25 Genre Critical Country Songs (2023)

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Will country music become in a flash and without substance?

Many people wonder who killed country music, but others say the genre has never been more alive. Over the years, a shift has replaced the neotraditional twang with a flavor of crossover country, making today's music almost indistinguishable from what it was decades ago.

The life-tested lyrics and distinctive vibe of legendary musicians like Merle Haggard, George Jones, and Waylon Jennings gave way to their more traditionalist brethren like George Strait, Randy Travis, and Alan Jackson. Then Garth Brooks changed the genre forever with his massive following, mainstream pop appeal, and flashy shows from him. Artists like Lonestar, Shania Twain and Rascal Flatts followed with success, charming country-pop-crossover audiences.

Fast forward even further and Bro Country changed both the lyrical content and the overall tone of country music. The songs became predictably formulaic, celebrating parties and young women resting their tanned legs on the dashboard of the narrator's truck. As country music found new influences from hip-hop, hard rock, and electronica, the accent disappeared.

But even as Bro Country began to fade in popularity, country music fans had to think: Has the genre become a distorted representation of its former glory, all flash and no substance? In the following songs, country artists criticize their own genre.

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1. "Are you sure Hank did that?" by Waylon Jennings

Sir, it's the same old tune, violin and guitar.
Where from here?
Rhinestone suits and shiny new cars
It's been that way for years.
We need a change.

Waylon Jennings spared no effort in 1975 with this country hit song, a tribute to legendary singer Hank Williams Sr. Although Hoss doesn't name names, he criticizes the bright 1970s country stars who wear beaded outfits and aren't really authentic. . He alludes to artists like Elvis (yes, the King of Rock and Roll was a country star too) and Glen Campbell, the beaded cowboy.

In the song, Watasha refers to touring with his five-piece band for 10 years, traveling from gig to gig to make it big. As he compares himself to Hank Sr. and then-popular country musicians, Jennings feels his young life slipping away. Lamenting the current state of country music, he calls for change and evokes the hero's memory of him.

2. "Murder on Music Row" de Alan Jackson (con George Strait)

If you thought Waylon Jennings spoke clearly in his groundbreaking song, you haven't heard. This ditty was performed by popular traditional singers George Strait and Alan Jackson at the 1999 Country Music Association Awards Show.

The song laments the change in country music that has sidelined the traditional and neo-traditional country sound in favor of the crossover influences of pop and country-pop. (That was in the late 1990s, so that's a blatant indictment of crossover artists like Garth Brooks.) The song accuses an anonymous attacker of killing country music by cutting out its heart and soul, a crime committed by Greed is motivated:

The almighty dollar and the greed for world fame
The tradition died slowly and someone should be hanged for it.
Everyone says he's not guilty, but the evidence will show
This murder was committed on Music Row.

3. „Outlaw You“ de Shooter Jennings

"Shooter" Jennings is one of six children born to Waylon Jennings and his namesake, and while he has yet to reach the stature of that legendary father, the young upstart offered this critique of the state of country music in 2005. In it he protests that the genre is too focused on selling records and full of cute guys singing other people's songs. The shooter claims that he failed to hit the ground with a baseball bat. The son of the famous outlaw musician announces that he wants to ban the new peasants.

4. „God and Country Music“ de George Strait (con Harvey Strait)

George Strait's six-year-old grandson, Harvey, has a cameo in this song from 2018. While he's not complaining specifically about what's wrong with the new sound, it's clear that the neo-traditional country music legend definitely wants to stop the changes Known as the King of Country, Strait is a Grammy Award winner and member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. He has had a phenomenal 60 #1 hits on the Billboard Country charts.

The song celebrates the life of country music in the small churches and out-of-the-way honky-tonks of this nation. Expressing both mountain highs and valley lows, country music resonates somewhere between hell and hallelujah. He claims that God and country music are two things still worth saving.

Who ruined country music? Some would say that these people...

You might like their groove, but the content of their songs often isn't that deep: beers, trucks, hot girls.

