The GSS figures report that 27.4% of country fans report marital disruption as opposed to only 18.4% of nonfans, and they're quite a bit more likely (61.8% to 40.2%) to have a gun at home, too, as Table Two, "The Relationship between Musical Preference and Having a Gun in the Home, 1993" clearly shows. But with the new figures they're using no longer suggesting a straightforward relationship between the amount of country coming through the radio and the tendency of whites to top themselves, they explore a different angle, suggesting that "country music might be associated with suicide through indirect effects, as well as interaction effects... For example, given its preoccupation with the travails of love, it is conceivable that country might be predictive of urban divorce rates". And, yes, a simple regression shows that "country music had the strongest relationship to divorce" and that "divorce, in turn, is the strongest predictor of suicide." My goodness. And among the divorced population itself, the authors hypothesize, those who like country music might be the ones more likely to kill themselves, as "divorced people would be the most apt to be receptive to the sad messages in such songs". Indeed.
It is clearly time for our intrepid Congress and Administration to protect the sanctity of marriage from the insidious effects of country music. Sure, the defense of marriage is really a matter of states' rights, but can we really trust Tennessee to make the right choice and bomb Nashville? Clearly a Constitutional Amendment is necessary.
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