I hate country music.
At work, country music is frequently played on the radio. I suffer in bitter silence, trying to block out the endlessly repeating songs about trucks, tractors, back roads, beer, intoxication, and promiscuous women. The music mostly sounds the same to me, and the lyrics are deplorable.
Pop music is nearly as bad. It’s no less shallow than country music, but at least it’s not as muddy. Pop’s obsessions with dysfunctional relationships, cheap sex, and glamorous appearances are depressing.
To be fair, I’ve heard pop and country songs that are pretty good. I can’t think of any, but I’m sure they’re out there.
Much to my astonishment, the Gregory Brothers have fused pop and country into something that sounds… actually pretty awesome. Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball” makes a great country ballad.
I particularly like how the camera, near the end of the music video, pans slowly across an action figure of Ryu from Street Fighter, which later falls over inexplicably. It’s obviously a metaphor for something incomprehensibly profound, and I respect the Gregory Brothers’ artistic vision.
Typewriter Monkey Task Force 
Hate’s a pretty strong word!
I used to hate country, but then I found some I enjoyed and realized I could probably gain more out of life not hating any particular genre of music than stewing over it. Que sera sera and all that! Plus adding a banjo to anything is generally a great idea. The banjo is amazing.
I do agree with you about the depressing lyrics of many songs today. So, SO many bitter people. Sure, some are nice love-based lyrics, but so many more are irate, judgmental, and filled with hurt. I suppose that’s part of this walk of human existence we face, but I get enough of it day to day so I prefer not to fill my head with even more negativity. I get it, misery loves company, so having these songs tailored to an irate, judgmental, hurting world is like shooting fish in a barrel. I myself have pretty much switched over to 100% Christian music at this point (plus audio books), and I was nervous about making that transition (I’d be missing out or unable to connect with other people or something, I was sure) but now I wouldn’t go back. To be totally and completely free to belt out the lyrics of the songs I hear without any need to wonder “Should I really be letting these words come from my lips?” is a very glorious thing. Kind of changed my life, really. I imagine it’s not for everyone (and to be honest, a LOT of Christian songs are no melodic masterpieces if we’re being truthful) but it works beautifully for me as I keep striving to be the person I want to be. Helps me keep on track instead of falling backwards into cynicism.
That being said, there’s some mainstream music I return to no matter what the lyrics are about because I just enjoy it SO MUCH. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtIvfe7w8Fk Judge me if you must!
I would probably find it easier not to detest country music if the same songs were not played so frequently at work. It’s a nuisance.
In fairness, I love banjos. Instrumental bluegrass is wonderful. 🙂
My song library is an ignorant, unsophisticated, and uninformed mess of movie and television soundtracks, folk, video game remixes, New-age, geeky music, acoustic guitar, and hymns, with a bunch of Relient K thrown in for good measure.
I won’t judge you for liking a Hilary Duff song if you won’t judge me for listening to remixed My Little Pony music… deal?
Sounds fair to me. 🙂
I’ve always leaned towards the genres of psychedelic, classical, and progressive rock. Psychedelic kind of speaks to me as raw feeling. Even if the musicians were on drugs at the time, at least their true human thoughts and ideas are coming out in the music.
In the past few years I’ve become able to appreciate almost any genre whereas previously I couldn’t tolerate any music that wasn’t exactly what I liked. I’m glad that change occurred. It has allowed me to find different types of music that I enjoy.
But seriously, Country and Pop are the worst genres.
I think it’s important to appreciate variety in music. Nearly every genre, from prog rock to folk, has unique value. That does not, however, necessarily mean that all genres are equally valuable; pop and country are pretty low on my list!