Country music, in its purest form, is rooted in narrative songwriting that tells a story in a way that is short, sweet, and universally understandable. A great country tune gets its point across without bombasting you with flowery prose and complex metaphors.
But that doesn’t mean the genre hasn’t been known to highlight a five-dollar word or two. Moreover, the ability to incorporate a completely non-musical phrase into a country song is arguably even more impressive than the ability to tell a story effectively.
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From vocabulary straight out of a physics textbook to woo-woo terminology not often seen in the world of ten-gallon hats and Dan Posts, these hit country songs managed to take a non-musical phrase and turn it into a hit single—all while educating the masses on tasty new words to add to their lexicon.
“All My Ex’s Live In Texas” by George Strait
George Strait received his first-ever Grammy Award nomination for his 1987 track, “All My Ex’s Live In Texas”. And it’s easy to see why. The song is catchy, funny, and implements the tried-and-true technique of rhyming popular names with popular cities, à la Eileen from Abilene and Allison from Galveston. But the really impressive phrase is the absolutely non-musical term “transcendental meditation,” which Strait uses to describe how he visits “that old Frio River where I learned to swim.”
“Platinum” by Miranda Lambert
The title track to Miranda Lambert’s 2014 album is chock-full of five-dollar words. They start with the very first line: “My disposition permeates the room when I walk in the place.” That mouthful is immediately followed by: “By calculation, I’m way too much / Pretentiously, I b**** a buck, but you bought it.” “Platinum” is full of Lambert’s trademark attitude with enough scholarly terms to leave you silently googling the word “irrefutably.” This track practically forces you to leave any and all “dumb blonde jokes” at the door.
“This Kiss” by Faith Hill
You already know the word I’m going to mention. That’s how pervasive this non-musical phrase in a country hit really is. Faith Hill set high school physics teachers’ hearts aglow following the release of her 1998 hit single, “This Kiss”. The hook in the chorus sings, “It’s the way you love me / It’s a feeling like this / It’s centrifugal motion / It’s perpetual bliss.” Even if you didn’t really know what, exactly, centrifugal motion was, you definitely knew how to pronounce it after hearing this track.
Songfacts: This Kiss | Faith Hill
This was also used in the TV series Mr. Robot in the 2019 episode “410 Gone.”
“Man! I Feel Like A Woman” by Shania Twain
To be fair, whether or not these non-musical phrases in country music hits are actually all that unfamiliar largely depends on an individual listener’s background and vocabulary. But when I was singing along to “Man! I Feel Like A Woman” in grade school (I know), I definitely did not know what the word “prerogative” meant. Is there a problematic element of a seven-year-old singing about “short skirts and men’s shirts?” Eh, maybe. But at least I was learning new words, so it all shook out okay.
“Playboys Of The Southwestern World” by Blake Shelton
Generally speaking, mainstream music shies away from the more impolite and awkward facets of the human experience. That’s why we don’t have chart-topping songs about diarrhea. That’s why you’re surprised I even typed that word out. Blake Shelton’s 2003 track, “Playboys Of The Southwestern World”, casually dropped the word “puberty” in the first verse, which is a rarely spoken about time in all of our lives. And with good reason. Who wants to relive all those pimply, stressed-out years?
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