Flashback Friday and I’m going to take you back to 1974 when one of the biggest dogs i.e. worst-song ever was released. In fact, I remember keeping track of and writing down such things as “Worst Songs” and I had Country Bumpkin on two of my lists “Worst Country Music Songs” and “Worst Ever Songs.” I hated that song so much not only because it was such a sappy and stupid piece of crap but also because once I heard it, I could not stop humming the “Hello Country Bumpkin” refrain for several hours afterwards. At one point I even forced myself to alter the lyrics in my head from “Hello” to “FU Country Bumpkin.”
But once again, in that it’s-what-you-learn-after-you-know-it-all-that-counts category, along comes Casey N. Cep to give me a whole new perspective on the tune. She does a great job in her Circle of Life article (click here) discussing the tune and how it tells such a nice story about a couple meeting and then spending the rest of their lives together. While my bottom line remains that I still don’t particularly care for the song, at least now I can grant that there may be something to it. First read the article then listen to it for yourself. It’s not so bad once you process that whole circle of life business.
Should someone ever venture into Buzzy’s Country Store and ask for a glass of anything that’s cool, instead of throwing them the hell out, which is what I would have done before reading this article, I may just have to chill and see what they have to say.