{"id":5885,"date":"2015-11-08T07:00:12","date_gmt":"2015-11-08T13:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/?p=5885"},"modified":"2015-11-02T22:55:02","modified_gmt":"2015-11-03T04:55:02","slug":"country-music-and-politics-is-the-genre-red-or-blue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/2015\/11\/08\/country-music-and-politics-is-the-genre-red-or-blue\/","title":{"rendered":"Country Music and Politics: Is the Genre Red or Blue?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2015\/10\/berniesanders.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5888 \" src=\"http:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2015\/10\/berniesanders-e1446331560454-300x182.jpg\" alt=\"berniesanders\" width=\"376\" height=\"228\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2015\/10\/berniesanders-e1446331560454-300x182.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2015\/10\/berniesanders-e1446331560454-1024x623.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2015\/10\/berniesanders-e1446331560454.jpg 1487w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 376px) 100vw, 376px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2015\/10\/trump.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-5889\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2015\/10\/trump-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"344\" height=\"229\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2015\/10\/trump-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2015\/10\/trump.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 344px) 100vw, 344px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Our political views are often shaped by the community we live in: what our families believe, what we watch on TV, and even the kind of music we listen to. All of these aspects of life influence what we put value in. So as a fan of country music, and with the presidential election just a year away, I found myself asking how the genre views hot topics in politics today.<\/p>\n<p>This piece is not meant to advance a political agenda, but rather serve as a platform for you, the reader, to be exposed to songs about social issues and decide for yourself to which side the genre swings. I do not pretend to be a political expert, so all statements\u00a0on the views of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democrats.org\/party-platform#protecting-rights\" target=\"_blank\">DNC<\/a>\u00a0and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gop.com\/platform\/\" target=\"_blank\">GOP<\/a> will be derived directly from their published 2012 platforms. So without further ado, let&#8217;s see if country music is red or blue.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;All-American Boy&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Steve Grand\u2019s new song \u201cAll-American Boy\u201d was released in 2013 and immediately went viral; people went crazy for country music\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/articles\/2015\/03\/23\/first-openly-gay-country-star-steve-grand-on-all-american-boy-lgbt-rights-and-pre-show-whiskey-shots.html\" target=\"_blank\">first openly gay country star<\/a>\u201d. The story his music video portrays is the all too common predicament of wanting someone we can\u2019t have, except this time it is from the perspective of a gay man crushing on his straight friend. Grand is always the first to point out that he has predecessors in country music who\u00a0were also gay, but there is no doubt that Grand is making a splash with fans for his openness. Use the following to determine if Grand lines up more with the left or right.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span id=\"inserted3221\" style=\"color: #1f2dc2\">Democrat<\/span><\/strong>: &#8220;We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong><span id=\"inserted403\" style=\"color: #bd1717\">Republican<\/span><\/strong>: &#8220;We reaffirm our support for a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Steve Grand - All-American Boy  (Official Music Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pjiyjYCwNyY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;The Call&#8221; by Matt Kennon<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Abortion is a touchy and emotion-charged subject, and the decision to support &#8220;pro-life&#8221; or &#8220;pro-choice&#8221; is not one that is usually taken lightly. In Matt Kennon&#8217;s song &#8220;The Call&#8221;, he tells the story of a young couple\u00a0getting\u00a0pregnant and the man\u00a0encouraging the woman to get an abortion. But just as the girl is in the doctor&#8217;s office he calls her to tell her that he changed his mind and wants to raise the baby together, and the girl is overjoyed. At the end of the song Kennon expresses the importance of phoning a friend every so often, he says &#8220;They might be glad you called.&#8221; So what do you think? Does this song express Democratic or Republican ideas?<\/p>\n<p><strong><span id=\"inserted5955\" style=\"color: #1f2dc2\">Blue<\/span><\/strong>: &#8220;The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman&#8217;s right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy, including a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong><span id=\"inserted4293\" style=\"color: #bd1717\">Red<\/span><\/strong>: &#8220;We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment\u2019s protections apply to unborn children.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Matt Kennon, &quot;The Call&quot; - OFFICIAL VIDEO\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YK3zs7EV6Tk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Made in America&#8221; by Toby Keith<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I hope you&#8217;ve seen in this article that country music is not totally red or blue, but perhaps&#8230;purple. People tend not to lean totally to one side, and neither does country music. But if there&#8217;s one thing the two parties and the genre can agree on it&#8217;s that they are proud to be American, and that the American Dream is something worth fighting for. The perfect summation of this pride is Toby Keith&#8217;s song &#8220;Made in America&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span id=\"inserted8803\" style=\"color: #1f2dc2\">DNC<\/span><\/strong>: &#8220;We need a government that stands up for the hopes, values, and interests of working people, and gives everyone willing to work hard the chance to make the most of their God-given potential.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong><span id=\"inserted6299\" style=\"color: #bd1717\">GOP<\/span><\/strong>: &#8220;The pursuit of opportunity has defined America from our very beginning. This is a land of opportunity. The American Dream is a dream of equal opportunity for all.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Toby Keith - Made In America (Official Music Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MaAF_3WMJGM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our political views are often shaped by the community we live in: what our families believe, what we watch on TV, and even the kind of music we listen to. All of these aspects of life influence what we put &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/2015\/11\/08\/country-music-and-politics-is-the-genre-red-or-blue\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98,66,65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-post-3","category-politics","category-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5885","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\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5885"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5948,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5885\/revisions\/5948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}