In The “King of Tears” episode of his podcast Revisionist History, Malcolm Gladwell argues that country music is better at genuine emotions than rock and roll. To prove this point, he goes after The Rolling Stones’ classic “Wild Horses,” comparing it to “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” As one of my favourite Stones’ ballads, this episode irked me to no end. Gladwell argues that specificity in lyrics is better to convey emotion, and that country music is better at specific storytelling than rock and roll. He argues that “Wild Horses” is just too vague. I don’t disagree with Gladwell about lyrical specificity being more effective more often than not, but I sure think he picked the wrong Rolling Stones song to try to prove his point. (For one thing, this is one of the Stones’ most famous attempts at country. So it’s sure weird to say rock doesn’t do specificity as well as country, but then to pick a country-ish song from a rock band.) Continue reading »