Florida-Georgia-Lines	Tomas Rhett	Lucas Bryan
travel hunting	Kenny Chesney	jason's side
Cole Swindell	jagd itself	Blake Shelton
Dierks Bentley	jake owen	tobi keith

5. "This Ain't No Country" by Aaron Lewis

The guy in this 2016 ditty is old enough to know that what he's hearing on the radio these days isn't authentic country music, at least not in his book. For him, the royal country means hard times and complications, heartaches and drama in relationships. But pop music masquerading as country music these days? Spring, ...

this is not a country
that is a natural fact
It's full of tails of good times and happy endings.
my life is not like that
So I keep listening to the old songs that my grandfather used to play.
Full of pain and anguish and despair and those who got away.

6. "This Is Country, Brother" by Toby Keith

In a nod to Billy Joel's 1989 song "We Didn't Start the Fire," this 2018 issue rattles off the names of 57 different country music pioneers and cultural influences in two and a half minutes:

Jimmie Rodgers, Patsy Cline
We lost Hank at 29
Roy Acuff, Johnny Horton and dancer Bill Monroe
Woodie GuthrieBob Wills
Spade CooleyKitty Wells
Jimmy Dean and Big John and old Hank Snow.

The song is a clear nod to bro country, a subgenre of pop-country music that features handsome young male singers who typically sing about trucks, love girls in short skirts, and kick back with beers and friends. However, Toby criticizing Keith Bro Country may seem disingenuous considering that some of his biggest hits were "Red Solo Cup" (2011), "I Like Girls That Drink Beer" (2012) and "Drinks After The Work". " (2013).

7. "Who's Gonna Fill Your Shoes" by George Jones

A legend, George Jones uses this 1985 ditty to voice his concerns about the future of country music. Although some of the singers Possum refers to were still decades old, he predicts a future without the musicians who laid the foundations of country music. He was also critical of the genre's talent pool at the time.

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The song references artists such as Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Conway Twitty, Roy Acuff, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Charlie Rich, Hank Williams, Marty Robbins, and Lefty Frizzell. Long before today's bro-country, Jones worried about the future of country music:

Who will fill your shoes?
Who will stand so tall?
Who will play the Opry?
And the wabash cannonball?
Who will give their heart and soul?
To come to me and you?
Sir, I wonder who will fill your shoes.

8. "Call me country" by Jon Pardi

Jon Pardi brings the accent back to country music, lamenting the changes in both the singers' style and lyrical content in this 2019 song. To him, today's pop-country bears little resemblance to the music he grew up listening to, the songs of Willie and Waylon, Merle and Hank Jr.:

They did songs about freight trains and prisons.
heartbreak and honky tonks
And cowboys and outlaws
kind women
With boots and straw hats
Everything is gone, just like that
you can't even recognize me
They called me homeland.

9. „Long Time Gone“ de The Chicks

This 2002 song tells the story of a local musician who ventures to Nashville in a failed attempt at stardom. The narrator sleeps in his car and plays for tips on lower Broadway, hoping to land a record deal. He returns home disappointed and empty-handed. Years later, as he listens to country music on the radio, the man realizes that she is now missing that secret he once had. This special ingredient has disappeared:

We listen to the radio to hear what's going on
But music has no soul.
Now they sound tired but not haggard
They have money but no cash.
They have Junior, but not Hank.
I think, I think, I think the rest is
A lot of time has passed.
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10. „Lotta Boot Left to Fill“ de Eric Church

In this 2010 issue, Eric Church conjures up the cheesy tricks and one-hit wonders of modern country, boy bands, and cookie cutters.handsome boys acting tough.(Notice they all look the same?) No matter how much modern artists want to admit, conveniently dropping the names of legends doesn't make it authentic, and claiming it's the real deal doesn't make Church remember how many of today's musicians either. Left behind in the shadow of legends:

I don't think Waylon ever did it that way.
And if he was here he'd say "Hoss, neither is Hank"
I'm not following what you're doing, but guys, come on, let's be honest.
Yeah, you've still got a lot of boots to fill, aah.

11. "Can I get an outlaw?" by Luke Combs

Nothing original these days, argues Luke Combs in this 2016 country song. The aspiring singers of Pretty Boys destroy the genre with the content of their formulaic songs. They sing canned lyrics, not vivid lyrics, he says:

It doesn't have to be honky tonks, boots and Wrangler jeans
It's not the banjo or the fiddle, no
It's the words and what they mean
If you talk to talk, you better follow the path
And brother, that's the truth
So honestly, what would Waylon do?

