MAN, I really love country music!!! Not only do country songs sound good, quite a number of these singles have the unique quality of sharing lessons and stories about life.
As I was having a late afternoon chat with a lady acquaintance over the weekend, a country single helped me onlighten the mood of my lady pal who the verge of tears.
Aside from missing the support and well-felt love of her dearly departed father, Anna (my lady pal's name) was actually grieving over the harsh trials of life. "After a long and trying 2009, the onset of the current year has been very unfavorable for me," she uttered while evidently straining to hold back tears swelling in her eyes.
A young grandmother in her late forties, Anna's day starts with the preparation of breakfast, school snacks and meals for her daughter and grandchildren. She then brings two of her grandkids to school before heading back home to finish undone chores. After a short nap early in the afternoon, Anna slips on her snickers and takes a 45 minute walk to pick-up her daughter's kids in school.
Back home, she mans the kitchen and prepares for dinner early. If you think her long day should ends here, you presumption is definitely wrong. Anna shifts her attire to casual office clothes and rushes to a call center where she is engage in on-line tutorials until late at night. Phew!!! What a hectic, tedious, and down-right exhausting daily routine she has.
As if adding "insult to injury," Anna's pay from her evening job has been delayed for weeks now. Fearing to let go of the only employment she has, Anna simply accepts her fate as she patiently waits for the compensation owed her for services rendered since the second half of December 2009.
According to Anna, her employer claims to have been "cheated" by a business partner... poor Anna and co-workers, made to suffer for the fault of others.
Despite a dwindling supply of food at home, disconnection notices from providers of city services, and expected bills from the learning institutions of her grandchildren, Anna maintained that she has to be strong and unwearyingly be patient for "a desirable shifting of the winds" blowing on circumstances surrounding her life.
Despite her age, however, Anna almost broke down that afternoon when she said, "How I wish my father was still with us...he would never allow us to suffer under such predicaments."
It was at this point when I remembered a "Brooks and Dunn" country single and sang a few lines of "Cowgirls Don't Cry" for Anna:
"Cowgirls don't cry
Ride, baby, ride
lessons of life are going to show you in time
soon enough your gonna know why
it's gonna hurt every now and then
if you fall get back on again
Cowgirls don't cry."
Financially drained myself, I could only look for petty ways to uplift my lady friend's spirits then. I was rather glad to see a smile on her face for the first time that afternoon. With her smile came deep breathes, the straightening of her slouched body, and sudden "light of hope" in her eyes as she asserted, " Yes I need to be strong...to keep stepping forward... to push on... because life goes on."
To cut the story short, we ended up talking about how a simple country song could inspire and speak so much about certain realities of life. And though kind of "out of tune," we sang "Cowgirls don't Cry" a couple of times before heading our separate ways that day:
"Her daddy gave her, her first pony
Then taught her to ride
She climbed high in that saddle
Fell I don't know how many times
Taught her a lesson that she learned
Maybe a little too well
Cowgirls don't cry
Ride, baby, ride
lessons of life are going to show you in time
soon enough your gonna know why
it's gonna hurt every now and then
if you fall get back on again
Cowgirls don't cry
She grew up
She got married
Never was quite right
She wanted a house, a home and babies
He started coming home late at night
She didn't let him see it break her heart
She didn't let him see her fall apart
'cause Cowgirls don't cry
Ride, baby, ride
lessons of life are goinna' show you in time
soon enough your gonna know why
it's gonna hurt every now and then
if you fall get back on again
Cowgirls don't cry
Phone rang early one morning
Her momma's voice, she'd been crying
Said it's your daddy, you need to come home
This is it, I think he's dying
She laid the phone down by his head
The last words that he said
Cowgirl don't cry
Ride, baby, ride
Lessons of life show us all in time
Too soon God lets you know why
If you fall get right back on
Good Lord calls everybody home
Cowgirl don't cry"