"Sometimes you don't realize how true country songs are until you find yourself in the middle of one."

"Well, my woman stayed true, and I'm sober..."

—Greg Proops, Whose Line Is It Anyway? (unlikely country songs)

"You're not supposed to say the word 'cancer' in a song.

And tellin' folks Jesus is the answer can rub 'em wrong.

It ain't hip to sing about tractors, trucks, little towns, and Mama, yeah that might be true.

But this is country music, and we do."

—Brad Paisley, "This is Country Music"

Ah, country music. The American answer to Folk Music that is mostly associated with places like Kansas and men wearing cowboy attire unironically. Despite its widespread notoriety, country music is not bad, as proved by many musicians, and is in fact by some measures the most listened-to genre of music in the United States.

Country music as a genre of its own originated in the 1920s in the United States, primarily played on string instruments, most notably the guitar, fiddle and banjo. It has its roots in the folk ballads of the Appalachian Mountains, which in turn descended from the various folk traditions of the British Isles. Depending on whom you ask, the offshoot genre of bluegrass might be referred to as "good country music". Modern mainstream country has progressed through a "Nashville sound" in the 1970s, which layered the string sections on heavily, and a 1980s pop-heavy "Urban Cowboy" sound inspired by the film Urban Cowboy, followed by a more traditional wave in the 1990s inspired by honky-tonk music. Modern mainstream country music has become a melting pot, ranging from more traditional acts such as George Strait and Alan Jackson to pop acts such as Carrie Underwood, and in-betweens such as Brad Paisley. Starting in the 1990s, a large number of pop and rock acts, ranging from Bon Jovi and Jewel to Kid Rock and the Eagles, crossed over to country with varying degrees of success. The crossover acts, in particular Taylor Swift, are often among the most divisive in the fanbase.

On that note, the fanbase is stereotyped as being right-wing Boisterous Bruisers who personify the Deep South of Eagle Land. While such an portrayal is two-dimensional and uneducated, one must remember k.d. lang was blacklisted for being outspokenly pro-vegetarian (she didn't come out as a lesbian until after she felt she no longer had a country fanbase to alienate). And yet the Dixie Chicks were surprised when their fans turned on them after bad-mouthing George W. Bush (granted, the death threats were a bit much).

"Alternative Country" (sometimes abbreviated as "Alt-Country") is a loosely defined term that means, more or less, the attitude of Alternative Rock with a country sound, pioneered by folk and punk influenced singer/songwriters like Lyle Lovett in the mid 1980's. This came to prominence in The Nineties, with artists like Steve Earle and Lucinda Williams and bands such as Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, and Wilco (who quickly moved into more general Alternative Rock). There has traditionally been very little overlap between the fandoms of regular country and alternative country, with the latter being treated more as a subgenre of Rock than of Country.

Notable country musicians:

