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Jake Weaver
Instructor: Malcolm Campbell
UWRIT 1101
September 15, 2014
Did I Lose My Dog? Analysis of Country Music
There is a joke that goes, How many country music singers does it take to
change a light bulb? Two, one to change it, and one to sing a song reminiscing about
all the good times it had with the old bulbs. To most people, this may seem
accurate, but there is much more that goes with the genre of country music.
The stereotypical country song is about a man losing his woman, truck, or
dog. But, there are many other country songs that have a much deeper meaning to
them. People just fail to look passed the fact that it is a country song, and assume
they are all the same. Take Hank Williams Jr. for example. His most famous song A
Country Boy Can Survive is not a clich country song. At the songs peak, it reached
number two on the billboards for country music. This song, even though it is
classified as a country song, has a much deeper meaning than losing his dog, woman,
or truck.
Hank Williams Jr. sings about how he has lived off the land his whole life. He
can hunt, fish, and has his family. That, to him, is all he needs to live contently. This
song has a very sinister tone to it; it is not up beat like most songs of its genre. The
tone is directly related to the lyrics in a way because he sings about all the evil that
manifests in the city.

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A Country Boy Can Survive is classified to some people as the ultimate

redneck anthem. Hank does a very good job of taking all the feelings and emotions
of country folk, and puts them into a well wrote song. He sings, I can plow a field all
day long, I can catch catfish from dusk til dawn. This is basically saying that he
doesnt need to rely on a store, or somebody elses hard work to put food on his
table.
Even though he bashes the city in his song by saying, The interest is up and
the stock markets down, youll only get mugged if you go down town, he also
mentions a friend he had in the city. Hank sings, I had a good friend in New York
City, he never called me by my name, just Hillbilly. They seem to have a great
relationship because he sings about trading him some homemade wine for a picture
of the Broadway Nights. But, the evil-infested city finally took its toll; his friend died
an inevitable death. He sings, but he was killed by a man with a switchblade knife,
for forty three dollars my friend lost his life. This goes back to the emphasis on the
evil that is in the city. But, there is a little bit of truth to it. There is less of a crime
rate in rural areas than there are in cities. This may be because there is a higher
population in the city, but with more people comes more evil, and the motive to
inflict harm. Hank expresses hit hate towards the man who killed his friend when he
says he wants to shoot him with my ole forty-five.
By now, youve got to be asking yourself, how is this considered country
music by definition? Besides the title, consider the audience. This is appealing to
country folk who can relate their personal experiences to this song. This song is

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ultimately a battle cry to all the people left who live off the land. You can hear it in
his tone. Besides the gloomy tone, there is a hint of pain and hate. It pains him that
country folks are a dying breed, and he hates to see them dwindling down. He does a
good job of emphasizing his point through repetition. At the end of each stanza he
states, a country boy can survive, country folks can survive. He sings, you cant
starve us out, and you cant make us run. Cause were them ole boys raised on
shotguns. This portrays that he was raised to live off the land, and it made him
tough. But, just because he is tough, doesnt make him a bad guy. Hank sings, We
say grace, and we say maam. If you aint into that we dong give a damn. He
obviously believes that religion is important to surviving, and one could almost
argue that he is giving The Lord credit for his survival.
The instruments used also classify it as country. If you listen to it you can
hear an acoustic guitar, steel guitar, bass guitar, drums, harmonica, and fiddle. The
only thing missing would be a banjo. The beat is slower than most country songs,
and it has an eerie sound to it. It is the perfect tone for this song. If this song were to
be made into a movie, it would most likely be a western drama, probably set in the
heart of Texas. It would be about a man and his family living off the land. They
would have trials and struggles, but they have each other and thats all that would
matter.
This country song is not like most other country songs. George Strait is
considered the king of country music. He is famous for singing about women,
everything from break-ups to male-ups, or falling in love. Most of his songs are

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upbeat and fast paced; they make you feel happy. The style in these songs is much
different than in this song by Hank Williams Jr. A Country Boy Can Survive is
inspirational when you really think about it. He is dead set on not depending on
other people to live, and he is arguing the positive aspects of living off the land.
Country music is famous for all of its stereotypes, but there are more songs
out there with deeper meanings. These stereotypes set this specific genre apart
from any other, and that is a good thing. People who listen to country music love it
because of that fact. But, with that said, pay attention to other songs with a deeper
meaning than is portrayed.

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Lyrics provided by: http://www.metrolyrics.com/a-countryboy-can-survive-lyricshank-williams-jr.html

The preacher man says it's the end of time

And the Mississippi River, she's a going dry
The interest is up and the stock markets down
And you only get mugged if you go downtown
I live back in the woods, you see
My woman and the kids and the dogs and me
I got a shotgun and a rifle and a four wheel drive
And a countryboy can survive, country folks can survive
I can plow a field all day long, I can catch catfish from dusk 'til dawn
Make our own whiskey and our own smoke too
Ain't too many things these boys can't do
We grow good old tomatoes and homemade wine
And countryboy can survive, country folk can survive
Because you can't starve us out and you can't make us run
'Cause we're them ol' boys raised on shotguns
We say grace and we say ma'am
And if you ain't into that, we don't give a damn
We came from the West Virginia coal mines
And the Rocky Mountains and the Western skies
And we can skin a buck, we can run a trout line
And a countryboy can survive, country folks can survive
I had a good friend in New York City
He never called me by my name just hillbilly
My Grandpa taught me how to live off the land
And his taught him to be a business man
He used to send me pictures of the Broadway Nights
And I would send him some homemade wine
But he was killed by a man with a switchblade knife
For forty three dollars, my friend lost his life

I'd love to spit some beechnut in that dudes eyes

And shoot him with my ol' forty-five
'Cause a countryboy can survive
Country folks can survive
'Cause you can't starve us out and you can't make us run
And we're them ol' boys raised on shotgun
We say grace, we say ma'am
If you ain't into that, we don't give a damn
We're from North California and South Alabama
And little towns all around this land
We can skin a buck and run a trot line
And a countryboy can survive, country folks can survive
Countryboy can survive, country folks can survive