Drug Use In Country Music

Country music has gone through several changes over the years that some fans have embraced while others fans have shunned the changes. This popular genre originated in the southeastern states back in the early 1900’s and was well known for the indulgent sounds of stringed instruments such as the banjo, fiddle, and guitar. Many early country songs contained lyrics that told the stories of a love-stricken, or a heart broken cowboy. The country songs of old were adored by many different types of individuals. In the mid 1900’s, families used to sit around and listen to their beloved country music stars on the radio show The Grand Ole Opry, which was known as the nation’s favorite radio show of the 1950s according to the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia(Grand

In a recent Christian Science Monitor article, Rob Portman tells us “children have come to view drug use as less harmful and more socially acceptable.(Portman)” This is should come as no surprise based on the drug related lyrics artists are using in “family friendly” country music. Some artists use metaphors while others are more transparent with their approach to drug related content. One example of drugs being used in a country song would be “Smoke a Little Smoke” by Eric Church. Eric Church did not try to hide what this particular song is all about, the title “Smoke a Little Smoke” is a dead giveaway that this song is talking about smoking marijuana. If the title was not conclusive evidence, take a look at some of the lyrics, “Dig down deep, find my stash Light it up, memory crash” is just an example of the inference of drug use in the song. Eric Church is not alone when it comes to drug related content in country music, the band Florida Georgia Line has also tainted country music with the use of drug related lyrics in their recent title “Sun Daze.” The “sun daze” that the band mentions in their song is a metaphor for getting high with sun glasses on based on the lyric “All I want to do today is wear my favorite shades and get stoned.” Florida Georgia Line is unmistakably singing about and exalting the use of marijuana in this song. Artists like Eric Church and Florida Georgia line are just a couple examples of country music artists that have chosen to forego the family principles that country music was founded on by singing these explicit drug related lyrics in their