what's happening to me?

you guys. lately, i've been listening to...country music.

i'm speechless.  and a little confused.

mainly, i blame nashville.  its music is just sooooooo good.  for example:

now.  these songs are not traditional country.  they're more bluegrass or folk-y.  they say nothing about trucks or dogs or hunting or beer.  and there is nary a honky-tonk guitar riff to be heard.  they are just beautiful, beautiful love songs sung by beautiful, beautiful people.  with a country twist.  in nashville.  seems innocent, innocuous enough.  and so i downloaded them, put them on a playlist, and played them into oblivion.

then, i heard about a little tv show called friday night lights, and subsequently fell in love with tim riggins in all of is cowboy-boot-wearing, country-loving, texas-forever glory.  behold.

can you blame me?  good.  me neither.  his little drawl and ability to ping-pong between drunken looser and resident wiseman drew me in and stuck me fast.  he made me feel safe and secure in the country.  he made me want to slap on my wranglers, jump into the cab of his truck, and yell, "let's head to the football game, y'all!"

looking back, i think that this was the point where i lost control.

after i found tim, i downloaded this song:

don't let taylor swift's ability to jump from one genre to another fool you.  she's nothing but a country queen in this little ditty, a country queen partnered with two country kings.

then, i downloaded this song:

ladies and gentlemen, miranda lambert is a country music artist.  nothing more, nothing less.  in the last week, i downloaded a straight-up-no-chaser country song.

and, the final straw.  when i heard this on the radio this morning, i thought, "this is awesome."

yes, nelly does blow this track up.  but.  i thought the song was downloadable before i knew nelly was on it.  that means i listened to two verses of twang before there was anything even rap-ish whatsoever about it.  when a song's lyrics are, "in this brand new chevy with a lift kit/ would look a hell of a lot better with you up in it," that song is all country, all the time.

i am befuddled.  i am bemused.  i need to take a time out with this remix of remix to ignition and think about what i have done.

(thanks g for the much needed breath of sanity.)