Beguiling and betraying; the image of alcohol use in country music.

Abstract

SUMManY. Analtsis of 30 countqt music songs in which alcohol is a theme sug- gests that the ltrics reflect a deep-seated ambivalence about drinking in American societt. will be used as a means to facilitate certain kinds of behavior or to assuage problems the incidence of alcohol problems is much higher than in those where expectations are that it be used for ceremonial functions (3). The purpose of the present study was to examine the current image of alcohol use in country music, an element of American popular cul- ture in which alcohol use and misuse has long been a major theme (4, 5). In country music the simple ideal and real values of the southern and southwestern regions of the United States, as well as middle-America generally, are explicitly stated. The lyrics affirm a simple moral and ethical code shared by many members of the lower-middle and working classes and by those whose class origins are in these two groups. Therefore, analysis of such lyrical expressions provides an opportunity to explore values common to large segments of the popu- lation.

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