The nation was not at war. Disco was fading. Still, the Summer of 1979, especially to White House aides, was “the worst of times.” Unemployment was up. Gas prices were up, causing double-digit inflation. Another problem was the shortage of gas. Lines at gas stations resembled those of the ’73-’74 oil embargo. A revolution in Iran led by radical Islamic clerics was one reason oil stopped flowing at the usual pace. When the longtime US-supported Shah of Iran was toppled, Americans felt the Iranians’ anger. The world was changing and there seemed little to make it go America’s way. To paraphrase a poignant Jagger-Richards line,
Slow Train, void of religious overtones, is an undeniable album. The title song alone, Albert King vibes included, is such a groove and a statement.
The title of this post got me to thinking.
What is a country track? A country song? Is it’s genre or a sound? Or is it a statement? The way “state of the union” is used to describe a president’s address or the latest Bob song is provocative.
If you removed “off” from the title of your post, would you have written this differently? Or if you added an apostrophe s to the end of country.
The national anthem - it’s a “country” track. It makes a statement about the times.
Slow Train inspired Carter’s speech. Both quasi-sermons. Both expressions of a message.
Country music. Fun play on words. Or a zeitgeist for everyone to rally or rebel against.
Slow Train, void of religious overtones, is an undeniable album. The title song alone, Albert King vibes included, is such a groove and a statement.
The title of this post got me to thinking.
What is a country track? A country song? Is it’s genre or a sound? Or is it a statement? The way “state of the union” is used to describe a president’s address or the latest Bob song is provocative.
If you removed “off” from the title of your post, would you have written this differently? Or if you added an apostrophe s to the end of country.
The national anthem - it’s a “country” track. It makes a statement about the times.
Slow Train inspired Carter’s speech. Both quasi-sermons. Both expressions of a message.
Country music. Fun play on words. Or a zeitgeist for everyone to rally or rebel against.