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2 minutes and 26 seconds of therapy

Country Musings by Robert Loy, January 2003

A couple months back, I wrote a column asserting that, despite what a seeming majority of fans believe, ÒHe Stopped Loving Her TodayÓ is not the greatest country and western song. I mentioned in the article that that honor actually belongs to ÒI Got MexicoÓ by Eddy Raven, and I said IÕd explain why later.

I was all set to do that here, but then I realized I was wrong. ÒHe Stopped Loving Her TodayÓ is the greatest country song. So is ÒI Got Mexico.Ó So is ÒYour CheatinÕ HeartÓ and ÒThe DanceÓ and even - God help us - ÒAchy Breaky HeartÓ and thousands, maybe millions, of other songs.

All of them the perfect country song.

This realization came to me when I tried to define what it was that made a song the greatest. With all due respect to Steve Goodman and David Allen Coe, the perfect country and western song doesnÕt necessarily have anything to do with mama or prison.

The perfect country song is the one song that you reach for when youÕve altered your consciousness to just the right point with music, memories or Miller Genuine Draft, the song that you sing along with, maybe cry along with and afterwards you feel a hell of a lot better.

If we use this as our definition, then itÕs obvious that there are as many perfect country and western songs as there are people on this planet. Maybe more since your perfect song at age 16 will probably not be the perfect song when you hit 42.

This is slightly embarrassing, but years ago when I was trying to get over a girl who had left me and taken my heart with her, I used to crank up Ronnie MilsapÕs ÒAlmost Like a SongÓ and try to sing through that lump in my throat while I played a little air piano. At that stage of my life it was the perfect country song. It made me believe that maybe, just maybe, I would get over this lost love. And eventually I did. I give Milsap much of the credit for my recovery, and I still love that song, although it no longer affects me at the same emotional level.

Because now, to paraphrase Kris Kristofferson, IÕve got a good woman and IÕm no longer wasted. My romantic life couldnÕt be better; my professional life is another story. IÕve tried but have so far been unable to extricate myself from a day job that pays too well to be called dead-end, so letÕs say itÕs a cul-de-sac job. My fantasies are no longer about getting back with an old girlfriend, theyÕre about getting the heck away from those morons who sign my paycheck. Now ÒI Got MexicoÓ is the song I crank up when IÕve had one too many beers or bad days at the salt mine.

And yes, I know ÒI Got MexicoÓ is ostensibly about lost love, but every time Eddy and I sing the opening ÒI just tired of that same old job, tired of fighting that freeway mobÓ I know that this job is not going to drive me crazy. When I hear it and when I sing it I believe that things are going to be all right. ItÕs like therapy, only shorter and cheaper. Plus you donÕt have to lie on some strange personÕs couch. ThatÕs pretty amazing when you think about it.

Thank you, Dr. Milsap. Thank you, Doctor Raven.



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