Friday, May 13, 2011

30 Songs in 30 Days - Day 12

(Thanks to Blogger taking an extended dump last night, I'll be pulling a double for this one)

Day 12 – A song from a band you hate

There are actually few bands that I actually hate (other than Creed, which I've already covered). I can tolerate most music, and even if a group's music is bad, bland, or just stupid, I don't necessarily hate them.

Even the easy hate targets I can't say that I hate. Nickelback? I like some of their harder stuff, and "Rockstar" is just too much fun not to sing along to. Daughtry? His/their stuff is pop pablum, sure, but it's listenable.

Even Van Hagar doesn't inspire hate for me; I still dig on Van Halen's old stuff, and listening to the stuff with Sammy Hagar as lead makes me more sad than angry. And Gary Cherone? I'll have a special episode based around that ill-conceived pairing.

So, I'm going to have to go outside my normal genre-based comfort zone and pick on music I don't normally listen to: country.

Again, I don't hate country as a genre. I like a few country songs as well, and a few country artists. And seeing as how if and when I go to Lone Star Steakhouse for my semi-regular dose of their ranch dressing that I HAVE to listen to it, I've learned to tolerate it, and make fun of it - not out of hatred, but because I'm just a smartass like that.

But there is one guy that inspires just as much hate if not moreso than Creed, and I'm fairly certain you'll agree:

"I Love This Bar" by Toby Keith


In the world of uber-patriotic, chauvinistic, unabashed rednecks, Toby Keith is king. If ever there was a man who would drive me to renounce my American citizenship, it is Mr. "We'll Put A Boot In Your Ass; It's The American Way" here.

The thing is, he's not really that intense of a singer. Even when he's flying the flag at full staff and getting ready to chow on raw venison, his vocal style comes off as... well... bored.

I chose this song specifically for two reasons: 1) it's the song of his that's freshest in my mind, having heard it at a bar very recently, and b) it's a good example of what his songs are like lyrically and vocally. It comes off as having a trait most people associate with rednecks: laziness. Like he's not even trying.

And that's what infuriates me the most: How can you have that much bombast, that much over-the-top militaristic love of God and country be that fucking boring? And, worse, how does he still have fans?!

/sigh/ There isn't much else to say... primarily there isn't much else to it. Rest assured that this is my last foray into the realm of country music. I can't go back there. I won't go back there.


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