Country Pop... It seems like an oxymoron, one that stereotypically talks about being dumped, having your cat die, and loosing your job all in one song and the other talking about having your head spin around from that super cute boy who just won't look your way, or about driving down the highway in your "Mercedes-Bendz to pick up all [your] friends." Who would ever think that country music, loved by fathers over the age of 35 and pop music, celebrated by tweens and teens could come together for forms such a blend! Taylor Swift's Youtube Channel features her video blog, music video & postings by fans. If one were to listen to her music, they can very clearly see the country influence through the instruments used in the background and the topics of her music, however her voice & associated music videos also have a very "poppy" feel! The music has definite country influences, but the beat that it keeps is more top forties than country classics.
Another artist who has flawlessly combined the classic country and top forty is Carrie Underwood, winner of American Idol. Her music poses more of the country subjects such as betrayal and break ups and exactly how she'll get her revenge. Both of these women have combined men's old time south with the nation's more current opinion of what's "popular." They are two of my personal favorites and I really feel like they shows what it means to be from the South and preserve the tradition of the music but bring it into the 21st century with a great modern spin!
Like Waller, I have been a witness to the tradition of Southern hospitality. While often idealized to extremes on television and in popular culture, Southern hospitality is a custom that lives up to its reputation. The best example I could find of this came around Thanksgiving. Two of my friends at Tech are from outside the US (Japan and Korea). Like most out-of-staters they are usually left at Tech with nothing to do and no family to celebrate with because the break is too short to fly home for. It must be very hard to be away from one's family during such a family-oriented holiday.
However, the custom of Southern hospitality was there to give them a hand. Another one of my friends who lives about 30 minutes from Atlanta invited these two out of state friends to Thanksgiving with his family. They shared in all the family traditions and even the activities around his lake house. This had to mean a lot to my friends and my southern friend took them in as part of their family that weekend.
This aspect of the South truly represents the best aspects of American culture. I too noticed the friendliness of the people around me when I first arrived at Tech. The whole social openness is infectious and has made me a more social and kind person as well.
One identity of the South is Southern hospitality. Southern hospitality is the idea that citizens of the South welcome visitors and guests to the South, and sometimes their home. Whether or not the idea still exists, it cannot be looked up. Southern hospitality is not recorded in written artifacts but rather spoken of. For instance, my family invited our neighbors over for a friendly gathering and welcoming to the neighborhood. Another example was the two girls from the North in our English class. They commented on the hospitality they experienced while they were at Tech. They are first hand witnesses of the idea Southern hospitality. As previously mentioned, examples of Southern hospitality cannot be found in the newspaper or on television. It is simply an idea that exists and can only be experienced.
One of the main areas where southern culture is still prevalent is food. I came across an article while doing some research, and found that a lot of the food that is popular in the south today has origins from many years ago. Cornbread became a staple of food in the south because of the widespread availability of corn to early settlers, and it is still eaten today. Frying has been (and still is) a popular method of cooking meat in the South. And of course, barbecuing is another popular event, originating from the general hospitality of the South. A barbecue was a good way to invite people from surrounding areas and enjoy barbecued food. Cornbread, fried foods, and barbecue are all still popular in the South today, as are many other popular Southern food staples.
One of the main sources of evidence for this is the Food Network Channel. There are at least two popular shows that showcase Southern food: Paula's Home Cooking and Down Home with the Neelys. Paula Deen is Food Network's expert on Southern food. Born in Atlanta, she learned how to cook from her grandmother, and has had no formal training.
Down Home with the Neelys specializes in barbecue, which originated in the South. Although all of their recipes do not necessarily represent authentic Southern food, their show proves that the concept of barbecuing is still immensely popular in American culture.
While searching for something to write about, I came across this article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. It talks about the general Southern identity and the gradual disappearance of the "Southern" culture towards a "No South." The article also brings up various different aspects of the known Southern culture. So for this week's topic: I would like all of us to explore the South and find evidence regarding the presence of Southern culture even today.
Here's what I found:
One major aspect of Southern culture still prevalent today is found in music. The South has introduced and developed many genres of music including but not limited to: gospel music, spiritual music, country music, rhythm and blues, soul music, rock and roll, and much more. Many of these genres are still widely listened to today. One of the much popular genres emerging from the South is country music. In the twenty-first century, country music has grown widely popular with artists such as Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift. [As a personal side-note, even these two artists have made me appreciate country music a little bit more.] One country song, "Love Story", even topped the charts in 2008
Due to the growing appreciation of different genres of music developed in the South, I believe Southern culture is still present especially through music. So it's your turn: how do you think Southern culture is still prevalent in the United States?
