Here’s some country music I can really get behind. Like maybe my aversion to that genre would be less so if more of its practitioners had a sense of humor about them. Of course Ween’s 12 Country Greats isn’t a real country music album. Except that it is. It is and it isn’t and that’s what makes it great. It’s funny because all of their stuff is funny, and it just so happens to be in the last style on earth you would expect, and played totally straight music-wise. No dueling banjos here. And, you know, I’ve put so much energy into rationalizing why I don’t like country music, but I just have to sit back and admit it’s just an irrational emotional reaction. Country is depressing and exasperating because it reminds me of many things I don’t feel good thinking about, like high school and old flames who burned me. So when I hear in in a fresh context, like not on the radio or not done with a “Yee-haw, Billy Bob” accent or a flag-waving attitude, sometimes I quite like it, like when it’s done by Ween or Kris Kristofferson or Gram Parsons or even Mick Jagger for God’s sake. Coming down to it, if I had to choose between country music and hip-hop getting wiped off the face of the earth, I’ll keep the country music. At least those Nashville cats play instruments and have a level of musicianship that I can appreciate, even if I don’t exactly relish songs about pickup trucks. Probably a lot of you can thank Ween for opening their minds by taking this genre that you thought sucked balls and making you think ‘hey, this is alright when some alright people do it’.
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