"You stole my country, you made me curse..."

...or, More not-so-random musical observations prompted by hearing a certain song by a certain artist yesterday afternoon at HEB...

Would you like to know just why I turned into a metalhead? Because in the span of just over four decades, mainstream country has gone from "Sing Me Back Home" to Carrie Underwood singing about some dude stealing her happy. I do love me some sugary pop music when it's done right -- witness my fondness for Kelly Clarkson -- but not when it's marketed as "country." And I realize that country music has had its bad songs and good with every time period, but I just can't help but think it's gotten stagnant, if not progressively worse, over the last decade or so. I know that for every George Strait there's been a Lee Greenwood, and that for every Merle Haggard there's been a Barbara Mandrell. And I will admit there are some bright spots in modern country, with traditional-leaning singers like Easton Corbin, Jamey Johnson, Chris Young and Miranda Lambert. But Haggard and Strait got to be superstars of the genre, and I'm not so sure the same is going to be said of the newer traditional singers. I've said before that I don't really need my music tastes validated by everyone else buying the same music I do, but just the same it really bothers me that most of the traditionalists seem to have been relegated to B-list or lower A-list status these days...