big shock: country music accompanies the Bush tree lighting

[Auggie27]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 5:26pm

But since the Dixie Chicks were busy, they got the next best thing: The Skaggs Family.

Bush is supposed to throw the switch on the elipse momentarily. They're waiting for Cheney to wake up from his nap, and hit the real juice button inside his office.

[Love4Cheno]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 5:29pm

I'm picturing a steel banjo and covered wagon.

[Calvin]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 5:33pm

Are they going to spell out "Merry Christmas" in styrofoam cups along the security fence around the White House?

[Plum]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 5:34pm

Geez, the genre deserves better.

[lildogs]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 5:34pm

The Skaggs Family? Did Ricky breed?


EDIT: Plum did you mean the Christmas Tree genre or the Country Music genre? Updated On: 12/1/05 at 05:34 PM

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 6:58pm

I think she really meant "all America."

[Plum]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 11:07am

Oh, country. It's not like I adore it or anything, but it's produced Patsy Cline as well as "Reflexively 'Patriotic' Guy #82".

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 11:10am

Hey now, the Dixie Chicks took a lot of flack for speaking out against Bush (or, uh, insulting him), so I hope that first comment was meant in jest.
Updated On: 12/2/05 at 11:10 AM

[Dollypop]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 11:34am

HGTV was supposed to do a tour of the White House's Christmas decorations. However it was stymied by the fact that the servants at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue have decided not to put up a Tree. They're just throwing some lights on the Bushes.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 12:08pm

The thing is, The Skaggs family is NOT the genre that would be considered country. They are Bluegrass. There is a BIG difference. They are far more "twangy" and has more religious ties. It was considered mountain music from the Appalachians. It originates in Kentucky. I can't stand it, but it's considered an art.

I hate that people seem to think it is some ignorant decision to like country music. It's not my favorite, but many American's prefer it. Country music does not equal stupidity. Bush does, but not for his choice in music.

/end rant

[JailyardGuy]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 12:18pm

I'm utterly shocked that he didn't invite Prussian Blue to perform...

[cheezedoodle]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 12:30pm

Dollypop - that's totally untrue. I saw Mrs. Bush leading everyone through and explaining just how much Gingerbread was used in the recreation of the Gingerbread White House, and also how the Orchids, Lily's and Roses on the White House tree are being kept alive using individual test tubes full of water tied to each branch.

And I believe Ricky Skaggs is part of the Skaggs Faimily the same way that June Carter Cash was part of the Carter Family.

Updated On: 12/2/05 at 12:30 PM

[lildogs]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 1:39pm

I don't think that country music = stupidity but it's certainly the genre that a person who owned a Confederate flag seems to prefer. There's an aggressive manner in much of country music that puts it in a category with a lot of the so-called "gangsta rap," that is scrutinized and criticized by many areas of society as violent or misogynist. Not so much difference between Tupac and Toby Keith.

[pndmnd]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 3:31pm

OK, so I'm actually a bit offended by that, lildogs. I grew up in a small, midwestern town, and, yes, I listen to country music. Some country music/musicians are more conservative and/or religious, as is some of their audience. That does not mean that they are all bad, and that does not mean that liking it is bad. There are also country musicians (i.e. Dixie Chicks) that have struggled with not agreeing with what a lot of their genre believes. What you're doing is generalizing and perpetuating a stereotype. And, do you KNOW that people "owned a confederate flag" prefer country music? And I disagree about country music being aggressive.

[lildogs]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 3:38pm

Well, you're more than welcome to disagree, and I never said anything about ALL country music and/or its fans. There's absolutely no reason to be insulted from a post by someone you don't know about something that was never said in the first place. Country music has an image whether you like it or not.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 3:44pm

I love a lot of country music and always have. My point here has zip to do with equating it with stupidity: in Bush Era America, a far greater percentage of country musicians are generally behind this president, so of course the genre is more prevelant at big WH events. Almost always at the exclusion of other genres. And yes, I was well aware that the Chicks made comments. That was my (lame) joke.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 5:04pm

i'd love to hear about these "aggresive" country music songs. i mean other than toby's "angry american" and merle's "okie from muskogee" what are these songs that put it in the same category as a genre that habitually degrades women and embraces crime?

[pndmnd]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 5:26pm

Yeah, papa, I have to agree. I'm not getting the whole aggressive music thing either.

And, lildogs, I'm not saying country music doesn't have an image. I'm just not so sure that you know what that image is. What offended me was that you would generalize all country music enjoyers into being either racist or southern, I'm not sure which (and I'm getting that from the "Confederate Flag owners" comment, which I still haven't figured out.

[Calvin]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 5:29pm

Actually, women seem to be the killers in country songs pretty often.

"The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia"
"The Thunder Rolls"
"Goodbye Earl"
and does "9 to 5" count?

[Plum]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 5:29pm

There's a difference between saying Confederate flag-wavers tend to like country music and that country music lovers tend to be Confederate flag-wavers.

Just saying.

[lildogs]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 5:33pm

Save scanning the entire canon of country music, I've included 3 examples of how much country music and hip-hop/gangsta rap have in common:

Johnny Cash, of whom I'm a fan, writes about a guy who against his mother's wishes, gets drunk and shotts a man who disses him

"He drank his first strong liquor then to calm his shaking hand
And tried to tell himself at last he had become a man
A dusty cowpoke at his side began to laugh him down
And he heard again his mother's words;

Refrain:
"Don't take your guns to town, son
Leave your guns at home, Bill
Don't take your guns to town."

Bill was raged and Billy Joe reached for his gun to draw
But the stranger drew his gun and fired before he even saw
As Billy Joe fell to the floor the crowd all gathered 'round
And wondered at his final words;

Refrain:
"Don't take your guns to town, son
Leave your guns at home, Bill
Don't take your guns to town."

Or from our girl Reba, who sings about a mother prostituting her daughter:

"remember it all very well lookin' back
It was the summer I turned eighteen
We lived in a one room, rundown shack
On the outskirts of New Orleans
We didn't have money for food or rent
To say the least we were hard pressed
Then Mama spent every last penny we had
To buy me a dancin' dress

Mama washed and combed and curled my hair
And she painted my eyes and lips then I stepped into
a satin'
dancin' dress that had a split on the side clean up
to my hip
It was red velvet trim and it fit me good
Standin' back from the lookin' glass
There stood a woman where a half grown kid
had stood

She said here's your one chance Fancy don't let
me down
Here's your one chance Fancy don't let me down"

Or Toby Keith bragging about his "bling" boots:

It's these twenty-two hundred
And twenty-five dollar
Pair o' handmade genuine fine
Horned-back kicks
With a seven-row stitch
And a three dollar sidewalk shine
Yeah they're made to fit
and they're hard to find
Make a pretty woman look down each time"

Of course, not EVERYONE will see the connections, nor will they find it aggressive (it has two "s" in it, maybe YOU need remedial reading), but songs in which guns, liquor and hookers are prominent fixtures can hardly be thought of as family fare.

[Calvin]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 5:33pm

If all Mooms are tricksy and some Bloops are Mooms, are all Bloops tricksy?

I hated those kinds of questions.

[cheezedoodle]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 5:38pm

It's true every music genre has it's perceptions. Just like the things that go through peoples minds when Brittany Spears or Mariah Carey walk out on stage.

[lildogs]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 5:39pm

Or Yo Yo Ma and Renee Fleming...

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 5:48pm

typos are hardly representative of remedial reading needs, unlike the fundamental lack of reading comprehension skills that marks so many other posts.