Country Music Has Long Been Political.

The article examines the controversy surrounding country singer Zach Bryan's new song "Bad News," situating it within the broader historical context of country music's political evolution. It highlights that country music and its audience have not always been predominantly conservative; throughout the 20th century, the genre supported liberal politicians and progressive causes, including Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal and prison reform advocated by Johnny Cash. The conservative alignment of country music emerged notably in the 1970s through Richard Nixon's political strategy, which leveraged the genre to appeal to his "silent majority" of white working-class voters. The article also discusses how liberal critics' dismissive attitudes toward country music in that era contributed to political polarization, emphasizing that country music remains politically diverse and capable of expressing a wide range of social perspectives.