On roots, change and fusion

Perhaps "country" music is more rooted in a specific country, it's landscape, it's social structure. Feels like the Scot-English roots of Appalachia, which was also transported from the Isles. These isolated places had neither migrants nor money.

I grew up with German/French songs. Much of northern USA shows its Irish heritage. With the influx of Southern and Eastern European populations in the North the culture was no longer British.

In the South the influence from Africa was palpable. The diaspora to the factories in places like Chicago and Detroit lead to a cultural cross fertilization. The various war efforts from 1940-1975 also integrated American society.

R&B and Jazz, Motown, Elvis... Hollywood and the British boy bands played to a huge and young population that moved away from strictly traditional forms. Country music persisted where it was well-rooted but much of the country had moved on. This rural/urban divide was, and still is, noticeable in society and politics.

Urban areas became multi-cultural and connected to the outside world of sushi, sky-towers, travel and new friends. The rural areas were family focused, church-based, football and fried chicken.

Obviously, both worlds overlapped, and many lived in the ill-defined liminal spaces that defied easy labels. When I visited Australia in 2015 it seemed bland, beige and boring in comparison; urban foci surrounded by nothing. Malaysia, which I visited in 2024, was much more dynamic.

All of this is my personal point of view based on my limited experience. But imho, Australia is surrounded by water with a fixation on Daddy and Mommy Europe. The US is a cross-fertilization of Mexican and Native, African and Caribbean, Trad and Techno Europe with a dollop of Bollywood and East Asian.

English language, poetry and lyrics, moved from staid conservative England to brash and chaotic America and now enters a new age of globalization where World-English is the new dynamo along with K-pop and other forms of fusion.

Onward? As the population centers of Brasil and Nigeria grow, along with the strong cultural identities of India and China, English, as a lingua franca, may maintain an important place; but Britannia will no longer rule the Waves and the USA will no longer rule the air, the media, nor the markets.

While traditions will persist and continue to influence popular culture, the World will move on, with or without the UK, Europe, or the USA. I'm sure many in Australia are well aware of that.

© Kåre Enga (30.januar.2025)

Short essay of 400 words inspired by listening to Australian Country music posted by S 🤦 on the WDC Newsfeed.