Thin Line Between Joy & Pain

I have been listening to a lot of country music lately and this is a line from Cody Jinks’ sound “Loud and Heavy”.  It was one of those lines in a song that makes you stop and think.  I have spent so much time pondering this because I honestly believe that it is one of the most real and raw lyrics I have heard in a long time.

I will go to my grave maintaining the thought that the best new country music is not what you hear on the radio.  I’m not a diehard “pop country sucks” kinda girl, but the best stuff isn’t what’s being taken by storm in Nashville

Instead, it is underground.  True outlaw country.  Cody Jinks’ is up there with some of the best.  Daddy really likes a song called “Down the River” by Chris Knight and I think that is one of the best as well.  But you won’t hear that on the radio.

Another favorite is Wheeler Walker Jr., but you definitely won’t hear him on the radio.  It’s interesting that rap music can be just as explicit as Wheeler Walker Jr.’s songs, but you’ll never hear any of ole Wheeler’s songs on country stations.  They’d have to do a lot of censoring, that’s for sure.

My taste in music has always been eclectic.  I like my new stuff, but I also ride around listening to the same songs I was listening to ten plus years ago.  I can easily go from outlaw country to Post Malone.

I have rambled enough about my musical tastes and about the state of country music.  Back to the line from the song.

The things that bring you so much joy can be over in a minute and cause so much pain.  There’s certainly a thin line.  Lately, I have been contemplating my next tattoo and this line has stuck out to me so much that it’s on the list (along with a Title IX tattoo with coordinates of my ball fields and a mason jar lightening bug themed piece).  

Here’s to straddling the line because sometimes the rewards outweigh the negatives.