Who Is Country Music For?
probably not me
Can a Black woman make a country music album? Rhiannon Giddings, Mickey Guyton. Not household names. Darius Rucker, we know him.
Baby blue was the color of her eyes / Baby blue, like the Colorado skies
Who is country music for?
I mighta been born just plain white trash, but Fancy was my name
The banjo was created by enslaved Africans. Country has always had roots in Black music.
You said the way my blue eyes shine / Put those Georgia stars to shame that night
“You can’t wear cowboy boots. You’re Asian.” Told to me in 2005.
I’m just a product of my raisin’ / I say ‘hey y’all’ and ‘yeehaw’
On the Cocaine and Rhinestones podcast created by Tyler Mahan Coe (yes, son of David Allan Coe), he dissects “No One Else on Earth” by Wynonna and basically says there is nothing in there that makes it a country song. It wound up being the most successful song of her solo career.
I ain’t first class, but I ain’t white trash, I’m wild and a little crazy too
Who is country music for? A Black girl growing up in Houston, an Asian girl growing up in Oklahoma, or is it just for the
Sweet little beautiful wonderful perfect all-American girl
After a lifetime of loving music that wasn’t written for me, I see a new voice challenging the blue-eyed norm. I hope there is enough room in country music for all of us, but if there isn’t, I admire Beyonce’s courage to throw elbows and make room at the table for herself. It ain’t sound white because she ain’t white, and I think that’s beautiful.
Song lyric credits, in chronological order:
Baby Blue, performed by George Strait
Fancy, performed by Reba McEntire
Tim McGraw, performed by Taylor Swift
Redneck Woman, performed by Gretchen Wilson
Some Girls Do, performed by Sawyer Brown
All-American Girl, performed by Carrie Underwood
I recalled all of these lyrics from memory instantly. Only god knows how many other “this music is for white people” lyrics are buried in my psyche, and the subliminal and subconscious othering that it caused.