“We Never Get Ahead but We Have Enough”

Abstract

Country music has cultural and narrative roots in the American working class. As such, themes of class are integral to the mythos of country music, informing the musicians and shaping the genre’s audience. Researchers have studied the origins of class narratives in American country music, but less analysis has been given to the specific ways that these themes are expressed rhetorically. The purpose of this study was to analyze how class-based narratives are expressed in country music. Through a content analysis of the lyrics of popular country songs between 1950 and 2009, three overarching themes emerged. First, the emphasis of emotional over material experiences: emotional consequences related to working-class material conditions were the focus of songs’ rhetoric, rather than underlying material issues. Second, escapism and sentimentality: class-based issues were expressed as sentimental or nostalgic as a means of escaping material struggle or downplaying their severity. Finally, parasocial commiseration: the building of a one-sided connection between artists and their audience based on their perceived shared class identity. These themes provide insight into emotional rhetoric that affects working-class politics in the US, as well as broader race, class, and political issues.