Apollo High School

The story has been sung many a time. His wife cheated on him, and her lover stole his truck, AND his dog. Over the years country music has handed down this story, and tried to pass it off as a new tale. I for one, am tired of hearing the same old story, and a long time ago, discovered the greener pastures of rock music.

If you want to hear a new subject matter, go to the greener pasture. The great thing about the lyrical content of rock music is that not only can it be depressing, but it can also be angry, happy, or confused. There are many emotions that go with rock music, and country is just sad, sad, or proud to be a country boy. It is a fact that more people commit suicide that listen to country music, than any other type of music.What's worse, is that most country singers don't even write their own songs. They buy them. It's one thing for an artist to write lyrics that could have been written by a 10 year old, but it's another for an artist to actually pay moneyfor someone to write crappy lyrics FOR them.

Not only are the lyrics better, but more importantly, the music itself is astonishingly better. Rock music has contributed many great guitarists over time such as Jimi Hendrix, Randy Rhodes, and Jimmy Page. Until Jimi Hendrix came along, nobody even played guitar like that. Also, rock music has contributed many great drummers, bass players(i.e. the great Flea!), and unique voices. Rock singers aren’t yodelers. Every country singer has some sort of twang in their voice, and is a yodeler. There’s a yodel for every last syllable in a word.

Most importantly, when has country music ever started a revolution? When the Beatles came to America, they changed everything. They changed the way people dressed, the way people wore their hair, and the music that people listened to. Rock music is just great. What’s bad about it? Nothing! Rock music displays not only emotion and talent, but rock music is the greatest display of genius.

by: Amanda Fantini
Reporter

Around Apollo, a majority population of the students listen to not only mainstream rock, rap, and pop, i.e. Tool, Disturbed, Britney Spears, Hilary Duff, Nelly, or Tupac, but, coming from a school where the FFA is a major organization that one can't escape, a lot of the students listen to country. Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, and Dierks Bently are popular with many of the home folk around here, and it's not hard to see why.

The touching lyrics of Martina McBride can waver even the hardest of hearts and the funnest of souls with "Concrete Angel" and "This One's For the Girls."

Unlike rap, which focuses on the luxurious and immoral life, or rap, which constantly angrily tells of neglect, suicide, and abuse, country is a soothing and uplifting type of music with serious issues thrown in here and there.

Then there's pop. The almost sickenly happy, sweet love songs like Jessica Simpsons' new pop love song for her new hubby, Britney Spears' collaboration with Madonna after the disturbing public display of affection at one of the various MTV award shows is enough to drive any sane person crazy of the repetitive bubblegum music.

Today, country music is America's 'folk' music, so the lyrics come straight from the heart, not from a money-making machine that only knows of cars, money, big houses, and women. And instead of being vulgar about being intimate with the one you love, which is most offensive, there are romatic songs like "I Melt" by Rascal Flatts, "It's Raining on Sunday" by Keith Urban, and "Amazed" by Lonestar.

For those 'wilder' home guys'n'gals, there are the classic yet fun songs: Toby Keith and Willie Nelson's "Beer For My Horses," a new version of bar songs, or Dolly Parton and Montgomery Gentry.

So leave the vulgar rap obscenities and depressing rock satires, and return to your roots with Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, or Monntgomery Gentry.