Music: It can relate to you and make you feel joyful or upset. Have you ever thought about what songwriters appeal to these emotions? How has modern-day music changed over time and can it impact lives? Specifically, how has country music impacted people’s lives? Country life is the lifestyle for those who live in rural areas, and is usually less populated throughout. John Denver, Hank Williams Jr., Tim Mcgraw, Craig Morgan, and Luke Bryan are just a few country artists that share how living away from the city can impact people’s lives. Their songs from 1970s-2010s show the impact of country life, and how it can positively impact people’s lives. 

Starting with John Denver’s song, “Thank God I’m a County Boy” from 1974 written by John Martin Sommers uses metaphors and juxtaposition to show how listeners living near farmlands can influence other people. The lyrics describe how John Denver has enjoyed being away from the city, and wants his listeners to feel the same joy. Denver states that his “Days are filled with easy lucky charm,” (Sommers 7). They use this implied metaphor to try and make you think about the moments in a day and the vehicle being a jar filled with candy and charm. This helps persuade listeners to live out away from the city as it's enjoyable. The lyrics also include a juxtaposition in a different sentence. Denver explicitly sings that he was, “Never one of them money hungry fools / And he’d rather have [his] fiddle and my farmin’ tools” (Sommers 26-27). This is an example of juxtaposition as it combines the idea of fiddle and farming tools with greedy fools that don’t live in the country. John Denver tries to use the implicit message of living the country life through these lines of juxtaposition to help the listeners of this song to realize how much a song can impact someone’s life. John Denver’s “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” allows listeners to be positively impacted and changes the way they live by moving to the country, encouraging them to adopt a new lifestyle.  

 “A Country Boy Can Survive,” sung and written by Hank Williams Jr. in 1981, uses literal and metaphorical lyrics to persuade listeners to live the country life and change their way of living. The lyrics from Hank Williams Jr. illustrate how he lives his own life in the country, and he wants the song lovers to feel that emotion. Williams Jr. emphasizes that he’d rather live out in the country than in the city, saying “[He’s] got a shotgun, a rifle, and a four-wheel drive” (Williams 7). He uses this line in the lyrics well to persuade the song’s audience to feel good about what country life offers. For many people the ideal country life includes farming, hunting, and driving trucks around town and on backroads. They are trying to present that living in the country can bring positive changes to someone’s life. Positive changes can improve your physical and mental health since there are fewer things you need to worry about. Furthermore, these lyrics include many metaphors in the song. Williams Jr. also states that  “[They’re] from North California and South Alabam’ / And little towns all around this land” (Williams 42-43). Williams Jr. attempts to put a metaphorical lyric throughout the song so people can actually feel like they are in the song by using music. It helps people better understand how living the country life can impact their life. Hank Williams Jr.’s “A Country Boy can Survive,” from 1981 cannot only brighten someone’s day, but can change their way of thinking and living. 

Tim Mcgraw’s “Where the Green Grass Grows” written by Jess Leary in 1997 also impacts people who listen to it with different types of metaphors and puns throughout the song. Tim Mcgraw targets listeners who want to devote themselves to country life, not just try it out. For example, Mcgraw emphasizes that he is “[Going to] live where the green grass grows / Watch my corn pop up in rows,” (Leary 8-9). These sentences show Tim Mcgraw enjoys sticking out in farmlands since in his eyes includes farming, with a standard metaphor comparing corn and popcorn. It shows his love for the country, its beauty, and its ability to make him happy. In addition, these lyrics include a pun to demonstrate two different kinds of bars. This lyric, “[There are] bars on the corners and bars [around his] heart,” (Leary 21). This line shows that your friends and yourself can have fun in small towns and the bars on the heart represent being connected to the country. This is important to know if you live around rural areas because there are many different ways to have fun out there, but you’ll always want to stay as it traps youre heart. To conclude, Tim Mcgraw tries to persuade people that living near farmlands can be fun and positively impact their lives using his song “Where the Green Grass Grows.”

Craig Morgan’s “Redneck Yacht Club” written by Thom Sheperd and Steven Williams from 2005 uses both literal and pun lines throughout the song to emphasize how living the country life can be enjoyable. The lyrics describe no matter how long you live around the country, you can find something new to experience. Morgan emphasizes that he is “Meetin’ [his] buddies out on the lake” (Sheperd 1). This literal lyric highlights how living in the country can include entertaining with your friends, and there are many different activities around the countryside, like boating on the lake. The lyrics also include a pun example showing that there are two different types of jars in the world. Morgan also wants his buddies to “Pull out the jar and that old guitar” (Sheperd 24). The two jars that can be referred to in the line could be a container jar, and a beer drinking jar. This is important for listeners thinking about living the country life because Craig Morgan could’ve been talking about something different than you actually thought it would be. To conclude, Craig Morgan tries to persuade the audience to live a country life and to help change the world’s diversity by using the song, “Redneck Yacht Club” from 2005. 

Luke Bryan’s “Huntin’ Fishin’, And Lovin’ Every Day” written by Rhett Atkins, Luke Bryan, Dallas Davidson, and Ben Hayslip from 2015 uses numerous literal lines throughout the song. Throughout the song, Luke Bryan persuades the audience to take away the message that some opportunities can only be found in the country, such as fishing, hunting, and hanging out with your friends. This literal line, “That’s the prayer a country boy prays” (Atkins 22). Being stated in this line, Luke Bryan notifies that there are a lot of people praying for a good life, and Luke Bryan emphasizes that most people in the country have an amazing life and pray for it to never end. This shows how Luke Bryan and his friends take advantage of many fun opportunities around the countryside, and he wants to try to help his listeners have the same experience he has had living in the country. In addition, Luke Bryan uses a different type of literal language through his lyrics. Luke Bryan shows that he drinks his “Black coffee in the mornin’, and dark whiskey in the evenin’” (Atkins 40). Luke Bryan shows in his song that living around rural areas can be very entertaining and rewarding, from drinking coffee in the morning, to sharing drinks and stories with friends. Further implying that the opportunities occur all day long from sun up to sun down. Luke Bryans’s “Huntin’ Fishin’ And Lovin’ Everyday” from 2015 persuades the audience to change the way they live, and it will impact their lives positively. 

In conclusion, country life impacts the way a person can think of living whether if they are already living in the country or living in the city or suburbs. The five authors of these songs portray that living the country life can positively impact the song listener’s life, stating that living away from the city and near rural areas can influence someone’s life. Something that can improve someone’s life around fields is that it is a cheaper type of living, and there is more room to breathe, while in the city there isn’t too much space to breathe, and is way more expensive. Therefore, if you live in nonsuburban areas, your life can change from spending an extreme amount of money to living a peaceful life around the countryside.