I have spent a good portion of my life making fun of country music. The belt buckles, cowboy hats, sweet tea, gun racks, NASCAR, etc. When I met my wife the biggest difference wasn't that she was catholic and I wasn't, it was that she enjoyed country music and I found it revolting. Today I just bought tickets to see Tim McGraw and Lady Antebellum.
As I sit here listening to Tim McGraw on Pandora Radio I can't help but thinking how far I've come. I'm not a fan of country music, but lets say I am trying to appreciate it. If I had to point to when it started I would suppose when I met Lauren. If I let her pick what we listened to in the car it invariably would end up being country. I'd make fun of it, but I figured maybe I'd try to find some redeeming quality in it. It wasn't easy when you'd listen to a song like "She Thinks My Tractors Sexy" or "Indian Outlaw".
My parents were big into rock n' roll. I grew up on Clapton, The Beatles, Billy Joel, The Who, The Doors, Jethro Tull, Aerosmith, etc. Mixed in there were the Allman Brothers and Skynard which is where I think the bridge would be between rock and country. Rock wasn't invented by the Beatles, it came from the south, the blues, and somewhere along the line it moved north and became rock and stayed south and became country (that sounded right but I'm sure that isn't 100% accurate).
Just about 3 years of marriage and nearly 7 years together and I can listen to country music without pretending to gag or making believe I'm wearing a giant belt buckle with a steer on it. I can't say it was easy, but I also can't say I hate country music anymore. Hell maybe I'll pick up a cowboy hat for the concert, it would hide my receding hairline.
No comments:
Post a Comment