Saturday Redneck

I grew up listening to pretty much everything: classical, rock, country, folk. Then a couple of things happened: radio stations started becoming very niche-specialized as the marketeers sub-divided and then sub-sub-divided the listening audience, and rock got all whiny-like (thanks a lot, Curt Cobain).

As a result, by the mid-1990s I found that I listened mostly to country, because a couple of changes had happened there: country got a big influx of rock ("Southern Rock" especially), and it kept (and if anything improved) the "story telling" tradition that had been the hallmark of folk.

So there's really quite a lot of country music for people who think they don't like country music.

SHeDAISY is a very interesting trio (three sisters, in fact). They write their own music, as well as play and sing. "She gets what I deserve" combines the elements I find most compelling: a simple melody that lends itself to acoustic, a good turn of phrase (in the title), and an unflinching (and non-maudlin) presentation of a bad situation. In a different day and age, we'd call this folk.

She doesn't know me by name
But I know everything about her
She likes to work in her rose garden
And vacation in New Hampshire

She gets him every holiday
And every Sunday afternoon
By 8, she tucks his babies in
I know she loves him like I do
And I wanted to call her so many times
But I never found the nerve
She gets what I deserve

It's not the way that I planned
Just the right man, the wrong time
Even the moments he's holdin' me
I know he's not really mine
When I appear into the windows of the home
I'm torn apart
I can't help but wonder
Whatever happened to my heart
Such an uninvited lesson
I never meant to learn
She gets what I deserve

I can't whitewash my excuses
I can't cover up the stain
I can't give back what I've taken
I should be the one to bare the pain
I just pray that God forgives me
For what I've done to her
She gets what I deserve
She gets what I deserve

Any discussion of country "chick bands" inevitably leads to talk about the Dixie Chicks. Which of the following would a typical country music fan choose?

SHeDAISEY tribute to the troops.

Natalie Maines sucks up to foreign audiences.

Not saying one's right or wrong, but as Jeff Foxworthy said, "I hope they really mean it, because it looks like that's a hundred million dollar opinion."