The small town is the typical backdrop for country music. Though the genre is a global phenomenon, it’s most at home in the zoomed-in parts of the map, which only those who live there know of. Small towns are the perfect setting for relational drama and defying conventions. The three country songs below are so perfectly “small-town” that it feels like hearing some gossip from your friend back home.
Videos by American Songwriter
“Goodbye Earl” — The Chicks
“Goodbye Earl” is a bit larger-than-life, but the story’s basis is something many women know well. There are countless cases of domestic abuse in small towns, much like the main characters in this country classic. This song is the kind of catharsis victims aren’t able to get in real life—the revenge they wouldn’t ever seek but can revel in for three minutes or so.
Even though the events of this story aren’t run-of-the-mill by any means, they aren’t completely unheard of either. This song is the kind of thing that would run on local news, shock viewers, and disrupt small-town life for a week or so.
“Who’s Cheatin’ Who” — Alan Jackson
Living in a small town means living in a bubble. That means relationships are put under a microscope. Who’s cheating whom is definitely a topic of conversation in small towns, making this Alan Jackson song a must-listen.
“Still you wonder / Who’s cheatin’ who? Who’s being true? / And who don’t even care anymore? / It makes you wonder,” Jackson sings in this country hit. Listening to this song feels like watching someone’s relationship drama unfold in front of you. It’s juicy and personal, like all great bits of small-town gossip.
“Harper Valley P.T.A.” — Jeannie C. Riley
Small-town life comes with conventions. You can’t make too many different moves without upsetting the status quo. That’s what Jeannie C. Riley’s “Harper Valley P.T.A.” is about. The character in this song gets flak for wearing mini skirts and her general brazenness. She gets back at the naysayers in the most satisfactory way.
“Well, there’s Bobby Taylor sittin’ there and seven times he’s asked me for a date / And Mrs. Taylor sure seems to use a lotta ice whenever he’s away / And Mr. Baker, can you tell us why your secretary had to leave this town? / And shouldn’t widow Jones be told to keep her window shades all pulled completely down,” she sings in this country hit. This is the kind of revenge all subjects of small-town scrutiny wish they could get.
(Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)
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