An interlude...

I'm going to have to interrupt my series of Thailand reflections tonight. I just got home from a prayer gathering (incidentally enough, for the Thai team), and being that I'm not totally over the time difference yet, I'm starting to drag. So, rather than another meaningful look into what I learned from my time in Thailand, you're about to get a relatively light and glib couple of observations about country music. Don't worry though, I've got all kinds of nothing planned for tomorrow (I was very intentional about keeping this first Saturday back clear of responsibilities), so you should get some more reflection tomorrow.

Anyhow, two quick things that struck me while I was listening to the radio at work the last couple days:

#1 - What kind of bizarre individual sets up a playlist that has this song immediately followed by this song, without even so much as a commercial break in between? You've got a song that, to me anyway, represents just about everything that's right about country music, and you follow it up with one that well... doesn't represent everything that's right about country music.

#2 - One of the hottest acts in country music right now is Taylor Swift. Taylor just turned 18 back in December. Her first single was released in the summer of 2006, and her debut album a few months later, when she was 16. Taylor wrote or co-wrote every song on her album, and I believe all of her 5 singles to date have been songs that were basically all her. I've questioned before how a 16 year old could possibly have had enough life experience to write a whole country album, and her single releases to date have only intensified that question.

Here's the lyrics for 4 of them:
Tim McGraw
Teardrops on My Guitar
Picture To Burn
Should've Said No

I've heard/read interviews that indicate that 3 of the 4 songs definitely came out of Taylor's life, and I'm almost positive I remember seeing something about the 4th being the same. What's up with this girl that she ran into all these "love gone wrong" type incidents by age 16? And what are all these random guys thinking about their decision making now?