I am from rural Colorado. Naturally, I love country music. I love it because it is extremely honest and upbeat (For the most part. “Red Solo Cup” by Toby Keith should be erased from human existence). For example, last week I was in the Library trying to write a reading response for DML. I was extremely unmotivated. I was about four sentences and stuck in a writer’s block, when suddenly the song “5-1-5-0″ by Dierks Bentley came on and I got pumped. Suddenly, my fingers were gliding across the keyboard. I got a “strong” on this particular reading response. So… boom.

However, last night, I was listening to the country music station on Spotify when a song called “The Trouble With Girls” by Scott McCreery came on. This song had a nice melody and I liked it from the get-go. Then, I started to listen to the lyrics closely and I really related to them. I started to think about a girlfriend I had in high school and nice she was and the way she acted. This song was sad, but relatable. It really tugged at my heartstrings. I nearly cried right there at my desk in the library. I had to get up from my work and take a lap around the stacks to refocus myself. Country music – It’ll make you smile and make you cry in the same song.

-Murph