In the Club with Jon Hendren: Going Garth

I was about seven when I first noticed Garth Brooks’ "Friends in Low Places" crossing barriers amongst my friends at school. The track was just poppy enough that most of my friends didn't immediately hate it, even though it was a country song. Part of it could've been that we were idiot seven-year-olds who would've listened to the Sega Genesis "SEEEGAAAA" theme on loop if we’d known how to make it happen. Whatever the case, Garth Vader’s signature track was all over the place for months—years, maybe, especially if you had a friend's mom with a tape deck in the car.

Like it or hate it, the song eventually died, but not before its catchy-as-hell hooks embedded themselves in our brains like T-1000's liquid metal claws ripping into that car in Terminator 2. In fact, I'm willing to bet that Garth Brooks is still being dragged somewhere behind your brain-car in perfect Robert Patrick fashion, and you might even be able to recite some of the song if you really tried. Heck, I can, and it makes me sad.

Somewhere, deep within the Internet, lies the last holdouts of a dying breed. Folks who’re not only still dragging Garth around, but have let him sit shotgun. Even though they can clearly see that other music exists in the world, Garth's greatest fans soldier on undeterred. These aren't your average Internet fans; these are some of the realest fans anyone's ever had.

They’re called GarthNutts.

@fart

Read the rest over at NOISEY.