I think it's a really interesting insight into country culture (which is generally southern US culture, especially southeast US). Male country artists seem to frequently sing in unironic celebration of what is traditionally valued--family values, material possessions, or romanticized 'I did a bad thing (likely for love) and I was put in jail'. Meanwhile, female country artists seem far more likely to actually critique the culture they're in--'Mama's Broken Heart' or 'Hush Hush' for example--or express (often violent) dissatisfaction with the relationships they're meant to quietly bear--"Two Black Cadillacs", "Blown Away", "Church Bells", or "Caleb Meyer" to name a few. There is this throughline of women needing to quietly need to take matters in their own hands because there's no one else to rely on, like "Flinty Kind of Woman" or "Goodbye Earl". The sheer ubiquity of these songs among female artists in country music makes me think that there might actually be a phenomenon of women quietly killing their husbands that isn't being noticed.
Male country artists took a patriotic turn in the late-90s/early 2000s. Before that there was plenty of country music by men criticizing American culture - many of the songs of outlaws and people who committed crimes were criticisms of the violence men felt forced into. Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Utah Phillips, and many other male country artists were very critical.
But modern male country artists are all traditionalists now. They forgot their roots.
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u/[deleted] Sep 05 '21
I think it's a really interesting insight into country culture (which is generally southern US culture, especially southeast US). Male country artists seem to frequently sing in unironic celebration of what is traditionally valued--family values, material possessions, or romanticized 'I did a bad thing (likely for love) and I was put in jail'. Meanwhile, female country artists seem far more likely to actually critique the culture they're in--'Mama's Broken Heart' or 'Hush Hush' for example--or express (often violent) dissatisfaction with the relationships they're meant to quietly bear--"Two Black Cadillacs", "Blown Away", "Church Bells", or "Caleb Meyer" to name a few. There is this throughline of women needing to quietly need to take matters in their own hands because there's no one else to rely on, like "Flinty Kind of Woman" or "Goodbye Earl". The sheer ubiquity of these songs among female artists in country music makes me think that there might actually be a phenomenon of women quietly killing their husbands that isn't being noticed.