Feel That Fire

I grew up on rock and alternative because that's what my older sisters listened to. When I moved to St. George, I hated Country. All of my friends listened to it, and I couldn't escape it. One day I was listening to the radio while my friends and I were going to lunch, and Keith Urban's song "Somebody like you" came on the radio...and I was in love. He didn't have the typical country voice, and that intrigued me. It was then that I decided to embrace country. I also realized that not all country is bad. Even some of the twangy stuff is fun to sing along with.

Country is a genre of music that is often put down and overlooked because of it's "hicktown" nature. I guess one reason why it was easy for me to embrace country was because I actually lived in Washington City, which is right next door to St. George. We don't have sidewalks, and the roads are pretty messed up most of the time; your neighbors ride their 4 wheelers and horses down the road, and it is not uncommon to be chased by a dog. In high school, the affectionate name for Washington was Dogtown. So yeah, I can relate to a lot of country songs.

However, the real reason that I love country is for it's focus on God and his hand in our lives. Very few genres of music even mention God; if they do, it is only in questioning why he makes their lives so hard. Country music has the tendency to make me cry, more than any other kind. This is significant because I don't cry that often, but on Sundays, I am often on the verge of tears. It is curious that they would have the same effect on me.