Ryan Adams: An alt-country musician (mostly), he's experimented with other genres most notably indie rock and metal. He's married to former teen pop star Mandy Moore.
Alabama: Most popular band in the genre; most #1 hits for any country band. Named Artist of the Decade for the '80s."
Jason Aldean: A-list country singer known for being one of the more rock-oriented acts in the genre.
Dierks Bentley
Clint Black
Garth Brooks: One of the best-selling acts in any genre, explosively popular throughout the 90s only to retire abruptly in 2001. Often credited or blamed with reintroducing pop influences to country music.*
An AV Club retrospective article pointed out that this made him a more divisive figure than a contemporary band who wrote explicit songs, put naked babies on their album cover and worked with Steve Albini.
]] Named Artist of the decade for the '90s.
Brooks & Dunn: Most popular duo in the genre, most #1 hits for any country duo.
Zac Brown Band
Jimmy Buffett: More thought of as a pop singer, but much of his fanbase overlaps with country music.
Glen Campbell
Johnny Cash
Kenny Chesney
Dixie Chicks: One of the most popular (and controversial) all-female acts in the genre.
David Allan Coe: A key figure in the decidedly un-mainstream "Outlaw Country" movement of the 70s. Recorded a couple of very dirty albums back in the day. At the behest of Shel Silverstein, no less.
Lefty Frizzell: Perhaps the most influential country artist ever along with Hank Williams.
Merle Haggard: Legend who is one of the most prolific and esteemed singer-songwriters in country music history.
Faith Hill
Alan Jackson: Consistently acclaimed singer-songwriter who is known for his self-described simple songs, "everyman" disposition, and countless well-received recordings.
Waylon Jennings: One of the most respected country musicians ever, and a chief member of the outlaw movement of the 1970s.
George Jones: Known as "the greatest living country singer," and often regarded as the genre's greatest vocalist.
The Judds: Second most-popular country music duo (they were tops until Brooks & Dunn trumped them).
Toby Keith: One of the genre's more politically-oriented acts.
Kris Kristofferson: Known for writing songs made famous by other people ("Me and Bobby Mc Gee" was popularised by Janis Joplin), but also well-regarded in his own right.
Lady Antebellum
Miranda Lambert
Lyle Lovett: The trope maker of Alternative Country and, for a while, one of the few alternative country acts to get attention on country radio. Nowadays, you're likely to find his music playing on an Adult Alternative station rather than your local country station.
Loretta Lynn: Legend who is arguably the most important female country artist. Called the "First Lady of Country Music", a title that has never been granted to anyone else. Named "Artist of the Decade" for the '70s.
Reba McEntire: Most Top 10 country hits for any female singer, also very popular as an actress. When people talk about "the Queen of Country," it's her - unless it's Dolly Parton *
or Kitty Wells
.
Tim McGraw: Highly successful commercially; made independent Curb Records a driving force in the country industry.
Ronnie Milsap: Prolific 70s and 80s country-pop singer, best known for being one of the only blind musicians in the genre.
Willie Nelson: Venerable singer-songwriter who has written or recorded numerous classic songs. Also known for being ridiculously prolific in recent years and collaborating with just about every musician in existence.
The Oak Ridge Boys: A gospel group dating from the 1940s, The Oaks got retooled into a country-pop band following a membership change in the 1970s.
Brad Paisley
Dolly Parton: Like Reba, she is known almost as much for her acting as for her singing.*
And she's almost as much for both of those as for her large...tracts of land
.]]
Charley Pride: Most popular black artist in the genre by far.
Rascal Flatts
Marty Robbins Named "Artist of the Decade" for the '60s.
Kenny Rogers
Blake Shelton
The Statler Brothers
Ray Stevens: Popular novelty artist.
George Strait: Most #1 hits of any artist (44 on Billboard, 56 on all charts). Known for his extraordinary longevity, he's been a commercial A-lister for almost thirty years with no signs of slowing down. Named Artist of the Decade for The Aughts.
Sugarland: The genre's current hottest duo.
Taylor Swift: Insanely popular among teenagers.
Randy Travis: Highly regarded singer-songwriter who achieved his greatest commercial success during the neotraditional movement of the late 1980s of which he was a key component. Mostly recorded gospel music in the 2000s.
Shania Twain: One of the biggest crossover successes of the 1990s.
Conway Twitty: Known for his rock influences and overt sexual themes.
Carrie Underwood: By far, the most successful American Idol winner in terms of commercial and chart success.
Keith Urban: A little bit of Australian flavor on the charts.
Kitty Wells: Oldest living member of Country Music Hall of Fame at 92 and the first female country music star.
Hank Williams: A legend whose career was cut far too short, arguably the greatest and most influential country musician.
Hank Williams, Jr.: Son of the legendary Hank Williams, but managed to craft a substantial career and identity of his own. One of the leading lights of the late 70's "outlaw country" genre.
Hank Williams III: Grandson of Hank Williams and son of Jr., he's carved out a unique career different from both his grandfather and father and is one of the more popular alternative country artists today, largely influenced by Punk Rock, Heavy Metal and the neotraditional country scene. (His guitar case bears Woody Guthrie's famous "This Machine Kills Fascists" sticker, fairly clearly indicating his stance vis-a-vis the stereotypical country fanbase).
Lucinda Williams: One of the more popular alternative country singer-songwriters. Daughter of the poet Miller Williams; of no relation to the three Hanks.
Chely Wright: Most famous nowadays for being the only openly gay country star. *
While k.d. lang came out years before her, she had already left the genre by the time she did so; see the top of the page.
Dwight Yoakam: Another notable early Alternative Country musician, Yoakam is a Honky-tonk singer who brought back his genre until it died yet again.

