If you tune in to any country radio station, you’re probably not getting your father’s country. Old school country was rebellious, anti-establishment, often controversial. Listen to the lyrics of “Man in Black” by Johnny Cash. It’s anti-war, anti-greed, and brings attention to the downtrodden, the impoverished, and victims of war.

What you hear on the radio nowadays is redneck pop music. At best, it’s pop music with a steel guitar or a fiddle. It’s white washed with formulaic music, Mad Libs lyrics, and debated by committees. They steer far away from controversy or political topics, instead choosing lyrics that have to do with trucks, jeans, beer, and the beach.

If Johnny Cash, for example, was alive and in his prime today, he would likely be singing about topics like wealth disparities, school shootings, or the opioid crisis — not about trucks, women, beaches, or booze.

Of course, there are exceptions, and there are plenty of artists who still make great country music. Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, so many others. But you aren’t going to hear those played at country dance halls or on most corporate owned radio stations.