Welcome back to Country Music 4 Ever! In 2019, Riley Green released “I Wish Grandpas Never Died.” I, personally, think this was one of the best songs in 2019. Today I want to discuss a specific line in the song and why he had to change the line.

The line says, “I wish country music still got played on country radio.” For me, I don’t see the harm in using this line, but radio programmers were not too happy about this line. Some radio stations asked Riley for a version that doesn’t criticize their playlists. Riley then recorded a version with a new line that says, “I wish George Jones still got played on country radio.”

I don’t see anything wrong with the new line either, but I like the original line more. I understand why radio stations didn’t want to play a song that criticizes their playlists, but if they would play more country sounding songs, artists wouldn’t put lines like that in their songs.

I have to say though, in recent years, I feel like the radio has really changed. With artists like Jon Pardi, Lainey Wilson, and Cody Johnson, country radio is the most traditional country sounding it has been in many years.

Thanks for reading. I’ll be back soon!