Now I know that I've taken too many English classes. I was listening to the radio yesterday - 97.1 FM - Jay & Michelle. They're mildly amusing. I've tried listening to NPR, but it just puts me to sleep, which is not a good thing when I drive all day. So my daily ritual is usually Drew & Mike until they're done - usually around 11:00. Then Jay & Michelle, but I flip back and forth between them and Rush Limbaugh...you know - so I can get the "truth" haha. Then, at 2:00, Dave Ramsey is on. He's a financial guy...I like listening to him. I learn a lot about everything financial. And I switch back and forth between him and music for rest of the day usually.

But anyways...back to my story. Jay & Michelle were talking about country music. They had printed off some lyrics and they were reading them and makin fun of them. Any song, without the music, usually just sounds weird - unless it's Hootie. But they were talking about how stupid the lyrics were - particularly the songs "John Deere Green" and "That ain't my truck."

Here's where my English classes came in. I had to call in and defend country music. I don't know why. But with my extensive English background, I could see the imagery and symbolism in these songs. So I called and got on the air. I told them they were making fun of some of the greatest lyrical geniuses of our time. I had to "take them to school." I was being completely sarcastic, of course. While country music is great for its storytelling and exaltation of everyday experiences, I think maybe only 10% of it has a true, deeper meaning that what's on the surface. Alot of it is just fun or cheesy or whatever...but it's nice because you don't have to think about it so much.

I explained how the lyricist in "John Deere Green" used the colors green and red to express the emotions he was trying to convey. I explained that the songs were a lot deeper than they thought. I would've went on to explain that the hillbilly in the song climbed to the top of the water tower to paint "Billy Bob loves Charlene" because water is the universal symbol for life and "Charlene" is what gave "Billy Bob" life. But they cut my off. They said if the writer of this song heard me say this, he'd probably stab me in the eye.

I've taken too many English classes. Too much analyzing stories and ideas and symbols and stuff. Now what I've been doing is, without realizing it, picking out symbols in my life. As an example: I just learned to drive a stick shift in the last few months. Just out of nowhere, I started thinking, "Maybe the stick shift is symbolic of my life. Maybe because I've been taking more control of my life instead of letting things just happen. I control what happens in my truck, just like my life." My last truck had a as leak. I thought this was symbolic of how the energy is slowly being drained out of me - the gas being the energy and the tank being my soul or whatever. Did I wear my red shirt today because I'm angry? Or did I wear my blue one yesterday because I'm feeling sad? I'm a little looney.

So that's what English has done to me - messed me up for life. Everytime I hear a song or watch a movie or anything like that, I always look for the symbols - the light, the dark, the shadows...anything. I can't just sit back and enjoy anything anymore. Steve Martin, who has a Ph.D. in philosophy, said that they "teach you just enough in philosophy to screw you up for the rest of your life." But I think that's true of English, too. And then combine that with a bunch of Psychology classes. No wonder I'm so messed up in the head