Country Nowadays — Lyrics:
I just want to catch my fish, drive my truck, drink my beer / And not wake up to all this stuff I don’t want to hear / Like the same kind of gun I hunt with / Just killed another man / Only thing mine ever shot was / Deer from my deer stand.
“I just want to cut my grass, feed my dogs, wear my boots / Not turn the TV on, sit and watch the evening news / Be told if I tell my own daughter that little boys ain’t little girls / I’d be up the creek in hot water in this cancel-your ass-world.
Chorus:
“It ain’t easy being country / In this country nowadays / The direction the finger’s pointing / When everything goes up in flames / Saying I’m some right-wing devil / Because I was down South Jesus raised / It ain’t easy being country / In this country nowadays.”
First of all, I’m deeply sorry if someone called you a right-wing devil. That’s not right. There’s nothing wrong with being raised in the South, hunting for your own food, or having small-town values and conservative roots — least of all being “Jesus raised.” Coming from a small prairie town in Saskatchewan, reared in a Baptist church, I’m familiar. But I won’t claim to have your experience, I’d just like to understand your grievances, I’d like to understand you.
You’re right about things going up in flames. Clearly, we stand at the threshold of chaos. I’m guessing, besides the injustice and injury you feel, you wrote the song out of a sense of losing things you hold dear, losing control of a way of life.
Well, let’s start there: we know country songs — among all the other things you’ve mentioned — like to talk about love. Love, after all, is what Jesus is about. He chose love over hatred. By the way, he would have applauded Bad Bunny’s banner, which said exactly that. And being Jesus-raised, I’m sure you’d agree.
And you’re right, Jesus (nor should those who follow him) wouldn’t have mocked you or derided you for being “country” or being raised down south. He was from Nazareth, for god’s sake, and “nothing good comes out of Nazareth” was a common refrain back then.
He wouldn’t have cancelled you, or questioned your desire for a good life, or the nostalgia, even romance, for a certain understanding of country. (Although, if you were comfortable, he may have wanted to get around to that.) He would have, however, asked you about your motive for appearing at an alternative, separate, segregating, “All-American” Halftime show (P.S. Puerto Rico has been a part of America for 127 years, and Puerto Ricans have had U.S. citizenship since 1917), and he’d have asked you about your lyrics. Not so much what they said, but what they implied, what they left out — being Jesus-raised, you’d have an inkling about why.
Without condemning any of your home-grown loves, he’d have counselled: Yes, catch your fish, and then, why not share them (multiply them); by all means, drive your truck, then, maybe go on a food drive; drink your beer, no worries, but drink also the “new wine” of gospel humility, charity; cut your grass, for sure, then help tend a community garden; feed your dog, absolutely, and feed the poor. I need to pause here, because I’m sure you’re not without charity; I’m sure you do some of the foregoing. I’m only going by your public song; it has discordant notes.
I’ll go on. Try on empathy. Despite the late Charlie Kirk’s (founder of Turning Point) distaste for that word, it is a Jesus-raised virtue. So wear your boots, but also, wear the bare feet of a Palestinian boy, the sandals of a black girl in inner-city Camden, New Jersey, the shoes of a Puerto Rican, maligned then ignored by a President, and the tear-stained slippers of the spouse of Renee Good.
As a parent, you have the responsibility to care for your children and teach them values and virtue — well, you know that — but what if your daughter came to you and said, “I don’t fit in, I don’t feel at all like other girls, I’ve felt for as long as I can recall, like a boy.” (I have firsthand experience here.) I know you wouldn’t shut her down; you’d want to have a loving, understanding conversation. And I guess that’s all I’m asking.
Do write your country songs, be blessed by your gift, but go back and brush up on being Jesus-raised. And don’t be too surprised at a bit of push-back by those who view your song as just another privileged claim of victimhood.
Me? I’m nothing much, just a Canadian watching, wanting and trying to love the people of my neighbouring country and trying dearly to honour the heart of my own Jesus-raised legacy. And not have it be someone’s justification for materialism, atheism, which frankly, in view of “God-fearing” nationalist Christian-ism, I wouldn’t blame anyone for considering.
Oh, goodness I needed to read this.
I have felt swept under by the amount of hate filled rhetoric posts -in the name of “Jesus-raised”.
What stops us from saying ‘come, come and meet Jesus, let’s read why He came and what He has to say’.
This, this, Steve, helps me breathe.
Thank you, Erika. Here’s to all of us, breathing free.
Thanks, Steve – I too need to go back every once in a while and brush up on being Jesus-raised!
Thanks, Sam.
S~
I have known quite a few self-proclaimed atheists who are more Christian-like than proclaimed Christian nationalists. I personally don’t believe in the God I was raised to believe in, although I feel God’s deep presence. I love the piece you wrote, especially the last line! It reminded me of a quote from a close friend, also a very successful Western singer-songwriter, who once confided that he was atheistic. After pressing him about his humanitarian 501c organization and his commitment to helping the most marginalized on a global scale and his (as I see it) Christ-like values, he finally confided that, “ok, I’m an atheist that believes in god.” I got quite the chuckle from that, and I don’t feel like that was a conflicting statement, IMO.
Kurt Vonnegut said (paraphrase) that he was a Christ-loving atheist and a
Christ-worshiping agnostic. There are lots of ways to check out my paraphrase but I’m sure it’s accurate.
That sounds right. Very grateful for this reminder and reference. Thanks, Curt!
Thanks so much, Kevin. I, too, know many “Christ-like,” agnostics and atheists. I refer to these dear friends as faithful humanists. I very much like your anecdote: “…an atheist who believes in God.” And you’re right, no real paradox there.
Beautiful response to what’s going on all around us. Thanks, as always.
And thank you, Laurie, for your encouragement.
Oh – what Erika wrote. I also needed to read this.
I am struggling with the “Jesus-raised” relatives of mine (we were raised in the same church) who seem to have so much hate towards anything “other” — people of color, immigrants, members of the LGBTQ+ community. They call helping others “socialism” – despite having survived off of government when their fathers were unable to work after a chemical fire in a paper mill or a serious mining accident.
I try to reach out – focusing on fond memories of us hanging out at my grandmother’s farm as a starting point – only to be called names and criticized for my liberal tendencies like believing we are all children of God and deserve respect and caring or thinking we should really do something about climate change. And gosh forbid, I take students to Central America and I visited one of those “s**t-hole” countries this summer and love people in both places. I fear there is no going back, no reasoning. I cannot compete with DJT or Fox News.
Heck, I like country music, own a shotgun, miss going fishing with my father, and drink a beer from time to time. But my oldest and dearest friend is married to another woman (who cares, she is happy) and my office on campus is known to students as a safe zone. And I will continue to teach about climate change and social justice.
So thank you, Stephen…my dear neighbor to the north and west. Your words again are a much needed salve for my heart.
Dear Southeast Neighbour, thank you for this open and thoughtful comment. I stand with you, may you continue to provide a safe zone for your students, teach the science of climate change and champion social justice. This is the right path and the only real way to “compete” with FOX and DT, and your efforts here will yield dividends you may not see but will be felt in the longrun.