Sara Rodriguez-Fiction Critique 6: Contemporary Country Music: A Song Book

Sara Angela Rodriguez

A415-002/Chambers

Fiction Critique 6: Contemporary Country Music: A Song Book

13 March 2013

When I first read this collection of ‘song lyrics’ by Michael Jeffrey Lee I really didn’t like it. When I think of a song I think of melody, harmony, and rhyme all things which these songs were lacking.in songs, country songs especially, there is always a sing-song element to the lyrics that leaves you singing their words, even if there is no music. But, with these ‘songs’ I could not do that. Yes, the subject matter of these songs, like almost all country songs, is very patriotic but I didn’t think you could properly call them song because of their awkward word arrangement, unnatural pauses, and discontinuity in subject. Upon my second read I noticed that whenever there is a break (indicated by a ‘/’ as in all song books) there is actually dialogue being spoken by the main character, John, who never talks but none the less is the focus of this story. John’s interactions with his mother, father, sister, friends, and acquaintances are what allow us to get an insight to his character. The songs actually depict a cry, a call, and a summons, for help and normality which John cannot express himself because of his detachment to the world. He, like many soldiers that come home from war, can no longer function in society and must recondition himself to lead a ‘normal’ life. After reading this piece over a few times I came to sympathize with the story and accept that it is experimental not because it uses song to tell a story but because it is taking the conventional form of a song and distorting it in order to tell the story of the distortion of john’s mind.