Tropes present

Age Progression Song: Quite a few, most often a father watching his daughter grow up.
Americans Hate Tingle: As the description at the top of this page shows, the popularity of country music is very regional. New York City, for example, does not have any country stations on the FM dial, despite it being the largest radio market in America and country being, by some measures, the most popular genre of music in America. In the North, being a fan of country music carries many of the same connotations as being a fan of NASCAR or professional wrestling. Outside America, the only places that can be said to have significant country fandoms are Canada and Australia — and both those places have frontier histories and large rural areas not unlike those found in America. It also doesn't hurt that both have mainstream artists that regularly top the charts...
Anti-Love Song: Several.
Berserk Button: Go ahead, use the term "country and western" around a true fan of the genre.
- For those not in the know, the term "country and western" hasn't been used to describe country music for several decades, and is never used unironically today. While it is acceptable to describe an actual western-flavored artist like Marty Robbins or Gene Autry as "country and western", referring to country music generally in this way instantly identifies oneself as a non-fan.
  - Especially since "country and western" borders on an Artifact Title anyway. Country music's biggest concentration is in the American Southeast.
Black Sheep Hit: Occasionally, a non-country act will manage a major country hit, sometimes as a duet with a country artist. Tom Jones, Bon Jovi, Julio Iglesias, Debby Boone, Ray Charles and Nat "King" Cole are but a few examples.
Boy Band: Would you believe it? Not only was Rascal Flatts' debut album somewhat boy-band-ish, two actual country music boy bands were attempted: South 65 and Marshall Dyllon. Both failed miserably.
Breakup Song: Countless. Country music is one of the Trope Makers.
Cheap Heat: If a song mentions the radio in any way, expect at least one station to play an edited version where the radio station in question is mentioned (for instance, "Someday you'll turn your radio on" in Taylor Swift's "Tim McGraw" was changed to "Someday you'll turn [name of station] on"). Place names in songs often get changed whenever an artist performs live, as well.
Common Time: Many songs will use two bars of 4/4 followed by a bar of 2/4 and another 4/4 bar, effectively creating one stanza in 14/4. Randy Travis' "If I Didn't Have You" and Trent Tomlinson's "Just Might Have Her Radio On" are two examples.
Covered Up: See that page for a large list of examples from this genre. Ricky Van Shelton is particularly known for his covers.
Dead Unicorn Trope: It's frequently joked that dogs are a standard and overused topic in country music, but how many country songs squarely about dogs can you actually name? Not to say a few don't exist ("Ol' Red" by Blake Shelton), but they're not exactly a dime a dozen. Little-known singer James Bonamy supposedly had his first single withdrawn because his label believed in this dead unicorn. Trucks are also a topic that are considered stereotypical in country music, while very few truck songs ("Pickup Man") actually do exist.
- Of course, if you expand the trucks from four wheels to Eighteen Wheels (And a Dozen Roses), you get a lot more truck songs ("Convoy", "Six Days on the Road", "Roll On", etc.)
The Drifter: Especially when cowboys are concerned. Hell, Toby Keith's "Should Have Been a Cowboy" glorifies this in its first verse. Others like George Strait put The Drifter staple into a more solemn perspective, however, such as in "Cowboy Rides Away" where after a relationship has ended, the narrator feels that it's time that, well...
Drowning My Sorrows: A staple of the genre.
Dual Meaning Chorus: One of the most common song structures in country music, especially during the early-mid 90s. While many acclaimed songs have used this formula, today it's sometimes viewed as a cliched songwriting device if the song isn't particularly original, with the Words of Great Importance being applied to three different life scenarios.
Early Installment Weirdness: Many artists have dramatically changed their sound over time, either willfully through natural artistic growth or forced by means of Executive Meddling to keep up with current commercial trends.
Fiery Redhead: Reba McEntire, Wynonna Judd, Jo Dee Messina.
Follow the Leader: In The Eighties, George Strait re-popularized the cowboy hat for country music artists. Over time, more and more male singers (and at least one female, Terri Clark) began donning cowboy hats to capitalize on this image, leading to the term "hat act." Once the market became increasingly flooded with hat acts in The Nineties, "hat act" came to be a derogatory term, leading to most artists losing the hats. Except, of course, for George Strait.
