{"id":1582,"date":"2014-10-25T08:00:45","date_gmt":"2014-10-25T13:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/?p=1582"},"modified":"2015-01-22T11:18:00","modified_gmt":"2015-01-22T17:18:00","slug":"murder-on-music-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/2014\/10\/25\/murder-on-music-row\/","title":{"rendered":"Murder On Music Row"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Artists\"<\/a>\u201cMurder On Music Row,\u201d is a popular song originally written by Larry Shell and Larry Cordle in 1999 and later covered by George Strait and Alan Jackson in what came to be a hit duet. When I first heard this song I didn\u2019t fully understand the point it was trying to get across. However, when I heard this song for a second time on one of George Strait\u2019s \u2018greatest hits\u2019 CD, I became aware of its lyrical meaning.<\/p>\n

This song created much controversy in the music industry because of its criticism towards mainstream country music at that time. The lyrics criticize the on-going trend of pop music integrating it\u2019s way into country music. Strait and Jackson agreed with the meaning behind this song by making their own cover together.<\/p>\n

Country music tends to have this reputation of \u201ctwangy\u201d songs, fiddle playing, drinking and love stories. The lyrics state, \u201cFor the steel guitars no longer cry and fiddles barely play.\u201d It seems as if the country sounds were being taken out of country music around the time the song was written. \u201cThey said no one would buy them old drinking and cheating songs.\u201d Traditional country music was slowly dying due to the new style of music and new upcoming artists. The song refers to Meryl Haggard by stating, \u201cWhy, the Hag, he wouldn’t have a chance on today’s radio.\u201d Because of the way country music was changing so much, if people heard Meryl on the radio they wouldn\u2019t know what to think.<\/p>\n

\"Murder_on_Music_Row\"If you listen to \u201cMurder On Music Row,\u201d which I suggest you do, the sound ties back into the meaning of the song by keeping the true country sound. With the twang in their voices, the fiddle in the background, and the acoustic guitars, Strait and Jackson relay a message to the country music industry, striving to keep the traditional country music alive. As two true country artists, they saw what country music was turning into and what it was soon to become. Strait and Jackson may be seen as the saviors of traditional country music in the era of its changes.<\/p>\n

As it seems, many agree that pop country has taken over and \u201cmurdered\u201d true country music. It has changed drastically in the past decade, leaving fans questioning, \u201cwhat is true country music?\u201d If the new music is not classified as country, then what is it?<\/p>\n

Lyrics found at: http:\/\/www.azlyrics.com\/lyrics\/georgestrait\/murderonmusicrow.html<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cMurder On Music Row,\u201d is a popular song originally written by Larry Shell and Larry Cordle in 1999 and later covered by George Strait and Alan Jackson in what came to be a hit duet. When I first heard this … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,63,11,12,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movies-tv","category-music-videos","category-new-country","category-new-traditionalism","category-song-analysis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1582"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2986,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1582\/revisions\/2986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}