Top Of The Country: The Fall

This Top of the Country series blogs through the Country hits of the year, focusing this week on “The Fall” by Cody Johnson.

Cody Johnson’s “The Fall” is a simple, straightforward, and classic Country song that deserved its week at the top of the Country charts.

Sometimes Country music gets super specific, and tells a story that is timeless because of how exact the narrative is. And sometimes it gives us a broad and loose mood that bounces from point to point rather than getting into the details. “The Fall” is one of the latter, and it does it very well.

One unique feature that stands out is the reference to rodeo. It’s a loose reference–unlike Garth Brooks’ “Rodeo” which is of course much more direct (as was his “Beaches of Cheyenne”), but it’s definitely there. I’ve commented before here that the West isn’t as central to Country music as it used to be, so it’s always nice to see references, however indirect.

I say this is a good song–is it a true song? Let’s leave aside the vague immorality of the verses and look at the chorus:

The ride was worth the fallThe fall was worth the smilesThe smiles were worth the tearsTears were worth the milesMiles were worth the painPain was worth it allIt’s all worth this lifeLife is worth the rideThe ride is worth the fall

Obviously the big point of the song is that life is indeed worthwhile. And that is true–if! And this is a big “if,” it is a life well-lived. The lyrics of this song suggest that the life has not been particularly well-lived. But the reality is none of us have lived well outside of repentance and belief. We all have undergone a fall, and the way to make that worthwhile is through faith in the Gospel.

That is of course stepping outside the main thrust of the song. And as I said before, it’s a good one and you should listen to it.

Dr. Coyle Neal co-hosts the City of Man Podcast, blogs here on Schaeffer’s Ghost, and is an Amazon Associate (which is linked in this blog). He teaches Political Science, Philosophy, and History in Southwest Missouri.