.
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 26 Jul 2010 4:31 pm
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Milk Cow Blues was a love song, and comes in category [1]. It has nothing to do with cows, and is a comment about his wife/girlfiend.
Yes, there are plenty of exceptions, but in general the observation is true. Bob Dylan once wrote a song about getting up and doing his laundry, but show me a song about accountancy from anyone... |
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Larry Rafferty
From:
Ballston Spa, NY
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Posted 26 Jul 2010 4:57 pm
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[quote="Alan Brookes"]but show me a song about accountancy from anyone...
OK..."99 bottles of beer on the wall"
_________________
Mullen D-10 8x5; Sho-Bud Super Pro D10 8x6; PedalMaster 5 Star SD-10 3x5; Dekley D-10 8x4;
Sho-Bud S-10 3x1; Fender Lap/Floor Steel; Peavey Power Slide; Supro Lap Steel; Peavey Nashville 400;
pair of Peavey Vegas 400's; Peavey NV112; Webb 614E with matching extension cabinet; Fender Twin Reverb and 3 cats.
They laughed when I sat down to play, cause' somebody pulled my chair away... |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 27 Jul 2010 4:26 am
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I have to turn off modern country radio because the songs aren't about anything at all. They're about "being country" and down-home yee-haw and listenin' to Skynrd and ol' Hank and my ol' truck, but nothing happens in the entire song - there's no storytelling whatsoever.
Tie a yellow ribbon 'round this po' dead genre....
Furthermore, your categories seem to exclude what most people in America actually do, which is flip burgers, work at WalMart for min. wage, mow the lawns of accountants and businessmen, roofers & carpenters, 7/11 "associates" etc. Country music used to be about ordinary poor people, not their managers & owners.
| Quote: |
[3] A Staff Meeting.
[4] A Business Lunch. |
What the heck?
I guess because pedal steel guitars are so expensive, only rich people have 'em?  |
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Ray Minich
From:
Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
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Posted 28 Jul 2010 6:11 am
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Someone ought to write a song about:
1. payin' for the same house 3 times...
2. liquidation of assets...
3. livin' under a bridge...
4. $4 two by fours (lumber)..
5. manic depressive alcoholic paranoid schizophrenic borderline personality disorder (love that one!)
6. Retraining your brain...
_________________
Lawyers are done: Emmons SD-10, 3 Dekleys including a D10, NV400, and lots of effects units to cover my clams... |
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Rick Campbell
From:
Sneedville, TN, USA
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Posted 28 Jul 2010 9:24 am
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Someone ought to write a song about:
1. payin' for the same house 3 times... ???
2. liquidation of assets... Sammy Kershaw "Yardsale"
3. livin' under a bridge... Craig Morgan "Almost Home"
4. $4 two by fours (lumber).. "Tennessee Stud"
5. manic depressive alcoholic paranoid schizophrenic borderline personality disorder (love that one!) I wrote that one and so did I, but don't tell anyone because they're out to get me"
6. Retraining your brain... "Crazy", "Middle Age Crazy", "Take Your Shoes Off While You're Walking Through My Mind", "I Don't Remember Loving You". |
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Alvin Blaine
From:
Picture Rocks, Arizona, USA
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Posted 29 Jul 2010 2:57 am Re: Wishbone
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| Peter Dollard wrote: |
If you want some very good lyrics and songs on the plight of people check Slaid Cleaves out. He is a master of well written lyrics. To wit:
"Day after day after trying to understand while the world tries to grind you down, make a ghost out of a man" That is the opening line of a song he wrote called "Wishbone". Actually if you are tired of commercial Nashville music he would be a good person to listen too. Peter |
Slaid is one of my favorites. His line "if it weren't for horses and divorces, I'd have a lot more money, less gray hair, I might even been a millionaire", absolutely applies to my life. Women, horses, and music have kept me broke for most of my adult life.
_________________
http://www.oldbluesound.com/about.htm
http://www.facebook.com/cowboytwang |
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Dave Hopping
From:
Aurora, Colorado
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Posted 31 Jul 2010 5:04 pm
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| Country music is about who you WISH you were,or had done(Hard Workin' Man,Chattahoochie,Fishin' in the Dark).Sometimes it's about who you're glad you're NOT(Pop A Top),and once in awhile it's about who you're sorry you ARE(Pop A Top,again).Very occasionally it's about who you're proud to be(Fightin' Side of Me,Workin' Man Blues). |
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Brett Day
From:
Pickens, SC
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Posted 1 Aug 2010 6:30 pm
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| Theresa Galbraith wrote: |
| "The House That Built Me" by Miranda |
I love "The House That Built Me". Such a wonderful and beautiful song.
Brett |
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Theresa Galbraith
From:
Goodlettsville,Tn. USA
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Posted 2 Aug 2010 4:14 am
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| "Hard hat and a hammer" by Alan Jackson |
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Joe Casey
From:
Weeki Wachee .Springs FL (population.9)
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Posted 2 Aug 2010 7:22 am
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[/b]OK so I wrote a Country song this morning Here tis....CR Publishing Co.all rights reserved..
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Robert Harper
From:
Alabama, USA
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Posted 9 Aug 2010 11:12 pm But the wheel turned
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While I feel your pain, I think it is important to remember life has changed. Life became easier, our parents who had nothing spent their lives making sure we had more and better. The economy grew and changed. Farming, becam agribusiness, Steel mills closed. We didn't want the smoke, traditions changed, Soilders were no longer heros, nor farthers, some don't even know their farthers now. Johnny, Cash and Paycheck are dead along with more than we can count, Merle is old and by the way more than a little hyprocritical, with his we don't do drug thing. So why do we expect music to stay the same. You can't sing about divorce, if you don't get married . You can't sing about daddy leaving, if you don't know who the daddy is. You can't sing about gettin drunk, if they closed the bars. At least some of the females with their pretty dress can sing about the " reason for tears on my guitars"
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"Oh what a tangled web we weave when we first begin to deceive" Someone Famous |
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