This is a clip from Disney's only banned movie "The Song of the South" showing their famous song Zip-a-dee-do-dah. Taking place in post-Cival War Deep South (in a plantation in Georgia, actually) and told by a black philisophical man by the name of Uncle Remus, the movie was banned and locked in Disney's Vault forever. There are many rumors floating around about why it has been banned. Personally, I am inclined to believe that the American government didn't like the way that the main character spoke (with a heavy Southern accent and a lot of stunted words). Thankfully however, we have some scroupuless people who have been kind enough to post this clip on sights such as YouTube and more information can always be found on Wikipedia. Throughout the movie, "Uncle Remus" tells stories to Johnny, the young boy who stumbled across Uncle Remus, about Br'er Rabbit. This character is meant to reflect Johnny and give it moral lessons much in the same way that we still use bedtime stories and cartoons to teach children moral lessons in fun and entertaining ways that they will remember.
This movie is a classic representation of the Deep South because it accurately represents much of the relationship between blacks and whites, and shows the stereotypes of the way people spoke post-Civil War, the ways that they told stories, and all the while entertaining. When scrolling through YouTube to find the various clips from the movie to put it all together and get the basic plot and story line, all I kept thinking was: "Why is this movie banned. I wish that I had gotten a chance to actually watch the whole thing when I was a kid." This movie is not only a representation of the Deep South during it's toughest period, but it also shows us how touchy & paranoid the American Government has become.
--
Zip-a-dee-do-dah, zip-a-dee-day, my oh my, what a wonderful day!
Alabama's "Song of the South", while not necessarily my cup of tea musically, presents a good representation of the Post-Civil War South. This facet of the South's history is often overshadowed by the horrors of slavery and even the Civil War itself. Much of the South was ravaged and had to rebuild from scratch. While the song does not directly reference the Civil War, it displays some of the effects, mainly poverty, that still linger from this turbulent period in the history of the South.
While the song harkens back to a relatively old part of our country's history, the band Alabama itself was of the late 1960s. The band was formed in Fort Payne, Alabama, located below:
The state of Alabama is right in the heart of the South and as a result, the band members would have first-hand experience with the culture and history. A particularly revealing part of the song can be found in the chorus when they reference "Gone with the Wind".
Sing it, song, song of the south Sweet potato pie and I shut my mouth Gone, gone with the wind There ain't nobody looking back again
These lyrics speak to how the idealized South that "Gone with the Wind" presents is gone forever, and now the people of the South must work to survive rather than live of off the fruits of slavery.
This scene from To Kill a Mockingbird is a very accurate representation of the deep South in the 1930s. It highlights the importance of the boundary between black and white. In the beginning of the clip, Atticus Finch states that "this case should never have come to trial." This sentence requires some context from the rest of the movie. Bill Ewell's family is White trash. They are one of the most underprivileged and vicious White families in Maycomb, Alabama. Bill Ewell accuses Tom Robinson, a black man, of raping his daughter Mayella. However it is revealed that Mayella tried to seduce Tom, but was caught and beaten by her own father. The bruises and injuries Mayella incurred were used as evidence against Tom.
Atticus also states that there is no plausible evidence against Tom, no medical reports, nothing except the word of the supposed victim and a white man. The line between being black and being white trash is very thin. By framing Tom Robinson, Bill Ewell exercises his power as a white man to prove his superiority. This is a representation of the South during this era. Jim Crowe laws were enacted for the purpose of maintaining white supremacy, and lynchings were used as examples to any black person who tried to move above their designated status. This clip shows that for a white man to be of a lower status than a white man in the deep South was one of the worst predicaments a man could ever endure, and this clip is a classic example of the lengths a white man of lower economic status would go to in order to prove his superiority.
The song "Southland in the Springtime" by Indigo Girls is a great representation of the South. The Indigo Girls are an American folk rock duo who actually began in Atlanta, Georgia at The Little 5 Points Pub. Their song represents the south as it brings forth various images of the South. It presents the image of poverty through the lyrics "and we never have the money for the flight"; the image of language and culture through using the words "teasin' " and "pleasin' ";the image of the historically agriculture-based economy through the lyrics "with the farmland like a tapestry passed down through generations"; the image of the food such as "peach", "cider", and "boiled peanuts". Through these different lyrics, the Indigo Girls provide a representation of the South by combining the different aspects of Southern culture. I do believe this is an accurate representation of the South as the messages portrayed hold true from the agriculture- based economy to the food. Even today as cities such as Atlanta are becoming globalized in the Southern region, the South still holds the historically prevalent agriculture-based economy, the food, and the various other images presented in this song.
"Song of the South", recorded by the band Alabama, is a terrific representation of the South. This song refers to a very poor, white family and explains the lifestyle of this family. The family must pick their cotton, which originated in the South, but they cannot afford to have slaves do so. They escape from their troubles with the Southern dish, sweet potato pie. Ironically, the song also mentions being "gone with the wind," and Gone with the Wind is a famous Southern fiction novel. Later in the song, the dad gets a job with a Southern company TVA, Tennesse Valley Authority. The setting of "Song of the South" is clearly in the South and during the Depression. It explains how this family deals with the diffucult setting.
