John Deere Green

Or something in between, as in On the Other Hand.

When class comes up, it isn't handled cheaply by broad generalities, but with nuance through specific details, as in John Deere Green and Cadillac Style and Some Girls Do, Friends in Low Places, I'll Think of a Reason Later, and Boot Scootin' Boogie.

Lyrically, country music just hits closer to home than most other genres, and it's the specific details and nuance that makes it feel grounded in real life as it does that.

And often, the lyrical depth is tied to a strong sense of place, in a genre that's always been obsessed with the idea of roots and tradition.

But in the 80s and 90s, those streams aligned just right.

The rurality was there without being combative, as it would become in bro country.

I've talked a lot about that in the John Deere Green episode, if you want to go back and give that one a listen.

But to go back to the big question, a key ingredient is lyrical depth, supremely and absolutely.