My relationship with country music

I grew up hating country music. While my classmates in elementary and middle school were listening to whatever country music artists were big back then (I don't know, because I wasn't listening), I was listening to The Beatles. I was a weird kid, I guess.
In high school, the songs everyone else was crazy about like "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" just made me feel more alienated from the country music genre. I just didn't get it. Did these people really feel connected to this song? Did they think tractors were sexy? I sure didn't.
I don't know if it was me or the music that changed, but now at 25, the songs I feel most connected to are country. NO, I still do not think tractors are sexy, and there are still many, many country artists I will not listen to. But I think as I've gotten older, I've come to appreciate more where I'm from and the wonderful things about the South that people from other parts of the world don't understand. Zac Brown Band perfectly describes life in the South with "Chicken Fried" and "Toes," and I swell with pride when I hear those songs.
But, on a deeper level, country artists tend to better capture my emotions. They aren't so concerned with being poetically vague and artistic with their lyrics. They just say what they feel. While I'm not a big Taylor Swift fan and I find her sugary songs like "You Belong With Me" the one about Romeo and Juliet to be a little too naive (maybe I'm just jaded), her song "Cold As You" perfectly describes what it feels like to love someone who won't love you back. Everyone writes about unrequited love, but no other song has ever hit me as hard as this one. It's so simple. She doesn't try to be too metaphorical and cliche. It's the right mixture of sadness and anger, and the super simple line "Oh, what a shame" just completely nails it.
Another country girl who totally gets me is Carrie Underwood. Again, it's so simple and direct. Her song "Undo It" says what every girl has felt: "You stole my happy, you made me cry. You took the lonely and took me for a ride, and I wanna undo it." How much more to the point can it get? It's not fancy, it's not overdone, it's just real.
There's nothing like listening to a song and thinking "This was written for me!" They tend to come along at just the right time and make you feel not so alone in your feelings.
I find the second verse of Taylor Swift's song "Cold As You" to be particularly strong. It's sad, for sure, and she's lamenting the fact that he wouldn't let her tear down his walls, but at the same time she's pissed off, and the line "You come away with a great little story of a mess of a dreamer with the nerve to adore you" is packed with so much anger. Who is he to think he's too good for her? I can just see this arrogant guy talking to his friends about this dumb little girl who had the "nerve" to fall for him. It's so much more effective than the typical lamentation songs, just crying over a guy. This more fully explores that feeling, because there's always anger that comes along with it. I like that she acknowledges that.


Taylor Swift "Cold As You":

You have a way of coming easily to me
And when you take, you take the very best of me
So I start a fight cause I need to feel something
And you do what you want cause I'm not what you wanted

[Chorus:]

Oh what a shame, what a rainy ending given to a perfect day
Just walk away, no use defending words that you will never say
And now that I'm sitting here thinking it through
I've never been anywhere cold as you

You put up walls and paint them all a shade of gray
And I stood there loving you and wished them all away
And you come away with a great little story
Of a mess of a dreamer with the nerve to adore you

[Repeat Chorus]

You never did give a damn thing honey but I cried, cried for you
And I know you wouldn't have told nobody if I died, died for you
(Died for you)

Oh what a shame, what a rainy ending given to a perfect day
Every smile you fake is so condescending
Counting all the scars you made
And now that I'm sitting here thinking it through
I've never been anywhere cold as you

Braves vs. Mets

This is the matchup I've been waiting to see for years. As I said, I've had beef with the Mets since they stole Tommy Glavine from us. I was glad to see other Braves fans shared my sentiments and the Mets were welcomed to Turner Field by boos from the crowd.
Monday night was perfect with a breezy relief from the steamy weather and a Braves win. The high point was a homerun from Chipper Jones. It was a bittersweet moment, since this could be my last Braves trip for the summer and this could be Chipper's last year with the Braves. That could have been the last Chipper homerun I'll see in person. I think he hit it into the stands just for me.
Tuesday was less than perfect. A pop-up rain shower during the game not only forced us inside for a while, but back outside it was humid and sticky. To top it off, the Braves lost this one to the Mets and to top that off, the hit that put the Mets in the lead was by Jeff Francouer, a former Brave and local Atlanta boy. What a slap in the face.
That game wasn't the best way to end my summer of baseball, so I'll just pretend it didn't happen and keep the memories of the Monday night game. Go Braves!

Summer of Baseball continues

I was in Houston, TX a couple of weeks ago and I got to go see the Astros play the Reds. I was more excited to see the Reds play, since the Astros have been nicknamed "The Lastros" and "The Disastros" this summer, so I figured they wouldn't be much to see. Turns out, I was wrong. It was actually quite entertaining to see them put on their comedy routine, er, play baseball. Wild pitches that hit batters, guys jumping over the ball, guys chasing after the ball and running into each other...it was a good show. They lost, of course, but I got to experience a game under the roof of Minute Maid Park (I'd been before, but it had been a while). Since it was about a thousand degrees in Houston, the roof over the park seemed really appealing going in, but when they opened the roof after the game for the fireworks show, I realized we'd have been better off letting a little night air in the whole time. It was a little stuffy with the roof, and honestly, the park loses some of its charm when it's closed up. It doesn't quite feel like a baseball park.
Overall, it was a good time. I stuffed my face with barbecue and hot dogs, which makes up for the lack of really good baseball.

A couple of days later, I watched the last game of that series from a bar in Chattanooga, where I watched the Astros vs. Reds game and also the Braves vs. Marlins game. Isn't it a sign of the apocolypse when the Braves lose and the Astros win, especially in this season? Well, that's what happened that Sunday, and not only was I irrationally grumpy about Atlanta's loss, I was sure I would meet my Maker soon, as this had to be a sign of the end of time.

Tomorrow I'll travel to Atlanta to see the Braves play the Mets. Finally. This is a match-up I've wanted to see for years. I have no reason to hate the Mets other than the fact that my beloved Tom Glavine left the Braves to play for them, and it was painful to see him a Mets uniform. He was a Brave. He should have always been a Brave. I imagine this particular feeling is what a lot of LSU fans feel toward Alabama and Nick Saban (although, I'd like to point out to those tragically misguided LSU fans who seem to have forgotten Saban left LSU to coach for the Dolphins, not for Alabama). Anyway, my hatred of the Mets is second only to my hatred of the Yankees (duh, right?), so I'm thoroughly looking forward to watching my Braves kick some Mets butt tomorrow.