Country Music

Country music has so many meanings behind it, and I honestly don’t know where I’d be today if I hadn’t ever listened to it. I know that people say that a lot about all types of music, but to me, country is different than all of the genres.  I can relate to country music in more ways than just through the lyrics, but through experiences I’ve been through with it.

My dad was born and raised up north, so we used to visit my grandparents a few times a year at their home up in Duelem, Minnesota. I remember when I was little, my dad would always play country music in his big white truck while we drove to see my grandparents. Whenever we pulled down the old dirt road, I knew we were almost there. The little white house with the huge yard and garden in the back was the indication that we had arrived. When we got inside, there was always the smell of the meal grandma was preparing – it was a rule that you couldn’t leave the house anything less than stuffed.

                My cousins and I would go out in the backyard and run around and play many games, while also looking at the huge garage where my grandpa stored his beloved tractors; John Deere, to be exact. He would tell us stories about them as he was half asleep, but eventually wake up from his cat nap and take us on rides. The smell of the tractor running while mixed with the country air was just so satisfying. I deep down that I’ve always been a country girl at heart.

                The days would come to an end and it was time to say our goodbyes. I didn’t get to see my grandparents very often, so it was always a bitter sweet moment walking out the door. But, the hardest time walking out of that door was when the house was sold after my grandpa passed away. After pulling away in the truck, headed back down the dirt road, with tears in my eyes, the country radio station would come on and I would venture back to the city with only memories left.

                I feel as though country music has filled the place in my heart of truly being a country girl. Although I can’t live in the country, I can always listen to the music that reminds me of the sights, smells, tractors, and feeling that I got when I was up there. I can listen to country music and feel my grandpa stopping by to say “hi” from heaven, as well as listen to the songs about all of the other angels up there with him.  I can listen to something completely opposite of that- something about love or about friendship.  Either way, country music has a song for my mood.  I know that other types of music give people the same type of feelings, but the type that gives me that “feeling” just so happens to be country music, and I wouldn’t trade that for the world.