Our terrible secret

There is something going on in our family that I haven’t wanted to talk about. It’s been very traumatic for me and I’ve had a hard time dealing with it. But I need to be upfront. I need to get this out in the open.

My husband likes country music.







You guys, I’m from Detroit. I never met anyone who listened to country until I went to college. I always thought that the people who like it are the countriest of bumpkins. (I know this isn’t really true because the hickest people I’ve ever known all liked Heavy Metal.) It was the kind of music that everybody made fun of when I was growing up; the musical equivalent of living in a trailer. And now my husband likes it. Not just likes it but buys it! He even goes to concerts. Since I can’t bring myself to spend a lot of money on music I don’t care for, he has been taking India to concerts with him. And now she likes it! (That plan really backfired on me.) Next think you know he’s going to chew tobacco and buy a pick-up truck.





Oh wait, he did buy a pick-up truck. I thought he was just being practical.





The funny thing is that I imagine that I am embracing the “country lifestyle”. I mean, we live in Texas! By choice! And we love it! But there’s only so far I can go. You can take the girl out of Detroit, but you can’t take Detroit out of the girl, I guess. Maybe I like The Country the way it’s portrayed in movies. All the houses are darling and have pies in the windows and every town has a cute little main street. There is no mention of WalMart, double wides, or people wearing camo with every outfit.

Mister explained why he likes country music. “The lyrics are uplifting. The songs are about things I identify with like being a good person and having a family.” And then he played me some song about a dad whose little boys prays because he sees his dad praying. And it made me cry.



I sort of get it.




And then he played me a song about riding on a big green tractor.




Don’t push your luck, Mister.




| Filed under Bad Things, Entertainment, IMO, Texas

15 thoughts on “Our terrible secret

  1. I remember when I first met you I couldn't reconcile the fact that a girl who loved toile ("What is TOILE?") also listened to rap music.
    And you should take solace in the fact that there isn't a man alive who doesn't want a truck.
    Not one.
    Even if they're gay.

  2. Oh, this is too funny. My husband started talking about buying a truck late year and thought my look of horror was so funny.

  3. I generically HATE country music — or used to, because it was twangy, and everyone used bad grammar and slurred notes – as if they were drunk, and couldn't quite hit the note right-on at the first try.

    But lately I find that the singers actually have great voices, the music has a MELODY, and the lyrics have a PLOTLINE!! The singers are capable of more than 4 notes!

    But they still use bad grammar (cringe!), and the lyrics I hear are more often about broke hearts and cheatin' lovers.

  4. I'm from Texas AND live in Nashville and can't stand country music. Not that it is all bad just not the kind of music I turn on, on purpose.

  5. Raised in the Northeast, I disdained country music also. But now? Well, it sort of grows on you, you know? Maybe it is important for each one of us to embrace our inner country-music lover.

    You know what I just took out of the library? A video that demonstrates country line-dancing. Yeah, I did. My Ivy League diploma may just fall off the wall when I pop that one into the DVD player.

  6. I don't think I would ever admit that in public. Ever. The first people I ever met who listened to country were total HICKS and it has ruined the genre forever. Even if most songs I hear that are country I really like, the prejudice is too strong.

Leave a Reply to L. Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *