Music and politics often reflect each other, this is something that’s seen frequently throughout history; from jazz music’s pivotal role in the civil rights movement to anti war sentiment being thrusted to the forefront of public consciousness by folk and rock artists of the 60’s.
In modern America, the resurgence of country music has come directly hand in hand with the rise of right wing politics. The American population were clearly tired with the state of their stale political situation and they were looking at music to voice their opinions. This has been hugely beneficial for country music, as the once dormant genre now has 34 out of the top 200 best selling albums of 2024, up an incredible 30% from the year prior.
Like much of the Western world, America has grown increasingly disillusioned with the declining living standards; a frustration exacerbated by a 1.5% drop in working wages during the Biden administration. This hit to the pay packet has allowed the far right to spin distracting and false narratives about things like LGBT rights and immigration, offering the public a scapegoat to burden all their problems. The current president, Donald Trump, has described the effects of immigrants as ‘poisoning our country’.
Hostility to these progressive ideas lends itself to the themes traditionally displayed in country music; with patriotism, traditionalism and gender roles, all generally being core themes of the genre. A poignant example of this would be the most popular country star at the minute, Morgan Wallen. His music personifies the previously mentioned values, with even his most romantic songs having a particular focus on rural living and nationalism.
A useful example of this would be the track ‘Sand In My Boots’ from Wallen’s 2021 record, ‘Dangerous: The Double Album’. The song’s lyrics document a beachside fling with a girl, however nothing ends up materialising and all he comes back home with is sand in his boots. Even a song about lost love features nationalistic subtext that subtly idealises the concept of rural living:
“She asked me where I was from, I said somewhere you never been to, little town outside of Knoxville”
&
“Girl you’ve never seen stars like the ones back home“
Ultimately, these themes serve as a way to reinforce a traditional, conservative, southern identity. Rather than being songs about the outdoors or God for example, it’s more about how those things play a part in being conservative. This is the main difference between the use of God in country music and the use of God in gospel music. Unlike country music, Gospel music is about praising God, not just what praising God represents.
The issue with the use of these themes is the almost ironic contradiction. Take religion, for example: Jesus, a man who spent his life feeding the poor, forgiving criminals and was himself an immigrant is now associated with a political party that seeks to cut welfare and end foreign aid. Similarly, issues around wildlife and natural living are now being championed by a political party who deny climate change.
An even more obvious use of conservative themes in country music would come in Jason Aldean’s ‘Try That In A Small Town’, a song that reached number one on the Billboard Top 100. Coincidentally, in that same week country music got its first 1-2-3 in modern ranking, with Morgan Wallen’s ‘Last Night’ and Luke Combs’ cover of ‘Fast Car’ making up spots 2 and 3.
The song runs through a list of hypothetical situations such as an old lady getting carjacked or a random assault in the street and insinuating that there would be possibly deadly consequences for these actions in a small town. This is best shown in the line ‘got a gun that my grandad gave me’ suggesting that a firearm would be used against the perpetrators in these scenarios.
Even the choice of situations Jason uses are conservative; the American flag getting defaced or a police officer getting assaulted, for example. Now i’m definitely not condoning these actions, however the deliberate use of right wing talking points is so obviously aimed at stirring up anger in conservative circles.
The overarching theme of the song is about the perceived lawlessness of urban areas, in direct contrast to the almost self policed depiction of small towns. It’s easy to see the link between this song and the core conservative themes discussed earlier. Labelling urban areas, which are more likely to have more people of colour and left leaning voters, in this way is why this song is very problematic as it creates a feeling of superiority around the rural, mostly white towns.
All things considered, it’s no surprise America is witnessing the revival of country given the current political situation it finds itself in. After years of decline under the centre left, Democratic party, people wanted change. People wanted familiarity and what better voice for these concerns than the traditionalist lyrics and simple instrumentation of country music?
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