I was always jetting around OU, but somehow always showed up in the nick of time for class.
Once a creative writing professor had the seat moved that I normally plopped down in.
Confused I hurried to find a new seat before class started.
Just like in the movie “Carrie,” they all laughed at me.
That story had nothing to do with Garth, who will play the Schottenstein Center at Ohio State University on Saturday, April 23, at 7 p.m.
So back to how Garth changed my life…
I stopped and picked up the shimmering item to discover it was The Hits, Garth's Dec. 13, 1994 release, on CD.
I almost tossed it back like a bad fish.
At that point, beyond a few classics – Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Kenny Rogers, Tammy Wynette, etc. – I didn’t give much of a care about country music or its artists.
It wasn't black music, and I wasn't supposed to like it.
There was something about this CD. First there was the cover: Garth in red, white and blue.
I put the CD in my book bag and kept on truckin’.
It wasn’t like I was opposed to music that was different than the music played on so-called urban radio.
I grew up listening to pop and played rock, world beat and dance during my shift at an alternative college radio station in college ACRN. MTV was my friend.
Country music though was for the most part forbidden fruit — until I found that CD.
It was supposed to be a foreign language.
But there I was in my dorm room blasting Garth Brooks.
The songs were fun and/or meaningful
“The thunder rolls/ And the lightnin’ strikes/ Another love grows cold/ On a sleepless night/ As the storm blows on/ Out of control/ Deep in her heart/ The thunder rolls”
I loved that CD until the day it mysteriously disappeared.
I like to think that it somehow magically ended up back on College Green and was found by someone who never thought they would like something they never considered.
Truth is that it was probably just snatched by someone in my dorm with sticky fingers.
Either way, Garth taught me a lesson even though I still don’t listen to much so-called new country.
Holding up your noise against something because you think it is too different is pretty silly.
You might just miss out on something awesome.
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