Why I love country music

Let me count the ways...

1. No other country can claim this kind of music. It's purely American!

2. It reminds me of summertime and all things green. It's been with me during spring cleaning, garage sales, volleyball practice, and horseback riding. And there's nothing like a sunny day with the car windows rolled down and a great country song on the radio.

3. It always evokes some kind of emotion. How can you not laugh when guys sing about tractors and corn and riding bulls? How can you not feel warm and fuzzy when love is expressed in simple, yet lovely terms? And how can you not tap your foot to a good fiddle beat or swoon to an acoustic guitar?

For me, though, it's usually the lyrics that get to me, especially the lyrics that make me think. Here is the chorus from one of my new favorite songs by Rodney Atkins: "The river don't talk. The river don't care where you've been, what you've done, why it is you're standing there. It just rolls on by, whispering to your soul. It's gonna be alright. The river just knows." What a great song about healing and growing and coming home.

4. A lot of songs speak of God; in fact it seems to be one of the few secular areas where it's acceptable to do that. I am very proud of country artists who are not afraid to share their faiths. Josh Turner is my favorite in this category (besides the fact that he has a mesmerizing bass vocal range). His song Long Black Train, which talks about the enticement and dangers of sin and about the victory we have in the Lord, was his first big hit. How cool is that?

And take these beautiful words from Dierks Bentley's Prodigal Son's Prayer: "Father lead me down to the river, wash me in the water till I'm whiter than snow. I know I'm not worthy, but tell me there's mercy for the wandering soul." This song is a great reminder of our shortcomings and of His love.

4. And lastly, but definitely not leastly, it involves cowboys :)

Photo from The Pioneer Woman