12. "Life isn't fair and the world is bad" by Sturgill Simpson

Sturgill Simpson is known for doing his own thing, though his modern country outlaw sound is often compared to Waylon Jennings. In this 2013 issue, Simpson shoots music industry executives. They tried to change his singing style and what he writes and sings. They also tried to command the entire creative process. Simpson doesn't credit his refusal to back down from mainstream fame just yet. He concludes: "But that's the way it is, life isn't fair and the world is bad."

13. „Put the 'O' back in the country' by Shooter Jennings

On this 2002 track, "Shooter" Jennings sees himself as carrying on his father's legacy as a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. The young Jennings names a host of larger-than-life rock and country artists and claims he wants to reverse the changes that are ruining the music he loves:

Let's put the "o" back on the ground
Well I roll like a freight train
coming straight to you
play hillbilly music
like i was born for it
You know this isn't country music you're listening to.

14. "Johnny Cash Junkie (Buck Owens Freak)" de Brooks & Dunn

Proud of their country roots, the narrators of this 2007 song bleed red, white and blue. They relate to growing up with Haggard, Cash, and other pioneers of the genre. Today's country seems to be heading towards pop, but this is a call to return to the familiar:

We have peasant women who ride quads
With camouflage bikinis in the CMT
I return a beer, I swear allegiance to Hank
I take a little less pop, a lot more twang.

15. "Trashville" de Hank Williams III

For years, Hank Williams III tried to step out of the long shadow of his father and grandfather. He became a punk and metal artist in the early years of his career, but eventually found his way back into country music. Hank III's neo-traditional voice is eerily similar to his grandfather's.

In this 2002 song, he blasts Nashville, claims "they" killed country music, and says he's leaving town to go back to Texas. True to his lineage, Hank III is a rebel:

Now we're playing country music
It's not how it used to be
I'm so tired of these new things.
They try to make me sing
This is not country music to me.

Even more country songs that criticize the genre.

Do you know of any country songs that criticize the genre? Make a suggestion in the comments section below.
lied	Artist	year published
16. Are you sure Waylon did it that way?	clint negro	1999
17. Solides Country-Oro	Proteger a Jennings	2005
18. Fuck this town	Robbie Fulk	1997
19. Take back this country	John Anderson y Vince Gill	2006
20. Song Sold	Kevin Fowler (con Zane Williams)	2016
21. Outlaw	Ryan Upchurch (con Luke Combs)	2016
22. Something with panache	aaron watson	2002
23. The same old song	Blake Shelton	2001
24. Girl in a Country Song	maddie y tae	2014
25. Worst country song ever	Brantley Gilbert (con Hardy y Toby Keith)	2021

Roberto Sacchion 09.02.2020:

An interesting article might be one that shows artists and groups that changed their name and compares what songs they recorded before and after they changed their name.

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FlourishAnyway (Autor)from USA on 09/02/2020:

Bob - I agree!

Roberto Sacchion 09.01.2020:

Yes, name changes are complicated. Although it would seem that if an artist or group recorded a song under one name and then changed its name, the name it was recorded under would be the one that would be pasted and the new name would be a footnote.

FlourishAnyway (Autor)from USA on 09/01/2020:

Bob: When they changed their names, I immediately thought how I would change several hundred items. It's in the background and I'm trying to find the names while doing other updates. Thank you for bringing this to your attention. This is where I made the change.

Roberto Sacchi31.08.2020:

Thanks for the list and history of the evolving genre. Could it just be a move out of the country? The Dixie Chicks are now The Chicks, I wonder how long it will be before they have to change that name and Lady Antebellum is now Lady A. Changes are inevitable.

FlourishAnyway (Autor)from USA on 05/05/2020:

Heidi - Thanks for the song suggestion. I remember singing this song and putting peanuts in my coke with friends just because the song said so. Have a good week!

heidi dornfrom the Chicago area on May 04, 2020:

You have to love people who can laugh at themselves, right?