No matter what state I'm in, I'm in a Southern state of mind.

"I'm always walkin' 'round
tellin' everybody hi.
Justa wavin' at the strangers
and the cars passin' by.
Some poeple may look at me
and say that boy just ain't right.
Hey ya'll I ain't crazy,
I'm in a southern state of mind."

This song describes my hometown.
The Flint River really does wash the red Georgia dirt.

Can I just say how much I love being Southern? As if it hasn't been obvious. We may be stereotyped as gun-weilding, ignorant, hillbillies but I guess I love that about the South. The other day while I was at the grocery store, 4 different people that I've never seen in my life, smiled at me and said "hello!", and of course I smiled and said "hello!" back. That right there is the epitome of Southern hospitality. Where else in this country can you walk into a store and strangers tell you hey or ask how you are? No where. Country music is hands down the best music ever. No matter what your mood is, you can hear a song and make it fit your mood. If you need a good cry, there's always a song for that or if you need to feel empowered, there's a song for that too. Rap music doesn't do that. And when it comes to food, fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, pecan pie, and of course sweet tea just screams Southern. Line dancing was the pre-cursor to the Electric Slide, the Cha-Cha Slide, and now the Cupid Shuffle. We have awesome sayings, no matter how dumb they may sound. We have cities rich in Southern history like Savannah and Charleston, which happen to be 2 cities I'm obsessed with and want to live in either of them after graduation. Being Southern is knowing how to shoot a gun even though in all reality you'll probably never have to use one. It's drinking a beer on the back of a tailgate in a field with old friends. It's knowing that football is a religion. It's where small towns outnumber big cities. It's taking 5 minutes to say 2 sentences because we talk slow. Being Southern is spending Spring Break, Memorial Weekend, the 4th of July, or Labor Day weekend at Panama City Beach and eating at Pineapple Willy's. Simply put, it's a state of mind. Luke Bryan said it all when he said, "It ain't a jacked up truck that's never seen a pasture. It's cars pulling over for a no cab tractor. It's homemade peach ice cream on sunburnt lips. No, it can't be bought it's somethin' you're born with, that's what country is.

So with all of that being said, here's a few of my favorite songs that embody being country or Southern.