[marone]

I really do not understand this and it has begun to bother me more the past few years. I live outside of my native country and people all over the world sing English language songs with more or less a non-accent.

Abba, Psy, Tata, Celine Dion, Aqua, Right Said Fred - all have another language besides English as their first language yet when they sing they sound neutral.

Country artists do not do this and this affectation sounds fake and forced to me, an obvious attempt to separate themselves from other types of music that use the Dmaj, Cmaj, Gmaj, Emaj, Amaj, Amin, Dmin, Emin chords. IOW it's a blatant attempt to distance themselves from 'city slickers'.

I was watching the Waylon Jennings live version of Drift Away and I simply don't get it. I can sing fairly well and I just sing...a neutral accent.

When I sing in English, French or Chinese. To sing 'country' I must force myself to affect an accent. This is very fake and forced.

Someone explain this to me because as someone who has owned ten's of thousands of lp's and CD's and mp3's I simply see no reason for this affection to exist.

 

[manbear]

The accent definitely is fake and forced. I suppose it appeals to the people who like that kind of music. Just listen to the lyrics -- it's all about a sense of rural/ traditional "identity." I use quotes because IMO that identity is a mostly imaginary construction. I've lived in rural areas in the American south for most of my life, and few people that listen to country are actually the bikers / truckers / cowboys in bars or whatever that the songs are about. 

 

[mutabor]

I thought that country singers sing in heavy southern accent ( Texas comes to mind) and that all country singers come from the South. No?

 

[Muinarc]

I thought that country singers sing in heavy southern accent ( Texas comes to mind) and that all country singers come from the South. No?

 


Like Keith Urban?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kieth_urban

 

[manbear]

The issue is that even if you speak with a heavy southern accent, it should not affect your singing much unless you deliberately try to sing with an accent. They sing with an accent because they want to, not because they can't help it. 

 

[mutabor]

  The issue is that even if you speak with a heavy southern accent, it should not affect your singing much unless you deliberately try to sing with an accent. They sing with an accent because they want to, not because they can't help it. 

 
Oh, it's like white rappers force themselves to sing like black people?

 

[Radioking59]

I'm guessing that's what Nashville wants, so that's why they do it. It's obvious that most of today's country artists don't care about writing or singing good songs. They are just doing what it takes to get somewhere in today's crappy world of pop country.

As for the the older artists like Waylon, I'm guessing some of it goes back to Hank Williams. He influenced every country artist since and he sang with a southern twang.

 

[Jupiterknight]

I really do not understand this and it has begun to bother me more the past few years. I live outside of my native country and people all over the world sing English language songs with more or less a non-accent.

Abba, Psy, Tata, Celine Dion, Aqua, Right Said Fred - all have another language besides English as their first language yet when they sing they sound neutral.

Country artists do not do this and this affectation sounds fake and forced to me, an obvious attempt to separate themselves from other types of music that use the Dmaj, Cmaj, Gmaj, Emaj, Amaj, Amin, Dmin, Emin chords. IOW it's a blatant attempt to distance themselves from 'city slickers'.

I was watching the Waylon Jennings live version of Drift Away and I simply don't get it. I can sing fairly well and I just sing...a neutral accent.

When I sing in English, French or Chinese. To sing 'country' I must force myself to affect an accent. This is very fake and forced.

Someone explain this to me because as someone who has owned ten's of thousands of lp's and CD's and mp3's I simply see no reason for this affection to exist.

 
I overall think it is a very weird question but why not.. Two of the artist that you pointed out, ABBA and Aqua both sings with a clear Scandinavian accent. Swedish and Danish, I know, since I speak both languages and I hear/recognize their accent it very well. Please PM me if you don't believe me.. Anyhow, the reason might also be that these two particular pop bands were trying too achieve world wide fame/recognition and otherwise they would have song in their Swedish/Danish language, which they actually did at one point or another.  
 
Maybe the US country artists just wanted to sing the way they sounded as when speaking and didn't care much about the rest of the world and they did quite well by doing so. Why should they do it any differently?
 
Didn't British bands like the Jam/Clash/Blur/Oasis and many others use their local British accent, certainly not neutral English, whatever that is..

 

[Hijodelbrx]

....a nonsensical subject followed by a few really dumb statements. The one by the guy who claims to have lived down south and knows for a fact that southern accents are all fake should get the troll award of the year! The premise of the thread is ludicrous, here, let's flip it around a bit, how about a thread ripping the Stones music due to having a Brit that's unquestionably using a 'fake' accent to try to sound like a black bluesman! Ridiculous! The OP claims to own '10's of thousands of songs. To own so much and still be so close-minded is sad. It's like owning 10,000 books but not having comprehension skills! Sorry but this thread feels like it's bordering on racism, it's THAT ignorant!

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

It's a legit question, I wonder it myself. It's pretty much the same as asking what makes rock and country music different. The only distinguishable difference IMO is the way the words are sang with an accent. So come the question why sing with such a thick accent? The answer is so simple; that's how they were brought up so that's how they speak and pronounce their english.

 

[marone]

....a nonsensical subject followed by a few really dumb statements. The one by the guy who claims to have lived down south and knows for a fact that southern accents are all fake should get the troll award of the year! The premise of the thread is ludicrous, here, let's flip it around a bit, how about a thread ripping the Stones music due to having a Brit that's unquestionably using a 'fake' accent to try to sound like a black bluesman! Ridiculous! The OP claims to own '10's of thousands of songs. To own so much and still be so close-minded is sad. It's like owning 10,000 books but not having comprehension skills! Sorry but this thread feels like it's bordering on racism, it's THAT ignorant!

The criticism is valid and you did not respond to the criticism, you insulted the poster.

It is reasonable to ask why Country artists sing with an accent when the entire rest of the English singing world does not.

If Psy sings in a non-accent, they why to C&W artists sing with one?

It's a legitimate question.

 

[manbear]

The one by the guy who claims to have lived down south and knows for a fact that southern accents are all fake should get the troll award of the year! 

LOL

If you think that's what I said, you clearly can't read. The speaking accent is obviously genuine. It's the singing accent that's fake. The act of singing naturally diminishes accents -- to sing with a massive country twang, you have to be deliberately trying. Go to a church in the south and listen to the choir -- even if the choir members speak with an accent, they don't sing hymns like country stars. 
 

 

[R_burke]

Why does any commercial musician do anything - $$$$  If it sells they continue to do it, if it doesn't they try something different until they find what does sell.  Kinda like a writer who finds the "formula" and the rest of their books follow the same path.