A Little Privacy Please?

For a long time now I have had this guilty feeling when I listen to cute, lovey dovey, mushy love songs.

Allow me to explain.

Artists create music for the public to make a living, right? However, the lyrics and music must come from somewhere, and usually they come from the artist's personal experiences. So when there is a particularly great song like "It's your love" by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, I can't help but feel like I'm stepping in on something private when I listen and love every second of it. I wonder if the woman these men sing about ever feel a little slighted that 4 million couples have this as "our song." I have a lot of respect for artists in that not many other careers broadcast their diary secrets nationally. I'm pretty sure that if someone wrote a song specifically about me and a month later I overheard a couple declare that same song as "their song" I'd be a little upset.

Not only do they expose their love lives, but they expose their family issues, personal struggles, triumphs and weaknesses. Yes, "Sara Beth" by Rascal Flatts makes me cry for the girl with cancer, but is Sara Beth embarrassed that her personal struggle has been broad casted? When a singer speaks of his alcoholic dad does the dad feel like his son/daughter has betrayed him by uncovered his 'secret' in front of the entire world? In all honesty, I usually don't think twice about the subjects in these songs...but now that I have started to, I can't stop.

Now these artists may be strong enough to open their heart to the world, but do you think they are ever prepared for the criticism they receive? "Here let me give you a piece of me and I'll let you tell me how I should crawl in a hole and die my song is so bad." I understand that there is bad music out there, but the meaning behind this music is still real. People are still producing this stuff, not robots (yet).

So now I'll step off of my soap box, but before I do I just ask that we become a little more conscious about our criticism. I'm making a goal to work on this and to try and value everything I hear for what it is - expression.

On a lighter note, I'm obsessed with this song. :) Take a listen, and then listen to it again. Hear it twice and I have no doubt you'll be bobbing your head and tapping your feet. Yes, it is a country song but at the very least Jerrod Niemann is pretty good looking so that should keep the females entertained for awhile.