Country music puts focus on the troubled economy

By John Gerome

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Recession? What recession?

Despite the sour economy, radio has been remarkably free of songs about tough times. The top songs from this week’s Billboard’s Hot 100 are heavy with dance tracks by the Black Eyed Peas, Lady GaGa and Flo Rida.

“I think people are partying on,” said Silvio Pietroluongo, director of charts for Billboard magazine, who couldn’t think of a single song about the nation’s economic woes in pop, rock or R&B.

Country seems the lone exception. John Rich’s blue-collar anthem “Shuttin’ Detroit Down” peaked at No. 12 last month, and a couple of other songs about the economy are getting attention.

In “Red White and Pink Slip Blues,” Hank Williams Jr. sings about a mill foreman who loses his job and is about to lose his house and his pickup, too.

“I paid my bills, I paid my dues. I paid my share of taxes, too. Now I can’t buy my baby shoes,” Williams growls.

The title track to Phil Vassar’s latest album, “Prayer of a Common Man,” is more a plea for help than an angry rail. Vassar sings over gentle piano about being mortgaged to the hilt and feeling like he’s sinking in sand.

“I’ve got people counting on me. And I’m tired that’s all. I’m up against the wall. Lord hear me when I call,” he sings.

Vassar came up with the idea after seeing shuttered factories in his Virginia hometown. The song was never released as a single, but some radio stations picked up on it anyway.

“I always like to brag on country music because I think it’s such a lyric-driven genre,” Vassar said. “It’s real. Not that pop and rock can’t be, or even rap. They talk about issues, too. But there’s something about country; it’s simply put.”

The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.