Tradition, Modernity, and the Wild Side of Life I had a hard time isolating my thoughts on this particular section

of Samples book. This was not due to Samples style, which is remarkably clear and straight-forward, but rather to the content. Sample opens "Tradition, Modernity, and the Wild Side of Life" with the tragic tale of the cab driver Ray and his doomed relationship with the promiscuous Margie. As I read about Samples father purchasing the fan from the distraught Ray and the subsequent murder/suicide, I felt sure that the author would soon reference at some point the local Christian community and their moral stance on such behavior. After all, the book is subtitled Country Music, the Church, and Working Americans. The traditional church has some very clear ideas about acceptable and unacceptable behavior, right? It isn't possible to talk about traditional mores even just those reflected in popular music and NOT mention the influence of religiosity on American attitudes, I thought. I was wrong. Sample does exactly that. While carefully pointing out the inconsistencies and contradictions of a musical tradition that celebrates wild debauchery on track 4 and praises homespun morality on tracks 6 & 7; while delineating music that exalts the Honky Tonk lifestyle and the women who stands by their man; the text nevertheless refuses to get into the meat of the conflict. He names the combatants and describes their corner of the boxing ring but never really says why they are fighting. For Sample, the contradiction stems solely from an evolution (or devolution, depending on your point of view) of societal organization. He writes that: The history of country music parallels a major shift from a more traditional, rural, agrarian society to a commercial, urban, industrial/service/ info-technological one. The fractures between these two worlds rumble through the experience of rural and urban working-class life, and the contradictions between traditional order and modernistic change figure prominently in the concrete lived lives of working people and can be found expressed in any period of country music (96). I believe there is much more to the story. If we accept a basic premise of the Sociology of Religion that religious mores and traditions are instituted to reinforce social stability then the traditional morality of an agrarian society, a set of beliefs reflected in both church teaching and country music, makes perfect sense. Regardless of what Pa does, Ma has to stand by her man to keep the family alive. When work is hard to find, when the job sucks, when he is laid off and desperate, Pa does whatever is necessary to take care of his family. Sample discusses all of these things, writing that: Songs about the crucial role of family fall from country music like rain from clouds (92). However, his juxtaposition of the wild side of life falls flat. Sample talks about difficulties within the transitioning society rather than the decay of the social order and its repercussions within the assumed religiosity of some of the very vocal Christian artists he quotes lyrics from. (I dare you to watch a CMA Awards show and not be amazed at the number of times that Jesus is thanked personally for His assistance in making a platinum album). Whereas Sample merely

describes the contradictions, Social Conflict Theory predicts them and explains them. In short, as societies change their power structures (farmers lose their farms, small cities give way to urban lifestyles, etc) the religious morality that governed the dying society will linger on, even as a new set of religious mores takes its place. Conflict theory, as well as structural functionalism, look at such historic shifts as inevitable and FULL of contradictory religious demands. For the out group, an other is usually found who can be judged unfitting of the love of God. An abortionist, a homosexual, an interracial couple, an anti-war demonstrator someone outside the immediate community is identified who can then be pointed to, preached about, and blamed for the uncomfortable and painful changes going on within the transforming community. Behavior that was once rare, due to the intense social pressure of religious mores and taboo behavior, becomes more common as the structure that morality supported declines. Is it any wonder that sexual promiscuity, desperation, and abandonment become musical themes for such a group? Unfortunately, by only stressing the surface factors of changing economic climates, Sample loses the opportunity to dig a little deeper into the root of the tension. Word Count: 718