What should conservative music be?

Maybe a little easy listening is in order

Much has been written about superstar folk singer Oliver Anthony. Despite his somewhat dubious declarations of political neutrality, his music has achieved greater popularity among conservatives than that of probably any other artist in decades.

It’s not for me. In fact, a lot of the popular tracks that seem to be sweeping through the conservative media space also aren’t really appealing to me, either. Although I’m sure some genuinely do enjoy songs like “Latinos for Trump” or “Boycott Target,” I’m skeptical that people will be listening to these songs in a year or two. Even the (much better) openly conservative country single “Try That in a Small Town” seem unlikely to ever become a “classic” that you’ll hear on the radio a decade or even a few years from now.

It’s tough spot. Conservatives obviously want to support media that’s made by aligned people. Furthermore, there’s a growing abundance of technical experts capable of producing, and marketing professionals who are able to popularize, media in conservative spaces very fast. Although some complain about these viral marketers, it’s good they exist even if some garbage gets shoveled onto the Timeline because of it. As several recently popularized out-of-print books have shown, often the obstacle to something becoming mainstream isn’t that the material in question isn’t high quality, but rather that people just don’t know about it. They’ll never encounter it in their daily lives without a bit of help. That said, there’s still a general lack of content that you know will stick around for a long time. It’s a problem.

I think a big obstacle today is that conservative-themed songs are often purely reactive, since conservatives feel like they’re on the backfoot culturally. “Try That in a Small Town” is basically about an elaborate self-defense scenario. Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” seems like a suicide ballad: You already lost and the world has passed you by.

Liberal-themed songs don’t seem to have this problem. Oftentimes older leftist songs are considered classic rock because even though they have politically-charged (albeit indirectly) lyrics, they’re very active and the beat is catchy. I’m thinking of “Ohio” by Neil Young. I didn’t really notice that it was a protest song until later in life. It works as pure entertainment (I think most people tune out lyrics in general) but it also has the message of “This is an outrage, go out and riot!” It’s energetic. You could play it over a montage during a movie and people would get hyped up.

The most active conservative-targeted song I can remember that’s genuinely catchy was the “Votar Por Donal Tron” song that came out during the 2020 election. If you look at the reaction to the song, everyone loved it. Liberals were embarrassed at how catchy it was. It’s so good. It’s stuck in my head now just having thought about it.

I don’t think all conservative music should be this song. It probably benefits substantially from the fact that the lyrics are in another language so listeners’ immersion isn’t broken by overtly discussing politics, but they definitely have the right idea. This is music that you could play at a party or just have running in the background while you do chores and feel a vague sense of ease.

All this thinking about “What should conservative music be?” reminded me of a singer that my grandfather used to love: Johnny Horton. I would spend summers with my grandparents at their house a little bit outside Jonesport, and he’d always have Horton’s music blasting while he was doing work outside. Even now I remember it.

Horton was born in Los Angeles in 1925. His family was dirt poor and travelled with the seasons between Southern California and Texas to work as migrant farm labor. Horton left high school with middling grades but was a skilled basketball player and bounced between colleges across the country on scholarship. He never graduated from any of these schools. In 1948, he travelled to Alaska to hunt for gold and would write songs to pass the time.

Returning home with nothing, he entered a talent competition and won. After this, he decided to pursue a career in the music business.

His songs moved fast. They were catchy. They’re rolling and full of energy. It was kind of a mix between country and rockabilly. Horton brags a lot. He’s often melodramatic in a funny way. It’s light-hearted music that you could play in the car.

Later in his career he focused on historical narrative songs. He called them “saga songs.” They told the story of our country. These were gimmicky but just as fun as his earlier stuff. They’re catchy. The choruses are something you can sing along to. Take for instance Horton’s song “The Battle of New Orleans.” I bet well over 90% of Americans under 40 don’t even know what the Battle of New Orleans was. This was a pretty incredible American military victory, something that people could be proud of, but today it might as well have happened in another country.

Horton released the song in 1959. The melody was set to a classic American fiddle tune, “The 8th of January” (the date of the battle), and the lyrics were written by Jimmy Driftwood, a school principal in Arkansas who wanted to popularize history among his students.

Again, this is gimmick music. It doesn’t try to be cool or anything like that, it’s almost defiant in how uncool it is, but it manages to be extremely enjoyable. This quality was greeted with huge success. “The Battle of New Orleans” won the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording.

This song wasn’t just popular in the US, it got to #1 on the charts in Australia and Canada as well. It hit 16th in the UK and 20th in Italy. It even was at 17th on the year-end charts in South Africa. It’s unlikely that anyone abroad knew or cared much about the War of 1812, but obviously they were charmed by Horton’s music. It’s hard to imagine “Rich Men North of Richmond” pulling that off.

Although Horton’s music wasn’t overtly political, it often dealt with political themes. The Civil Rights Movement is generally thought to have begun in 1954. It was not trendy for a musician to be associated with or stick up for the South at the time. In fact, there was a lot of hatred directed towards Southerners. People would make up lies about them in order to justify political changes.

As this was going on, Horton released a series of songs about Southern history. His most famous was “Johnny Reb,” which talked about the extreme bravery and resilience of Southern soldiers during the American Civil War.

The song didn’t bash the Union or try to relitigate the conflict. Rather, it sent a simple message to listeners: The people you came from were great and you should be proud of them. Even though they lost, they were heroes who must be appreciated. They didn’t die in vain. This sentiment was controversial at the time and is even more controversial today. It’s not a happy song, but it carries an underlying message of strength: “You fought all the way, Johnny Reb.”

Horton released another Civil War song in 1960 titled “The Battle of Bull Run.” It really is great. The lyrics are from the perspective of a young boy watching the first battle of the Civil War. Over the course of the song, the boy describes how everyone coming down from up North was certain that the South would be beaten into submission, and yet instead they got run back to where they came by Southerners.

The ending of the song takes on a special meaning in light of the Civil Rights movement’s bussing of Northern agitators to towns all over the South: “Don’t count your chicks before they’re hatched, or your work until it’s done. Remember, yes, remember long, the Battle of Bull Run.”

This is upbeat music. It’s fun to listen to even if you aren’t actively engaging with the lyrics. It can be appreciated on a purely surface level (and was by people who had no knowledge of the subject matter), and yet it also had the dual effect of remoralizing listeners. It tells people that they still have a chance, that those arrayed against them shouldn’t count them out too early. That’s a message people need to hear now more than ever.

Horton was killed in a car accident in 1960, when he was at the pinnacle of his success. Although he was widely beloved by musicians of the time, had numerous hits, and was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame, his music seems to have been mostly forgotten (or buried) today. I don’t think I’ve ever heard one of his songs on the radio. As conservatives try to figure “What’s next?” for themselves culturally, I think taking a cue or two from Horton would go a very long way. You need a culture full of life, that has a past and a future. At the very least, you need something that could work in a truck commercial or movie soundtrack 50 years down the line.