Outline
In this site, I plan to talk about the connections between faith imagery and death in country music. I plan on taking this topic and looking at the obvious religious images, along with some that are slightly more hidden, and seeing how they are related to the idea of death, and the afterlife. For songs that I will be looking at, at this point in time, I have found 8, but may possibly add one or two more, if I can find some sources that will be helpful in interpreting them. As it stands at this point in time I will be looking at:
I notice that in these songs, whenever the idea of death is portrayed, it is closely linked with some sort of religious imagery or mention of faith. I believe that this is a commonplace theme in country music, where death and faith are closely linked. I plan on starting off with a short background summary of religion and country music, and then from there talking about the noted links between country music and religion. From there I will look at death imagery, and how it links into this musical genre and the religious themes. After that I will be looking at each song individually, and (by using both secondary sources and my own ideas) interpreting the lyrics and in cases of having an actual music video, the images in the video and how they match up with certain religious themes and imagery. I will conclude with the belief that there is a strong connection between the religious faith/imagery and death in country music songs.
- Martina McBride's "Concrete Angel"
- Reba McEntire's "He Gets That From Me"
- The Band Perry's "If I Die Young"
- Collin Raye's "Love, Me"
- Randy Travis' "Three Wooden Crosses"
- Brad Paisley's "Waitin' On A Woman"
- Alan Jackson's "Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning?"
- Rascal Flatts' "Why"
I notice that in these songs, whenever the idea of death is portrayed, it is closely linked with some sort of religious imagery or mention of faith. I believe that this is a commonplace theme in country music, where death and faith are closely linked. I plan on starting off with a short background summary of religion and country music, and then from there talking about the noted links between country music and religion. From there I will look at death imagery, and how it links into this musical genre and the religious themes. After that I will be looking at each song individually, and (by using both secondary sources and my own ideas) interpreting the lyrics and in cases of having an actual music video, the images in the video and how they match up with certain religious themes and imagery. I will conclude with the belief that there is a strong connection between the religious faith/imagery and death in country music songs.