Yee-ha?

"What do you get when you play a country music record backwards? You get your dog back, you get your truck back, you get your wife back." Okay, now I'll wait until you are all done rolling around the ground with laughter, and I'll give you a moment to collect yourself. Better? Good.
As you may have gathered, I don't really agree with the joke above. Frankly, I like country music. I won't say that I like all country music, but I like a large portion of it. The thing with country music is that it is very blue collar music. It is not for teen angst, or for anger, or violence. But because of this, I think that it is better at portraying real life than other types of music are, or than they let themselves to be. I find that country songs can touch a nerve in me that no other music can. For example, the song "Whiskey Lullaby" by Brad Paisley is one of the most touching songs I have heard in a long time. And there are many others like it. A slow country song is either terrible, or extremely good. Speaking as someone who is not fond of slow music in general, finding a large number of slow songs that I enjoy is something special.
Country music also seems to have more fun than most other types of music do. "Chicks Dig It", by an artist whose name escapes me at the moment, is just good clean fun. And there are songs like that all over the place. Again, real life fun, just kickin' back and stirring up some fun. So casual, so friendly.
Finally, the love songs are about as good as you can find. Of course, you have to search to find them, but when you do, it is worth the struggle.
When I was in high school, country was about all I would listen to. I stepped away because there were too many songs that were sappy and slow and sad and not well done. But I never completely stopped listening to it, and now I am finding more and more songs that are really well done that I can enjoy.
So the next time you start making fun of country, pause a moment, and remember that the mindless reviling of the music is based on completely outdated stereotypes. If you want fun, or a shot at real life, give it a try.