George Jones passed away today. By common consent, his 1980 song, He Stopped Loving Her Today is the greatest country record of all time. A lot of folks find it hard to like. Too maudlin? That kind of country music is less common now, although Whiskey Lullaby by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss is very much an updated version. Bluegrass stations still play sad and tragic “plum pitifuls.”
Therapeutic culture says, “get over it.” Modern pop favors angry breakup songs over lost love laments. Times have changed, but maybe less than our songs now admit. Jones and his world will live on.