First of all, I must say I’m not a fan of country music. However, I do like the occasional song here and there, and I have developed a bit of appreciation for it. (For example, Chris Stapleton’s rendition of the national anthem at the Super Bowl was awesome!) It had Eagles’ coach Nick Sirianni openly weeping.
I just read an article written by a black man, Evan Gardner, in which he speaks of his love of country. He’s from Manhattan and attends an Ivy League school, but he and his father made a pilgrimage to Nashville to the mecca of country music, the Grand Ole Opry, with a visit to the Country Music Hall of Fame. He mentioned Morgan Wallen and his song “Sand in My Boots,” so I followed the link. (By the way, he did note the trouble Wallen got into for using the n-word.)
But what a heartfelt song. His yearning for East Tennessee affected this fellow from Middle Tennessee. (Many folks from Tennessee will tell you East, Middle, and West are different states!)
His soulful lament of what might have been (“I still thought that maybe she’d show up”) is undergirded by his joy of “dodging potholes / In my sunburnt Silverado / Like a heartbroke desperado.”
I don’t mind saying that my eyes welled up.
Like you, I was no lover of country music when I was younger, in fact I used to say it made my “ears bleed.” But as I’ve aged, I’ve slowly turned the dial to those songs with the banjo and the fiddle. It’s easy to listen to. I like Morgan Wallen, in particular, because I agree with you, his lyrics are poetic and meaningful, also clever, and his music is engaging. I thank God for his talent and the gift it is to me during long hours of dinner prep. Thanks for this post!