Country music artist Jason Aldean released the song Amarillo Sky as a part of his debut album in 2005. The song and this video earned him the 2006 Song of the Year and Video of the Year at the Academy of Country Music awards as well as video with the best direction at the CMT Music Awards the same year.
The song tells the story of a man that works his family's farm near Amarillo, Texas. The song tell of the hardships the farmer faces as he strives to keep the family farm going through a drought that is plaguing the area at the time. These hardships are also coupled with steep fuel prices and low grain prices, as the farmer worries about providing for his family, keeping the family farm, and still maintaining a hope of seeing his life's dreams come true. Throughout the song the farmer pleads with God to make his farm productive, citing his unquestioning faith and hard work on his part.
In looking at this piece of pop culture through the lens of farming I think it is very important to look at the video as well as the song. What I particularly like about the video is some other themes from my English 3630 that are brought up in the introduction of the video. The video begins with three young men talking about their family farms which have been in their families for generations, even "over 100 years". One young man talks about his aspirations of taking over the family farm after college. The other talks about leaving for a short time but coming back to the farm and the life he loves. Both of these young men mention the struggles and hardships that their farms face.
In connection with themes and topics discussed in the class over the last 3 months, I was amazed with how many ways a three minute video could connect with those themes. While listening to the song, I jotted a few of those down. To start off, most of this song tells of hard times and challenges this farmer has faced and is facing. We have talked a lot about hard times, from homesteading, to sharecroppers, and the hard times depicted in The Grapes of Wrath. God, faith, and prayer are also themes repeated over and over throughout the song. Nearly every topic we have discussed in the class have had a connection to faith and God in agriculture. One of the earliest examples was with the Sumerians, and their worship of different gods for different purposes throughout the agricultural cycles. Chaucer spoke of these themes in The Canterbury Tales, as his characters showed their connection to God and religion in different ways. Those same characters also experienced hard times in farming much as the farmer depicted in the song. Sharecroppers also experienced hard times, also relying on God and faith to bring them through.
It is also amazing how many of these people throughout history sought God's help in keeping their family farm. Sharecroppers and homesteaders are excellent examples of this, but also in medieval times and the time period of Jefferson's life, people wanted so badly to have their own farms and land to maintain and pass down to their children, as they sought to live lives of righteousness and good doing, as well as worshiping God and praying for his help.
The theme that pulls on me the most, and has through this entire course is the idea of going back to the farm. I want so badly to go back to the farm life myself. I wish my kids could experience that life that I miss, maybe without the hardships, but to gain a respect for the land, for food, and to learn a strong work ethic as well as love for family and the associated values of farm life. Hearing these young men talk about their desires to preserve the family farm, then listening to the song talk of a farmer's struggle to do so really personalizes these ideas to what we have learned in class, for me. The images of these young men working through the hot and dry conditions, coupled with the words can really help anyone understand just how hard the farm life can be. But at the end of the video, seeing the joy on the faces of the young men as they have some fun also helps one understand that even with its challenges, there is joy and reward, and that it is worth it.
I believe that this is the reason that this song is important to the theme of this course. It really does pull on the emotions, and that coupled with the several themes within the song that have been presented during the course really do paint a fine picture of modern day farm life. I think a lot of people would wonder why if farming is so hard would people be drawn to it? This video does an excellent job of presenting those values and the pride associated with the hard farm life, which are important themes we have been taught throughout the class.
Perhaps if more people saw this video they would also understand the importance of agriculture in our society, and that external forces that are not caused by nature, such as high fuel prices, have a great impact on food production and the families of those who produce it.
Works Cited:
JasonAldeanVEVO. "Jason Aldean - Amarillo Sky." YouTube. YouTube, 25 Oct. 2009. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.
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