Foot Focus:
- Deana Carter is known to perform barefoot.
- Dixie Chicks included foot shots on the liner notes to Fly...
- ...as did Taylor Swift on her debut album.
Garfunkel:
- Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn, who has only ever sung lead on six of the duo's 50 singles (his last turn on lead was 1999's "South of Santa Fe," the duo's lowest-charting single) and is all but drowned out on the 44 others. The albums typically split lead vocal duties about 60/40 in Ronnie's favor, and the two wrote about the same amount of songs on each album, although rarely in collaboration: Kix usually wrote with Bob DiPiero, and Ronnie with Craig Wiseman or Terry McBride.
- Same with Kristian Bush of Sugarland, who at least sort of compensates by actually playing guitar and mandolin on the albums, and co-writing most of the songs with lead singer Jennifer Nettles. When Kristen Hall was a member, she was pretty much the second Garfunkel of the group, doing little more than singing a tiny bit of backing vocals and co-writing (although she wrote "Just Might (Make Me Believe") herself).
- Lady Antebellum both plays this trope straight and averts it. Most of their songs trade lead vocals between Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott, with barely-audible backing vocals from Dave Haywood. Again, Dave at least pulls some weight by playing piano and guitar, and co-writing almost everything with the other two members.
Girl Group: Subverted with most of the major all-female acts. The Judds, composed of Naomi Judd and her daughter Wynonna, was extremely popular in the eighties, splitting up in 1991 because Naomi contracted hepatitis and Wynonna had wanted to go solo anyway. Also, the Dixie Chicks was very popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Both examples made their mark by mixing traditional country and bluegrass with mainstream country-pop, and relying more on releasing quality material than on being attractive.
- SHeDAISY was a bit closer to a true girl group with its attractive looks and pop sheen, but still had sharp songwriting (mostly courtesy of Kristyn Osborn, one of the three sisters that comprises the trio). Perhaps the closest examples of true girl groups were the short-lived Girls Next Door and 3 of Hearts, from the 1980s and 2000s respectively.
A Good Name For A Country Band:
- The Statler Brothers named themselves for a brand of tissue. There are only two brothers in the group, and no-one with the last name Statler.
- Similarly, indie-country band 5 Chinese Brothers was not a quintet, not Chinese and not brothers.
- Ryan Shupe & the RubberBand, because the lead singer wanted a name that conveyed elasticity. Also a Stealth Pun.
- Lady Antebellum, named after the members posed behind a pre-Civil War mansion during an early publicity photo shoot.
- Sawyer Brown. No, none of the guys in the band is named that.
  - Inverted with Easton Corbin, who sounds more like a duo than a solo act.
- Diamond Rio, who named itself after a model of truck. And then spelled it wrong.
- Cole Deggs & the Lonesome. No, it's not "Cold Eggs."
- Schuyler, Knobloch and Overstreet (first names: Thom, Fred and Paul) decided that its name was too unwieldy, so they became S-K-O after their first single. Later on, Paul Overstreet was replaced with Craig Bickhardt, and they recorded one album as S-K-B.
- Love and Theft, named for the Bob Dylan album.
- Dixie Chicks, named for the Little Feat song "Dixie Chicken."
- Sweethearts of the Rodeo, named for the Byrds album Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Lampshaded in the Sweethearts' album Buffalo Zone, whose cover art pastiched that of the Byrds album in question.
- The Kentucky Headhunters took its name from the word "headchopping", a term that blues musician Muddy Waters used when he had replaced another gig. After finding other bands already were called The Headhunters, they added "Kentucky" to the name. The band was first known as "Itchy Brother", which as random as it sounds, was a character on the cartoon King Leonardo And His Short Subjects.
- The Notorious Cherry Bombs, a side project by Rodney Crowell, Vince Gill and some members of Crowell's former backing band, The Cherry Bombs. "Notorious" was added due to a copyright claim by a member who refused to join the project.
- Pinmonkey, taken from a quote in a Simpsons episode.
- SHeDAISY is adapted from a Navajo word meaning "my little sister."
Grief Song: Several.
Heavy Meta: Hundreds of examples. "Country Music Is Here to Stay" by Ferlin Husky (as his alter ego Simon Crum), "How To Be a Country Star" by The Statler Brothers, "Country Is" by Tom T. Hall, "Young Country" by Hank Williams Jr, "Mountain Music" by Alabama, "Sweet Country Music" by Atlanta, and most famously, David Allan Coe's "You Never Even Called Me by My Name."
