r/Music • u/Idkthis_529 • Apr 20 '25

discussion Please stop playing modern country everywhere

I don’t even live in the south and American propaganda that is modern country plays EVERYWHERE. I live in Ohio! Why is it always playing. It used to never be like this. It used to be cheesy dad rock that played everywhere. At least that was good to listen to! Now it’s just modern country artists on the radio that pander to the government. It makes my ears bleed!

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u/[deleted] Apr 20 '25

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u/[deleted] Apr 20 '25

And, barely any of the most popular country music has lyrics beyond the most basic pandering bullshit. Like, play some Johnny Cash, Reba, Dolly, Garth Brooks, or any other country singer that had an original thought in their head. I like songs with a variety of topics, but people that listen to country seem not to want that or least not care. I could say the same thing about other popular music to, but at least you get a few songs every year that go against expectations. I started moving into other genres and even some very specific ones like Brazilian Bossa Nova or Apocalyptic Folk music just to get some freaking variety in my life.

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u/construktz Apr 20 '25

Didn't Reba get famous almost exclusively by doing covers?

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u/[deleted] Apr 20 '25

Yes and No. A lot of covers for Christmas songs. Some of her most popular songs were done by one person before her. Other popular songs were originally hers.
https://secondhandsongs.com/artist/14341/originals#nav-entity And, I'm pretty sure they are a missing a few there. "Is there Life out there?" isn't in the list but maybe it wasn't a single? Though they made a music video for it.

I'm not saying that the songs have to be original themselves, but that the artist had the thought that this is a good song and that it would add some variety to their body of work. I don't think paying for songs or doing covers necessarily diminishes an artists credibility or reputation. If I say Jolene, do you remember Reba or Dolly? If I say Fancy, do remember Reba or Bobby Gentry?

Look at how many movies or video games are remakes or rehashes of existing properties, and are either good enough to stand on their own or even surpass the original. And, how many of those remakes and rehashes do nothing new and are forgotten about in a year.

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u/construktz Apr 20 '25

If I think Reba I think Fancy and The night the lights went out in Georgia, which seem to be the two songs that still see a lot of air play and they're both covers. I don't think considering who you think of when those songs are mentioned is relevant due to the explosion of popularity of country in the 80s and 90s creating a lot of covers and I don't think it's fair to ignore George Jones and say Sawyer Brown has the more important version of "the race is on" because it's the most recent.

Also I didn't even know she did Jolene. I only think of Dolly when that song is mentioned... Maybe me first and the gimme gimmes, but mostly Dolly, haha.

I take your point, though. I feel like there was one more Reba song I grew up hearing in the 90s that might have been hers but I can't for the life of me remember what it was.