Did country music go from wry, bittersweet songs about bad luck and heartbreak to an endless series of party anthems and syrupy love songs?
Peter Lewis thought so.
He took the annual Billboard country #1 hits for every tenth year and tried to fit them into a few categories.
In a piece in Medium, he narrowed it down to four main types of country song. There are two sad types, and two happy ones.
After removing one instrumental track and a few novelty songs (mostly about truck drivers), the rest of the list fell into one of these four buckets:
His conclusion?
Modern country fans are more interested in healthy relationships, motivational speeches and having a good time than sadness and misery.
There was a slight upturn on sad songs in 2015. (You know who you are)
Via: Medium
