It Takes a Real Man Part 2

Continuing to update and revise my "arguing about taste" notes, I offer the following as an example of the "direct expression of emotion" school of popular (loosely defined) music. Cases in which the music is a vehicle for what's being expressed rather than a stand-alone aural object -- the latter a school from which I am all-but completely excluded by my lack of actual musical knowledge.

The distinction is complicated in this case because Lucinda William's "West" is also an example of a country song that has a strong narrative element. The situation in the lives of the characters (the singer and the person she's singing to; obviously one particular person) -- better perhaps a series of negotiations that has broken off, giving rise to the resigned conclusion the singer has come to -- none of this is ever spelled out, but it is nevertheless, at least in outline, perfectly clear.

You could base a movie script on this song -- which would be a pointless exercise, however, because a much more powerful effect is produced by only alluding to the events, allowing the narrative to take shape in the listeners mind. So the song is allusive and yet direct. How cool is that?