- Ironically, "You Never Even Called Me by My Name" was actually written by Steve Goodman and John Prine (both folk singers) as a parody of country music. The song even breaks the fourth wall before the final verse, wherein Coe stops to say that Goodman considered it the "perfect country and western song" but Coe disagreed, because it didn't mention mama, trucks, trains, prison or getting drunk. The final verse that Goodman added is a viciously over-the-top satire of those (perceived or real) country music tropes, and it is a riot:
  Well, I was drunk the day my mom got out of prison
  And I went to pick her up in the rain
  But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck
  She got runned over by a damned ol' train
- More recent examples: "Three Minute Positive Not Too Country Up-Tempo Love Song" and "The Talkin' Song Repair Blues" by Alan Jackson, "Murder on Music Row" by Larry Cordle (covered by Jackson and George Strait), and (maybe) "Songs About Rain" by Gary Allan.
  - Dale Watson's "I Hate These Songs" is Exactly What It Says on the Tin: a list of sad country songs he "hates" because they reflect on his life.
- Even Rascal Flatts gets in on the action with "Backwards", which is basically a three minute musical version of the old joke, "What do you get when you play a country song backwards? You get your house back, your car back, your dog back..."
List Song: Several, with "I've Been Everywhere" being a great example. A more recent one is "Southern Voice" by Tim McGraw and countless other songs that list off various stock Southern imagery (e.g. "She's Country," "That's How Country Boys Roll," "Small Town USA," etc.). Indeed, in recent years the List Song has been increasingly derided for being overused in mainstream country.
Long Runner Line Up: The Statler Brothers (twice), The Oak Ridge Boys (twice with the same lineup).
Misaimed Fandom: Alan Jackson's 1994 hit song "Gone Country" provided a satirical commentary on the state of country music, describing three pop/folk musicians who, after finding their careers to be waning, decide to feign being country in order to try their hand in the then-booming country music industry. However, most people don't pick up on this (or only listen to the chorus), and interpret the song to be a fun country pride song, to such a point that it has become a strangely popular choice for radio stations to play as their first song after changing to a country format.
Misattributed Song: Cledus T. Judd; many of his songs are falsely attributed to "Weird Al" Yankovic (you know, because Weird Al is the only person on the planet who does parody songs), Rodney Carrington or Tim Wilson. Similarly, many works by Rodney or Tim are misattributed to the other, as both of them are singer-songwriter-comedians whose work regularly appears on the Bob and Tom Show. (Rule of thumb: Rodney's the better singer.)
- Similarly, Bill Engvall's "Here's your sign" jokes have been misattributed to Jeff Foxworthy, and Foxworthy's own "Redneck 12 Days of Christmas" has been credited to almost everyone but him...except the writer, Tim Wilson, who also sings it. (Understandable, since Foxworthy is not typically a singer.)
Not so Different: Country and Rap are often contrasted against each other, but look at the comparisons. Both genres are songs from a particular subculture that feels marginalized and stereotyped, singing about drinking, guns, and women and how life's like "out there." And, once one realizes these similarities, one similarly discovers the Fridge Brilliance behind country-rap artists such as Cowboy Troy and Colt Ford.
One Hit Wonder:
- An egregious example is Heartland, whose "I Loved Her First" made Heartland only the second country band to send a debut single to #1, and the first act to chart a Top 40 hit for the entire label. None of the band's other singles made it higher than #53, and Heartland left its label with surprising speed.
- Anita Cochran can also claim that her only #1 ("What If I Said," a duet with Steve Wariner) is also her only Top 40 song.
- The Davis Sisters also had only one hit, the #1 "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know." Justified in their case, as Betty Jack Davis died in a car crash, and Skeeter Davis (who was actually unrelated; Davis was only her stage name) went on to have several solo hits.
- Exile is a notable aversion. Had Exile stopped after their 1970s pop hit "Kiss You All Over," it would easily have been one. Instead, the band switched its focus from pop-rock to country (losing a couple members in the process, including Mark Gray, who had a string of country hits in the mid 1980s) and had a very long string of #1 hits in the 1980s.
