I Moved My Dial A Country Mile

by Marybeth Hicks

Let's put this issue in perspective: I have clocked 123,000 miles on my Honda Odyssey since I first climbed in the driver's seat in December 1999. How I put that many miles on a van in only four years is a topic for another day. But at roughly 30,000 miles per year, in a car filled with kids of varying ages, I listen to my fair share of pop radio.

Or, at least, I used to.

Somewhere along the road, I gave up on the obscene lyrics, the sounds of gyrating and heavy breathing and the thumping drum beats. I got tired of switching the station with the explanation that certain songs were "inappropriate." Invariably, someone would ask "why?" and that led to too many conversations I didn't think we needed to have in our van.

My Onboard Censor Speaks Up

I can't say there was a defining moment when I decided we could no longer listen to "Top 40" radio stations. It was more like a process than an event. I would be driving my girls to dance class and our carpooling friend would warn from the back seat, "Mrs. Hicks, you won't want the girls to hear this song" or, more likely, "Quick! Change the station before the bad words come on!" This girl knew every word to every song that came on the radio, and she was only 12. I didn't approve of the freedom she had to listen to this stuff, but I'll admit it was helpful -- like having my own personal onboard censor.

I still listened to "Top 40" radio in the car when I was alone. I tuned in because I liked some of the music, but also, I wanted to learn the words to the hit songs. That way I could pre-empt the kids' music exposure. But I can't even do that anymore. For one thing, I can't really understand a lot of the words. And when I do, I'm frankly appalled. I just can't sing along with Limp Bizkit about "getting naked" or Beyonce about being "your naughty girl." Yuck.

Now, I'm A Little Bit Country

Thank Heaven for country music. We're now major fans. I mean, disc buying, CMT-watching, Nashville-loving, Brad-Paisley's-coming-to-the-county-fair kinds of fans. There's one big country station in our town and our radios are locked on it.

Contemporary country is just as appealing as pop music, but the lyrics are more affirming, more creative and a heck of a lot more wholesome. Mind you, country music still puts out a lot of drinking songs, but unlike the substance abuse themes in "Top 40" music, country songs tend to focus on regret. Like Tracy Byrd's "the drinking bone's connected to the lonely bone." Good ole boy morality, you might say.

Ridin' The Honky Tonk Highway In Suburbia

So now, when we drive around town, we're warbling our favorite country tunes. Like Shania Twain's song, "Not Just a Pretty Face," a fantastic anthem for growing girls about the amazing roles women play. Kenny Chesney's hit "There Goes My Life" is a strong message for young men about wrapping your arms around responsibility. Even a racier song like Trace Adkin's "One Hot Mamma" -- a steamy song about a sexy married couple -- is much better than your average Top 40 fare.

Of course, it's country music, so you'll hear your fair share of songs about divorce, cheating, honky tonks and cowboys. We don't relate much to the rodeo songs, but we like the patriotic themes that permeate track after track. Not to mention the regular dose of songs about "the Man upstairs."

I'm not willing to hear my kids sing about sex and violence with words we don't let them speak out loud in our home. Instead, we're sticking with a musical genre that lifts us all up.

Plus (and this is important)... on a country song, I can usually hit all the high notes.

Life Applications:

What kind of music do you enjoy? Why?
What kind of music do your children listen to? Why?
What do you think about the state of pop music today?

Copyright 2004 by Marybeth Hicks
All rights reserved.