I didn’t expect to spend the day wondering, once again, what’s going on with country music but I watched HARDY’s music video for “TRUCK BED” and all I can do is wonder what’s going on with country music.
Whether you agree with the accompanying music videos or not, it’s encouraging that songs about small town justice (Jason Aldean) and forbidden love (Tyler Childers) were headlining country music news in the last few weeks. Traditional values juxtaposed with homosexual relationships, all within country music. Talk about a range of lyrics! You might have thought the era of ‘bro country’ was finally over but then Luke Bryan said, “Wait, hold my Two Lane.” Yep, Luke Bryan debuted a video for his song “But I Got A Beer In My Hand.” Catchy. Playful. Fun. Even if it’s a predictable country cliché. Check out the video and more of my thoughts about it here.
But it’s HARDY’s song and video that most reminds me of a hangnail that just won’t go away. Or when you have a thorn in your sock and can’t quite find it so every time you take a step it jabs your foot or your toe or your heel. The video shows a party with the guy who was so drunk his wife or girlfriend locked him out of the house all night. Is that really something to be celebrated? It’s a relic of ‘bro country’ that was played out years ago and, anyway, who thinks it’s cool to be so drunk you pass out in your front yard and wake up threatening birds in a nearby tree? That’s just embarrassing. As the video played I found myself annoyed, bored, and embarrassed for country music… yet again.
I rather hear those birds chirping their melodies than listen to this song ever again.
I did some searching to find out if I’m just being crabby. Has anyone else spoken up about NOT liking this song (all I could find in the YouTube comments were HARDY fans praising the song)? Thankfully, yes. This link below from Kyle’s Korner calls out the song in such clarity.
Is “Truck Bed” the dumbest song in country music? HARDY gets a pass on that because Brad Paisley released this song first. And I wouldn’t call the song dumb necessarily. It’s more like a “been there, done that” type of thing, to borrow an overused phrase from the 90s. Country music has got to get past the idea that it’s fun to sing about being so drunk that the person you care about the most (besides your narcissistic self, I guess) is so fed up that you’re no longer welcome in their presence. On top of that, you act like you don’t care? That’s the stuff alcoholics are made of, and that’s not fun or funny.
-Out of the Wilderness
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