Comments on: Why Does it Have to be Wrong or Right?

By: Why Country Music Is Better Than Most « Musings from a Catholic Bookstore

Why Country Music Is Better Than Most « Musings from a Catholic Bookstore — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 17:05:46 +0000

[...] Country Music Is Better Than Most I’ve written before about the strange conflict between raunch and quality in country music, whether it’s former [...]

By: gail sirotnak

gail sirotnak — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 12:40:10 +0000

where does the church get their lyrics where is there interested party/ies scripure based lyrics nothing about what jane wore to mass sunday thank you for your time humble servant verses gail sirotnak gailsr@verizon.net

By: Gail M. Conrad

Gail M. Conrad — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 17:35:11 +0000

To put it bluntly, the Baptists are plainly going to HELL…..
You can say that about any “religion” that does not follow the
teachings of the Catholic Church. Sex outside of marriage is
pure Adultry, please refer to Sixth Commandment. Idolizing
anything other than our Lord is committing sin against the
First Commandment….. You can go on and on.

Remember, over 2,000 “religions” are in schizm with the Roman
Catholic Church. Any Pope that kisses the Koran, or participates
in OTHER Religious Ceremonies is committing SIN AGAINST
OUR LORD. We are the ONE TRUE CHURCH, as Jesus Christ
pointed out to us.

Look at King Henry VIII, the church wouldn’t allow him to marry
his brothers wife, so he split from the Church and formed the
Episcopal Church….

Most will go to HELL for sins of the flesh, which includes the
Commandments Six through Ten…Think of that.

I say, DON’T CHANGE THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
THAT WE KNEW PRE-VATICAN II, you may end up in Hell
“bicariously through the instructions of a “bad” Priest who is
just trying to be “liked”. Vatican II brought us NO NEW DOGMA,
only further separation of our Church.

Help Save our Church..
Gail M. Conrad,

Remember….”many will be chosen, but few will be taken”.
That includes even our Bishops, Priests, and Popes…..

By: Tim Rohr

Tim Rohr — Sat, 27 May 2006 22:55:42 +0000

I don’t have time to read all the replies, etc., but seems like some of us pay no heed to the maxim “the medium is the message”. In music this is particularly true. As a musician and avid student of both the history and the physics of music I must say that we cannot negate the power of the music itself, despite the text, to ennoble or to degrade. Physiologically, music has the power to “center” one or destroy one’s center. Since there is no time or room for a long discussion on the issue I would simply remind you of the reason wny “marching” music is selected for going into war, whether it be the battlefied or the football field, and why another type of music mixes better with alcohol and dim lights. Neither type of music has to have words. The music stands on its own. Our Church in its wisdom knew which type of music to give “pride of place”, and for good reason. Too bad we ignore it.

By: aquinasandmore

aquinasandmore — Sat, 27 May 2006 14:20:39 +0000

I make the distinction based on the message of the song. I don’t care what its age or style is. You can have classical music that from a message standpoint is just as bad as stuff today.

If the song is about sin, does the sinner regret what he has done or does the song portray the sin as having negative effects? If so, baring considerations of skill, I consider it good music. For example, Fine Line by Radney Foster is about a guy who has committed adultery and gets both women pregnant. He realizes that he has done something wrong and goes home to confess to his wife.

Does the song glorify sin or treat it as harmless? Stays in Mexico by Toby Keith, Not Goin’ Down ‘Till the Sun Comes Up by Garth Brooks, etc. fall into this category. These songs are bad regardless of the overall theme of redemption that may exist in the singer’s other work.

Songs are not like books. With few exceptions, you aren’t going to find people familiar enough with a singer’s entire career to be able to trace a path to redemption that puts the music in context. For the most part, people are only really familiar with a few favorites that they hear on the radio so you have to take each song individually.

Remember, music, like movies and books, have a message. Think about the messages you absorb when you listen to music like Shores of Mexico or Fireman by George Strait. I don’t think that as a Catholic you can really justify listening to this stuff.

By: dymphna

dymphna — Sat, 27 May 2006 14:17:03 +0000

What I love about country music is the honesty. Not all the people sitting in the pews are saints and many did some bad stuff on Saturday night. Coutnry music is about real life.

By: Res et Rationes » Blog Archive » Jimmy Akin on Country Music

Res et Rationes » Blog Archive » Jimmy Akin on Country Music — Fri, 26 May 2006 18:20:08 +0000

[...] Jimmy answers a question about the seeming paradox of the topics of country music, with further discussion at Musings from a Catholic Bookstore. [...]

By: Kate

Kate — Fri, 26 May 2006 17:08:18 +0000

I think its worth noting that “jesus take the wheel” has had amazing staying power in the charts, as have other faith themed songs/videos over the ast few years. Whatever you can sya about the mix, the Jesus music is here to stay in country music.

By: Mike Roesch

Mike Roesch — Fri, 26 May 2006 15:15:29 +0000

First , “Politically Uncorrect” is by Gretchen Wilson and Merle Haggard, not SheDaisy.

I think country music at its best does not necessarily glorify or praise sin. Johnny Cash’s songs about murder (insofar as they are not also about remorse themselves) and Hank Williams’s songs about cheating and general carousing are incomplete without their songs about redemption. It’s not a Protestant “saved” thing at all with the greatest artists, but rather more of a “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” sort of thing. I agree that modern commercialized country music can get a bit confused with this at times, though, but there are also many songs that are intended to be tongue in cheek (”Alcohol” being one of them).

By: charlotte

charlotte — Fri, 26 May 2006 02:48:06 +0000

I agree with you completely, I am just wondering whether or not an average person listening to a song on the radio can determine if the songwriter is attempting to condone a particular choice or rather just convey the thoughts and feelings associated with that experience. I do believe that with some songs it is very obvious and no one need second guess their first impressions, but what about, for example, Alcohol by Brad Paisley. Is it possible to determine his stance on drunkenness completely from the lyrics? Or would we need more information? In the case you cited, Mr. McGraw certainly added to the controversy by making the statements he did, but if one has never heard an artist’s personal interpretation, how are we to know? I didn’t.