Country Music: Buddhism with a Rough Edge

Those who know me know with what little regard I hold country music. At lunch today, I was unwillingly subjected to the crooning that was coming over the PA system at the restaurant where I was eating. In the spirit of living in the present moment, and avoiding trying to wish for some state of affairs that wasn’t (say, like Dave Matthews or some good jazz or classical music), I decided to listen to some of the lyrics—first to make fun of them but then one caught my ear. It’s a new song by country artist Darryl Worley called “Sounds Like Life To Me.” Click here for the lyrics. To hear a recording of the song on You Tube, click here.

The short message is: stop your whining and deal with it. In a more pastoral way, Jesus might say “do no worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself” (Matthew 6:34). Or in a more cerebral way, a Buddhist might say “don’t desire the present moment, whether good or bad, to be anything other than it is—freedom comes from embracing the current state and learning and growing from it.” Or, my nephew and niece’s preschool might say “take what you get and don’t throw a fit” (click here for my posting on this from June 15, 2009).

But there’s a certain appeal to directness of the lyrics of this song—it’s Buddhism with rough edges, for those of us that are dealing with the rough edges of life. A guy is complaining to his friend about the car falling apart, the appliances breaking down, the mother in the nursing home, the mounting bills, etc. The friend responds:

Sounds like life to me—it ain’t no fantasy

It’s just a common case of everyday reality

Man I know it’s tough but you gotta suck it up

To hear you talk it sounds like some kind of tragedy

But it just sounds like life to me.

The guy continues the whine: you don’t understand, there’s another kid on the way, I’m the only income earner, my pay got cut last week. The friend, a persistent if not terribly articulate presence, again responds:

Sounds like life to me—plain old destiny

The only thing for certain is uncertainty

You gotta hold on tight just to enjoy the ride

Get used to all this unpredictability

Just sounds like life to me.

The only thing for certain is uncertainty? Get used to all this unpredictability? This is the concept of impermanence that I’ve previously blogged about on July 19, 2009 (click here to view the posting). Sometimes you just have to look at the present moment or present state and say: it doesn’t get any better than this. The sentiment can certainly be expressed with resignation (which is not the idea), but it can also be expressed with the wisdom that you should not be attached to nor averse to the present moment. If it’s good, don’t be attached to it because it will go away. If it’s bad, don’t be averse to it because it will go away. As the great Chinese Zen master Ta-mei said, “there’s only now—when now comes don’t try to avoid it; when now goes, don’t run after it.”

So stop the drama, quit the whining, buck up, it’s just life. Country music—it’s Buddhism with rough edges.