You know me -- I don't listen to today's country. I am easily irritated by cacophonous sounds, like sirens and repetitive construction noises....and US senators preening for television cameras. So, I admit I'm not exactly "hip" to the latest sounds. But I was browsing The Federalist the other day (not actually for music news) and ran across this article regarding a new song by someone named Walker Hayes. The hook is, apparently, that the lyrics reference titles of nineties country songs.
The song was written by Shane McAnally and "LYRX", a suspicious name -- a global conglomerate like "EXXON"; a corporation that features thirty-something brunettes in sensible pantsuits in its commercials, sagely reassuring us that their cabal is environmentally-friendly, while in fact they are poisoning us.
The song is clever! And lazy! "I can't seem to write a good song, so I'll just string some titles together and voila!"
The recording itself is as far away from country music as The Captain and Tennille.
I'm okay with people saying country music is dead, because it is; but don't disingenuously co-opt the name. It's fine -- we get it -- you want country to be a lukewarm glass of 2% milk. But why not call it something else? It denigrates the name "country" when your gas-passing is lumped together with actual music.
My honest review of this song? It's horrible. Don't try to make excuses. It reeks.
If one was to listen to any of the songs referenced in the lyrics, they'd slink away in shame.
Okay, since you asked for it:
Meanwhile, I'll get my new music from TV commercials.
At least it's genuine.
