The eggheads have done it again. They’re attacking country music. Claiming it’s got more hepped up drug content than disco and the punk. It’s true, a gay Tory told me so. And some scientists told him:

According to new research presented at the American Public Health Association’s Annual Meeting & Exposition in Washington, D.C., 33 percent of the most popular songs of 2005 portrayed substance use. The study, in which researchers analyzed 279 of the year’s most popular songs according to Billboard magazine, also found that allusions to substance use varied widely by genre.

Rap music led the way with 77 percent of songs referring to substance use, followed by country at 37 percent and R&B/hip-hop at 20 percent. Rock and pop were on the lower end of the spectrum at 14 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

Now, as a true blue son of the soil, I just can’t believe that, so I’m going to offer up anecdotal evidence that allows me to ignore their empirical proof.

I’m not going to argue that there aren’t drug references in country music, just that they are good, God-fearing and cautionary references, as evidenced by a single Johnny Paycheck song:

She told me not to smoke it
But I did and it took me far away
And I turned out to be
The only hell mama ever raised.

See! Johnny says the drugs made him do bad and made him make his mama sad! That’s an anti-drug message!

Stuff it science!

Johnny Paycheck - I’m The Only Hell (My Mama Ever Raised) (buy)

Posted by thelumberjackthief |