I know this might surprise some people, but once upon a time I hated country music. Not kidding. The old adage about playing a country music song backward and getting your wife, dog, and job back seemed true enough to me, and I liked to listen to music that would give me a lift rather than bring me down.
I kept waiting in the days after 9/11 for someone with a little influence to come forward and put into words everything we were all feeling. No one did. Like us, those who wrote and sang for us were silent and numb.
I was flipping around the television stations one night a few weeks later and settled on the image of a tall man wearing ripped jeans and a cowboy hat walking onto the stage at an awards show. I sat the remote down after the first line and became a country music fan.
In leiu of the respect I have for September 11 and the days afterward, I’m not doing my usual weekend question. Instead, I’m posting that song. I’m sure most of you have heard Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning).” I’m also sure you won’t mind hearing it again.