- "Butterfly Kisses" made a one-hit wonder out of two acts in 1997: Bob Carlisle and the Raybon Brothers. Bob's version was not allowed to chart on the Hot 100 (which, at the time, did not count songs that did not have a physical single release), so the Raybon Brothers' version filled the void there. Both versions were only modest country hits, with Bob's reaching #45 and the Raybons' reaching #36; a third version, by Jeff Carson, peaked at #66 amid all this. Carlisle never charted again, and the Raybon Brothers only managed a #64 after their version, although Marty Raybon had several hits in the band Shenandoah before that point.
- Many more artists have averted this trope by having only one major pop hit, but several country hits. For instance, Garth Brooks' only Top 40 hit was "Lost in You," released under the pseudonym Chris Gaines; on the country side of the spectrum, he has thirteen #1 hits and several more Top 10s. This discrepancy, as mentioned above, was largely because the Hot 100 charts did not allow airplay-only singles until 1998.
- Billy Ray Cyrus is a subversion. Indeed, "Achy Breaky Heart" is his only #1 hit on Billboard, and its success compared to his much smaller (yet not forgettable) hits gives the false impression that he is indeed a one-hit wonder. He has had several Top Ten hits, as well as several more #1 hits on the U.S. Radio & Records and Canadian RPM charts.
One Mario Limit: The last name hardly seems necessary with a great deal of country singers. It's hard to imagine another Waylon, Willie, Garth, Reba, Wynonna, etc. Reba, in particular, is at the point in her career where, there are so few other Rebas anywhere, she named her own sitcom Reba and is usually listed as just "Reba" on the music charts.
- On the other hand, MCA tried to get George Strait to change his name to avoid potential confusion with George Jones. He refused.
- Played straight and subverted with Garth Brooks. One singer whose real name was Doug Brooks chose to record as Doug Stone instead so as to avoid confusion with Garth. Brooks & Dunn, on the other hand...
Perma Stubble: Brad Paisley is one of several examples of this trope. Nearly every male in country music has some form of facial hair, with this and the goatee (one example: Ronnie Dunn) tied for the most common type.
Power Ballad: Almost everything Rascal Flatts has put out since "What Hurts the Most." Also most of Lonestar's career from "Amazed" onward. Both bands also became increasingly melodramatic, and both were brought to this sound by way of Dann Huff (who had previously led a Hair Metal band at the tail-end of that genre's success).
Protest Song: Several in the 1970s, of course, such as "Okie from Muskogee." "Shuttin' Detroit Down" by John Rich is a more recent example.
- While not political in nature, numerous protest songs have been written that criticize the Nashville establishment. Perhaps the most well-known example is the CMA Song of the Year-winning "Murder on Music Row," written by Larry Cordle and famously recorded as a duet by Alan Jackson and George Strait.
Public Medium Ignorance: Tell certain people that you love country music and they're liable to look at you like you've grown a second head. Brace for Hee Haw, Deliverance or Achy Breaky Heart jokes. Because musical genres are highly segmented on the radio, this is at least partly caused by Pop Culture Isolation.
Real Life Writes the Plot: Ministry's Al Jourgensen is a huge fan of 1950-1960's era country, but not so much the "new" country. As he explained in a Guitar World interview:
Jourgensen: When those guys sing about their wife leaving them, their house burning down, their dog dying and their truck not starting...that shit happened, man!
Record Producer: Paul Worley, Dann Huff and Tony Brown are three of the most prolific. The first two are also very well-known session guitarists, and Brown used to be a prominent session keyboardist.
Slice of Life: Many songs can qualify as this through their recollections of family life.
Stock Aesop: Several of these exist in the genre, especially in mainstream country hits, e.g. family is the most important thing, appreciate what you have, All That Glitters, The Power of Love, etc.
Stock Character: Country music has its fair share due to its emphasis on storytelling. One infamous example is the sagacious old man in a bar who imparts wisdom on the narrator, used by artists as diverse as Vern Gosdin, Kenny Chesney, Billy Currington and Joe Diffie.
Stuffy Old Songs About The Buttocks: "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" was the Trope Maker for country music, followed by other imitators such as "That Thang." Justin Moore's "Back That Thing Up" is a subversion, in that it's actually about backing up a truck — all of the innuendo goes out the window with the line "Ain't no time to play today, no rollin' in the hay."
Three Chords and the Truth: Very, very many country songs use only three chords, especially in the "outlaw country" genre pioneered by the likes of Waylon Jennings.