Hi Bob,

Sure appreciate you taking time to read this one over and share your thoughts and insights. I suspect you are right in that the reverse of this story may need to be told. In this case, however, the artist came to me and asked for this specific story in a song. I'm sure not implying anything categorically about folks who have money or those who don't. The core concept of this story is actually that you don't need a lot of things to be happy. I sort of suspect more folks who listen to country music can probably relate more to the beat up old trucks than to a BMW. May just be my skewed perception there...but the singer is a very country girl herself, and that is the image she wants in her song (even though she drives a new SUV). I suspect we can all point to specific individuals from either rich or working class to illustrate our points. I never was one to try to pigeonhole people into any one class..of course not ALL wealthy folks are unhappy..nor are all country folks well adjusted and delighted with life. The examples could go either way...but in this case, because of the request, I have to keep it this way. Perhaps you should write the song from the other perspective.

The nice clothes and nice car are certainly not what makes the couple in this song unhappy. That comes from somewhere deeper..as does the happiness of the other couple. Just thinking about audience relevance, however..not sure most of us who buy country music are gonna relate to rich folks all that much. [Linked Image] Just my opinion, of course, but that opinion is based on my own family life. My folks were not poor but we sure didn't have a lot of the things many other people did...but we were really a very happy family. We did a lot of things together as a family, and my parents showed me you can be very happy without a lot of things. On the other side of the coin, a few years ago I was engaged to a man who was a multi-millionaire, and I have never known a kinder, more generous man, nor a better parent (but that is not the issue here). However, his happiness did not emanate from his acquisitions either.

I am getting long winded here. [Linked Image] Thanks again for checking this out. I DO appreciate your ideas here. Didn't intend to offend you or anyone else with this.

Bobbie

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