Videos by American Songwriter
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Country Music
By Jack Canfield, Mark Victor-Hansen & Randy Rudder
CSS Publishing
4 stars
In the latest in the long running Chicken Soup series, the stories behind 101 of your favorite country songs – from “Everlasting Love” to “D-I-V-O-R-C-E” – are told by the men and women who wrote them (in this case, Bobby Braddock and Buzz Cason). Tom T. Hall, Charlie Daniels, Ricky Skaggs, Guy Clark, Jamey Johnson and many more sit around the virtual campfire, spinning stories of inspiration and happy accidents. You probably didn’t know that Hugh Prestwood’s “The Song Remembers When” draws from sources like Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson, or that the lyrical motif behind “I Hope You Dance” was inspired by the writer’s angry mother, who would say things like “I hope your ex stays miserable” and “I hope he knows he’s an idiot.” These tales may just inspire you to write your own country classic, but if not, they’ll give you a new appreciation for some old ones. If you like country music and you have a soul, then you’d do well to pick this book up… or at least browse its pages in the bookstore.
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