Country Music

Eh. Today I'm driving home from work, after having yet another typical day of bureaucratic bullshit. I love to unwind by listening to KMFDM when I am driving to clear my mind and blow off steam, and since today the weather was in the low 50's, it was nice enough to roll my car windows down. I was listening to the WWIII album, and the title song (with the same name) when I was parked at a stop light waiting for all the douche bag SUV and mini-van drivers to move their gas hogs to clear the traffic intersection. Some Army dude is standing across the street from me while the lead singer Sascha K, is screaming at the top of his lungs how he's declaring war on all sorts of fucked up shit - the media, McDonald's, Disneyland, CNN, inept politics, the war on drugs, etc etc when this Army dude gets an earful of what's going on and starts to get a wild hare up his ass. As Lucia Ciaferlli (the background singer) screams "World War III - Be all that you can be" at the top of her lungs, this dude gets this pissed look on his face like he's about to fucking lunge at my car or something, pull me out Grand Theft Auto style and give me a fucking beat-down right on the spot. The light turns green and I'm off in a flash. Oh well. Too bad. If said fucker is gonna get pissed over some stupid song then that's his drama, not mine. The way I see it, the Army seems to promote Country Music like it's going out of style but anything else like Rock n' Roll, Rap, or Latino music is turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to. Bands like Slayer and Black Label Society support the military but despite their notoriety, the USO and the DoD won't touch them with a 10 foot pole because they don't want to be associated with the "image" these guys promote. Sure they'll kiss Mariah Carey's ass or Kid Rock's ass but the moment any non-corporate musician with an ounce of real talent arrives on the scene, a Public Affairs rep is nowhere to be found. Shit like this really drains me. I mean my parents were back-woods hillbillies from Texas, but Jeezus Fucking Christ, that doesn't mean that I am or want to be. I hate Country Music and I hate the outdoors - I have no desire to wear flanel or a fucking John Deere hat or go horseback riding. If you want to do it then more power to you, but please don't smother me with that lifestyle. I don't run around town dressed like some Death Metal freak so keep the cowboy boots and the Wrangler jeans for Brokeback Mountain viewing only. The military prides itself on diversity, or so it says. There are all sorts of Human Relations and Equal Opportunity posters at my work place condemning discrimination and all sorts of feel-good company propaganda you would expect to find screaming zero tolerance for those who would break the rules. Despite working with people of different backgrounds, the moment you head out the door, you'd swear you're in some kind of Mid-West back drop aberration of sorts. Just go into any Base or Post Exchange and that's all you hear playing in the background as you're shopping for socks and underwear - COUNTRY MUSIC. Go to the book store and the majority of reading material there appeals to Neo-Conservatives and Southern Baptists. Go see a movie on base and the theater shows these commercials aimed at preventing drunk driving by using Country Music singers to push the message while singing some 15 second spot song of theirs. You'll never see anyone else toe the company line - sports stars, rock musicians, politicians or celebrities - for some reason they're just not interesting enough I suppose, but stick with the vanilla Country singer and allegedly you'll reach the largest audience. This is the reason why I blast KMFDM without apology while I'm driving down the road. This is the reason why I listen to Slayer at ear-splitting volumes as I'm going out the main gate, as a means of reminding people that the military is comprised of people from all walks of life 7/24. Not everyone votes Republican, has Missionary-only-position sex, or listens to goddamned Country Music. Some of us enjoy the city life, vote Libertarian and consider bands like The Ramones and Rob Zombie to be just as American as baseball and apple pie. Sure I suppose it's somewhat juvenile and you could consider it a losing battle, but the worst thing anyone can do is to become complacent and soul-sacrificing. For far too long I've had conservative values shoved down my throat to the point where I am willing to push back just so I can get some breathing space of my own. I'm not talking about running around acting like some jackass and pissing people off, but being subliminal about it and walking a fine line. Just enough for people like said Army guy to take notice, but not to be able to really do anything about it. Make him look like the asshole for losing his cool as I drive off laughing. Heh. KMFDM - doing it again.