This week I’ll expand on a Billboard article
contributed by country music industry writer Phyllis
Stark. In Has Country Music Gone One Toke Over The Line?, she
comments on the increasing number of drug references in country music songs,
and specifically on radio. She points to examples like Eric Church's Smoke A
Little Smoke, which unashamedly promotes marijuana use – and peaked at
number 16 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Or Kacey Musgraves's Merry
Go 'Round, which made it to number 10 using the term "mary jane."
In some instances, like Smoke
A Little Smoke, the drug isn't simply referenced. An article by
blogger Daryl Lang maintains Kid Rock's All Summer Long started the
trend in 2008. "Since then, country radio has awakened to the idea that
listeners really like songs about pot," he writes. These songs do seem to
be more common and accepted now than they were a few years ago.
Forum Research released findings in August that
36 per cent of Canadians are in favour of the complete legalization of
marijuana, with another 34 per cent in favour of decriminalizing small amounts.
As we've seen many times before, country music adapts to popular
culture and opinion. But does that make it right?
Country is already famous (and infamous) for
drinking songs, so how are drug songs any different? Well, there's certainly a
difference between singing about regulated substances and illegal ones. There
has to be a line drawn somewhere. Stark's article
suggests that while drug references may not be controversial, they are not
necessarily accepted. Consider the audience – country fans are a
wide-ranging bunch. Some are used to edgy content from other contemporary
genres, but others certainly are not.
While I don't think marijuana promotion and subtle references to narcotics
will have a major impact on the marketability of country songs (provided the
artist fits that image), I am concerned for the young listeners these songs
might influence. The matter of lyrics is rather insignificant, but the potential
impacts are not and are worth discussing. In this area, I feel country has
crossed the line.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please share your thoughts below!
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.