Ever played a country song backwards?

The joke remains that if you were to play a country song backwards you will get your dog back, your wife back, your truck back, etc. Country music tends to have a reputation for being a twangy, sad, depressive style of music. This somewhat negative reputation is due to the older generation of music composed by artists like Hank Williams, Marty Robbins, Loretta Lynn, Jim Reeves, and many more.

Many 'modern' listeners do not appreciate the slow style of country music. The originators of country were considered by the loyal as storytellers of the truth instead of glossing over the negative aspects of life. "Tear in My Beer" is often used as the butt of jokes, except the idea is that the man is heartbroken, a feeling with which many people no matter what their age can relate.
Because of the negative feelings toward the older style of country music, artists started to veer toward pop music. Crossover success stories like Faith Hill, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood have been considered a huge boon for the country music industry, by bringing new listeners to the genre. Others consider the crossover style of music to be a type of betrayal to the roots of country. Whichever side a person falls, none can dispute that the genre's popularity today is at the highest in recorded history even with the trend leaning back to the more traditional style of music.