Rules Of The Game #26: Because Of You I Am Afraid

[koganbot]

I'M BACK! Well, I was always here, but my column is back, dealing with an issue that has stirred the hearts and shaken the minds of many a poptimist: what is the nature of legacy and continuity in country music; or, if my mother blows her house to pieces, does that mean I have to blow my house to pieces too when I grow up?

The Rules Of The Game #26: Because Of You I Am Afraid

EDIT: Here are links to all but three of my other Rules Of The Game columns (LVW's search results for "Rules of the Game"). Links for the other three (which for some reason didn't get "Rules Of The Game" in their titles), are here: #4, #5, and #8.

UPDATE: I've got all the links here now:

http://koganbot.livejournal.com/179531.html

Comments

[koganbot]

From: "Richard Kogan"
To: "Frank Kogan"
Subject: RE: Rules Of The Game #26: Because Of You I Am Afraid
Date: Thursday, January 17, 2008 8:04 AM

Or maybe practically no one (except you) listens to all the lyrics of any song - they just pick out the part that fits what they're looking for, regardless of the actual content. So the song is country because it is so easy to pick out the country parts of the song. This is a simpler explanation, right?

_________________________

Na na na na,
Na na na na,
Hey, Hey,
Goodbye.

Well, the full lyrics actually are imploring the protagonist's ex-girlfriend to break up with her current flame - who doesn't truly love her, of course - and come back. Standard story, nicely done, and since there is no hint in the lyrics that this will actually work, it is a song of loss with a smidgen of hope, but no realistic expectation.

But the refrain has a life of its own, so that whenever the Redskins are actually beating Dallas (or the equivalent throughout the entire sporting world), then in the fourth quarter the stands start rocking with Na Na Na Na, a song of triumph, put-down, and domination. Who cares about the actual lyrics?

It's such a relatable song that a lot of people can relate to

[koganbot]

From: "Frank Kogan"
To: "Richard Kogan"
Subject: It's such a relatable song that a lot of people can relate to
Date: Thursday, January 17, 2008 10:51 AM

Well, in this case, I'd say the song is country because it's by a long-established country singer. A version of "Jingle Bells" by a country singer would be considered country too, though I don't know if any established Christmas carol (as opposed to an original with a Christmas theme) has ever actually been a hit single in country (I think the original version of "Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer" hit in country, but it wasn't yet an established carol; its being a hit made it one).

But here my real question (and I could have made this clearer) wasn't whether the audience would accept the song as country but whether they'd accept the message, no matter how they defined the song generically - whether they'd want to hear it on the radio and/or download it, which is how a song gets on the charts. You're right that people don't pay close attention to lyrics, usually. In this one the line "Because of you I am afraid" is pretty hard to miss no matter how casually or absentmindedly you listen to the track, or what else you'd think the words were about, but how you interpret it is a different matter: specifically you might not figure out that the "you" is the singer's mother [or mother and dad], since if you're not listening attentively you might well think "you" is an ex-boyfriend, as I did originally.

A friend of mine told me last night that she first heard Reba's version when Reba sang it on Oprah the day after the album was released. I just watched it now (streamed here: http://forum.generationnetwork.co.uk/showthread.php?t=20027), and I was surprised that they didn't talk much about its content other than that it was personal and moving. (Reba made a point that Kelly wrote it at 16, and said: "It touched my heart so much. It's such a relatable song that a lot of people can relate to. I just started cryin', and she [Kelly] looked at me - oh! - and she had to come over and hug my neck 'cause I was cryin'.") But my guess is that a sizable number of country listeners know what the song is about and that they don't mind it. And probably most of these listeners are then quite happy to turn around and listen to the country songs where parental and grandparental lives are considered roots and where parental and grandparental advice is considered wisdom.

(As to whether country fans are listening to such "roots and wisdom" songs because they believe them or because they're not sure and they want reassurance, I'd say it's in-between but with the need for reassurance mighty strong. A listener can like songs that raise doubts and like songs that quell those very same doubts. Which isn't to say that "Because Of You" raises a huge amount of doubts, but it is something I've never heard in a country song. But then, my country listening isn't all that extensive.)