Welcome to the Future

In true Southern fashion, I think I’ll be polite and refrain from comment on Usher and his Braves cap collection. Not a word.

I’d like to focus on Brad Paisley’s Welcome to the Future, a song which really reflects on the transformations of the United States, and in particular, the South, over many decades. He brings up so many great images, from childhood recollections that really bring out how far technology has progressed (and how technology can make you feel really dated), to other experiences which highlight the breaking down of cultural boundaries, noting WWII and Japan in particular.

I feel like this song is particularly relevant to the South, as Southerners often gets a bad rap, IMHO, for being dumb rednecks, generally. This type of a message coming from a Country music singer is at the least, a statement.

The one thing about this song that really bugs me, though, is when he says, “Wake up Martin Luther.” Clearly, he’s referring to Martin Luther King, Jr., but his effort to make that particular passage rhyme makes me grit my teeth, because he’s technically calling out the M.L. of the Protestant Reformation, rather than MLK, Jr. We get the point, though.