Elements Of Country Music

Music, a defining aspect of Human culture for centuries, is influenced heavily by the social institutions of the time. This can be most evident in “pop”, short for “popular”, music. Music is a demonstrative language of culture. It tells a story, conveys ideas, opinions, and emotions of life experiences. Music has the power to link generations. In recent history such themes include Jazz and blues, the Big Band era, country, rap, and various other genres of music. Each of these classes of music are drawn from and represent the particular culture and time of the background of the artist or the events that inspired it.
Jazz first originated in the early 1900s. Jazz wasn't born on a particular day, it was created over a period of time. It wasn't
As a result of my sister’s near obsession with country music I have noticed that many of this genre’s songs revolve around “beer”, “trucks”, and being “drunk”. These are key elements of Country life, which composers such as Luke Bryant, Garth Brooks, etc. use in their songs to represent their life and what was important to them. In Lee Brice’s song “I drive your truck” he literally describes himself driving a truck, using phrases such as “I rolled every window down..” and “eighty-nine cents in the ashtray, a half empty bottle of gatorade rolling on the floor”. These phrases are describing a truck that has a significant personal value to him as well as his lifestyle. While country depicts the backgrounds of its composers astoundingly well, this can be found with many types of
Often in rap music the artist is describing points of their life or childhood that were notable to them. One prominent rap song “Juicy”, by Notorious B.I.G. is “Biggie’s ode to growing up in the ghetto. Alternating between his impoverished childhood and life at the top of the charts, Big creates a rags-to-riches narrative exemplifying the American Dream lived through Hip Hop.” Another example is Tinie Tempah’s “Written in the stars”, which also references his life as an impoverished young boy living in the ghetto. The is is evident in lines such as “Look I'm just a writer from the ghetto like Malory Blackman. Where the hells all the sanity at, damn I used to be the kid that no one cared about. That's why you have to keep screaming 'til they hear you out”. There are an abundance of rap songs that delve deep into the origins of the writer, often of the hardships they faced due to poverty and bad influence in their youth. These include being exposed to gangs, and gang related violence as well as drugs and alcohol at a young age. These very real references to their youth are central illustrations of how music mirrors