The summer of 2006 is when I began anticipating songs that would play on country music radio stations. It was a time in my life when no other genre of music influenced me as much as country. I had always been so happy listening to songs in the car and singing along. However, my passion for country music grew much stronger when I discovered Country Music Television (CMT). I spent almost everyday that summer watching music videos on CMT. They had one show in particular that I loved; they would play the top videos of the year. Over the years, a few of those videos have been carved into my memory.
“Every Time I Hear Your Name” by Keith Anderson is my favorite song of that year. Keith Anderson had a few other hits in his career like “Pickin’ Wildflowers” and “I Still Miss You” but he never became well known as a country artist. “Every Time I Hear Your Name” was the first ballad Anderson released and it reached No. 7 in the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and the accompanying video was average. Regardless, I think this music video has been stuck in my mind for all of these years simply because I loved this song. Whenever they aired it on CMT I would get really excited and sing along. Now looking back as an adult, I realize there is nothing special about the video; but it will always be my theme song for the summer of 2006.
“A Little Too Late” by Toby Keith is another music video I remember from that summer. Toby Keith is an outrageous person in general, so you can imagine the type of music video he would make for a song that’s about an ex-girlfriend. “A Little Too Late” reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. I recall memorizing the entire video because of how often they would play it on CMT. The reason this video stuck out so much is because of its intensity. Toby tries to trap his ex-girlfriend in the basement and leave her there for dead. I was never actually afraid of watching it, but the video left a negative impression on me.
“Not Ready to Make Nice” by the Dixie Chicks is the last memorable music video from the summer of 2006. This song is the band’s biggest hit to date. It’s about the band’s reaction to the impending Iraq war and the controversy over a comment by lead singer, Natalie Maines. At a concert in London, Maines stated, “…We don’t want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.” This remark caused the Dixie Chick’s music to be banned from country radio and damaged their careers. Back then, I didn’t understand the controversy or what this music video is about. However, I became frightened when CMT would air it because of it’s dark themes. Mostly I remember this video as the one with all of the black paint with creepy people. For an 11 year old it’s understandably an intense music video. Today the Dixie Chicks are making a comeback. And, I can’t wait to see what they have in store!
Even though these songs seem unrelated, they have a permanent place in my memory. It’s strange that out of all of the videos I watched, these three are the only ones that I specifically remember. I continued to watch music videos on CMT and YouTube growing up, but never as often as I did during the summer of 2006.
Great post! I always loved watching music videos growing up, too. I think it’s really interesting how a music video can make or break a song. I’ve found myself really disliking songs that I’d previously loved after seeing a bad music video, or the other way around. I also think that line by the Dixie Chicks was so bold, but awesome of them to stand their ground! It’s so exciting that they’re on their way back into the business now.
I really liked reading your post! Especially when you picked those 3 great songs and took the time to explain why you liked them and gave us a little explanation on the song’s background and why you liked them. I’m glad country music became a big part of your life. Everyone needs a little inspiration in their life, and it’s good that you found that inspiration to be country music. Growing up, I loved watching music videos and seeing how they were so well choreographed etc. Although there were some songs I disliked in the past, I’ve grown to like them now. I guess the taste in music changes with your maturity level. Thanks for sharing!
I had completely forgotten about “Every Time I Hear Your Name” before reading your post! Wow, what a song! You are right about the video being average, but it was 2006…Anyway, great post. Toby Keith and the Dixie Chicks very much dominated 2006, so it is fitting you remembered those two videos. I did not really get in to music videos until high school, so this is the first I’ve seen of “Every Time I Hear Your Name” and “A Little Too Late”. Thinking back to these middle school songs brings back some serious nostalgia so thank you for that. Great post!
My favorite part of these posts is the country music songs that are typically included, and you gave me 3! I usually start by listening to the songs first, and then and read about what the poster has to say about the song. I think you tied these three together very well, and had a nice story to boot. I listened to any of these songs closely before, and now I am glad that I did. I think that this was a great read and overall a very enjoyable post
It’s really cool to hear about what kind of songs influenced other people, especially at a younger age. Sometime throughout 2006 is when I really started to get into country, or at least tolerating it a lot more than I had previously. So, this post was really interesting to me because I was able to hear other songs that were popular at the time. I had only really heard the Dixie Chicks song, and never saw the video for “Not Ready to Make Nice” or the other two songs, until now. I enjoyed watching the music videos and getting a sense more of the songs! Great post though!