American Country Music
Country music has its roots in the American drive west in the 1800s. Not many people outside the United States realize how popular it is among Americans. Today country music boasts more radio listeners than pop—some 80 million from coast to coast. Though country music has traditionally been the music of rural America—in particular, the South, Southwest, the Plains States and the non-coastal West—it now has a large and growing audience in urban centers and suburbs too. Still, country music's roots are, as the name suggests, in the countryside. A drive across the United States makes this clear. In cities, a survey of radio stations yields music of every kind: pop, hard rock, soft rock/adult contemporary, soul/rhythm and blues, rap/hip-hop, country, jazz, blues, and even classical. But as you leave the cities and wind your ways into rural America. the only music you continue to hear on the radio is country.
Much tellingly, four of the ten best-selling CDs in the United States in 2002 were by country artists. Clearly, country music is extremely popular in the United States.
Unlike pop, rock and rap, however, country music has a very limited appeal to foreign listeners. In China, for example, you never hear hits by even the biggest country stars, nor can you find their CDs here. This is true in most other countries as well.
Generally, the two most important musical components of country music are stringed instruments (usually, an acoustic or electric guitar, and often a steel guitar and fiddle) and the singer's voice itself. Country music eschews the “electronic” sound so typical of much pop music. Above all, the singer's voice is what puts the “country” stamp on the music. Country singers almost always have a southern, or at least rural, accent.
As important as the music itself, though, is the music's message; here again, country music is very different from pop, rock, rap or other popular music forms. Having listened to country music for years, I've identified eight major themes：1) love,2) love gone bad,3) cowboy humor,4) partying,5) the country lifestyle,6) regional pride,7) family, and 8) “God and country”. The first two themes are by no means unique to country music. But the other six themes do distinguish country from most other forms of American popular music. In short. country folks have a sense of humor all their own; love to party cowboy-style; live life very differently than their urban counterparts; take great pride in their hometowns, states and regions: attach tremendous importance to family; and aren't shy about expressing religious and patriotic feelings. These themes set country music apart from the music of, say, Britney Spears. Country music's message tends to appeal mostly to rural white southerners and westerners. As a group, country-music listeners tend to be farmers and blue-collar workers: they are generally poorer than average Americans. They are also somewhat more conservative in their political and social views.
Country's thematic versatility enables it to draw on subject matter that is beyond the reach of other forms of popular music. Country music was the first to dare to take up the very painful subject of 9/11，for example. Alan Jackson's huge country hit “where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)?”, a deeply moving ballad about how Americans reacted to the terrorist strikes, instantly touched a chord across the country. Other country singers took up this difficult subject too.
Country music, rooted as it is in quintessentially American experiences and circumstances, has much to say about American life, and it says it with an eloquence and sincerity that are hard to match.
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美国乡村音乐
乡村音乐植根于19世纪初美国的西部大开发。在美国疆土之外，没有多少人了解乡村音乐在美国人中是多么流行。今天，乡村音乐比流行乐拥有更多广播听众——从东海岸到西海岸约有八千万。虽说乡村音乐传统上是美国农村地区的音乐——尤其是在南部、西南部、平原地区以及非海岸地区的西部——但它如今在城市中心地带及近郊地区也拥有大量听众，而且人数不断增长。不过，正如名称所示，乡村音乐的根，还是在乡村，若是开车周游美国一圈儿就会很清楚地了解这一点。在城市里，收音机能调出各种流派的音乐：流行乐、硬摇滚、软摇滚/成人现代、灵歌/节奏与布鲁斯、说唱/嘻哈、乡村、爵士、蓝调，甚至还有古典音乐；但是离开城市转入美国乡村，渐渐地，从收音机里听到的就只剩下乡村音乐了。
有一点很有说服力：2002年美国最畅销的10张CD中有4张是乡村音乐歌手的。显然，乡村音乐在美国是极受欢迎的。
但是，与流行乐、摇滚、说唱乐不同的是，乡村音乐对外国听众的吸引力是有限的。比如，在中国，你却绝听不到哪怕是最大腕的乡村音乐歌星的热门歌曲，也找不到他们的CD。这种情况在大多数国家也是如此。
一般说来，乡村音乐最重要的两个组成部分是弦乐伴奏(通常是吉他或是电吉他，还常常加上一把夏威夷吉他和小提琴)及歌手的嗓音。乡村音乐抛开了在流行乐中用得很广的“电子”声。最重要的是歌手的嗓音，这是乡村音乐的标志。乡村音乐歌手几乎总有美国南部的口音，至少会有乡村地区的口音。
然而，与音乐本身同样重要的是音乐所包含的内容。在这一点上，乡村音乐与流行乐、摇滚、说唱乐以及其他流派也大不一样。我听了数年乡村音乐，总结出了其八大主题：一、爱情；二、失恋；三、牛仔幽默；四、找乐；五、乡村生活方式；六、地区的骄傲；七、家庭；八、上帝与国家。前两个主题绝不是乡村音乐所独有的，但是后六大主题则把乡村音乐与其他大多数美国流行音乐流派区分开来。简而言之，乡村的人们有他们自己的幽默感；喜欢牛仔风格的疯玩；有一种与城市人大不相同的方式生活；以自己所在的乡镇、州、地区为荣；极为重视家庭；不羞于(勇于)表达宗教情感与爱国情感。这些主题使乡村音乐有别于诸如小甜甜布莱尼等的音乐。乡村音乐所包含的内容往往最吸引美国南部与西部乡村的白人。作为群体，乡村音乐的听众往往是农民和蓝领，他们通常比一般美国人穷点儿，在政治与社会问题上也更保守一些。
乡村音乐主题的多样性使得它能把主题扩展到其他音乐流派达不到的领域，例如，乡村音乐首先敢于用令人痛苦万分的“9·11事件”作为主题，阿兰·杰克逊演唱的热门乡村歌曲《(当世界停止转动时)你在何处》，是一首深深打动人心的关于美国人在恐怖袭击发生后如何应对的歌曲，它立刻就在全美国引起了共鸣。(是一首深深打动人心的歌曲，讲述了美国人在恐怖袭击发生后是如何应对的。此曲一经问世，立即在全美引起共鸣。)其他的乡村音乐歌手也唱出了这一艰难主题。
乡村音乐根植于典型的美国人的经历与环境中，很能说明美国生活的方方面面，并且以其他音乐流派所没有的表达方式与真挚做到了这一点。