The Dixie Chicks

[Deleted]

I liked their music, but when that whole thing went down, I boycotted them. I don't care about their opinions, but sharing them when they did showed a lack of tact. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised as most Hollywood has the same problem. Is it silly to boycott them, maybe. But as a consumer, that's my right.

[Deleted]

I don't think country fans ever liked Natalie Maines. I first heard of the Chicks many years ago when some hardcore country fans I knew were SO upset that the sisters replaced their previous lead singer with Natalie. None of the country fans I knew liked Natalie: her rep was as a spoiled bitch who even worse, she couldn't sing. They were hugely pissed that the other singer got booted because it was seen as nepotism simply because of who Natalie's dad was. I heard constantly that the Chicks were total sell-outs because they went from a respected bluegrass band to a pop band. So they already had that strike against them.

[softtissue]

I liked the song pretty well but I don't care for the Chicks in general. I find something so sanctimonious about their "Just so you know, we're from Texas..." bit. I would never seek to censor their speech but I believe they were in the UK when they made their comments, were they not? I find it hard to stomach all these entertainers and their political statements. I just want to see a fucking movie or listen to a song. It's harder and harder to separate the artist from their work. I think the real sad part is that most of them couldn't imagine that there are reasonable, educated individuals who don't follow their ideologies and aren't grateful for their political witticism. I would no sooner make political jokes or other comments to the clients I deal with at work. I just don't feel like it's appropriate.

[slanderous]

I like the part in the video where they shake their skirts out. I don't understand why they do it, but for some reason it makes me giggle. Are they shaking out the bad vibes?

In any case, I've never listened to their music, but I was glad they spoke out and continue to respond. I don't consider this new song as "milking" it since it's the first release from a new album conceived after the controversy. And I still don't get the "shut up and entertain us" argument since country, folk and even pop artists have been making political statements for a long, long time, so it's not as if they're taking a new tact or merely participating in some perceived "trend" of "Hollywood libruls." I'm constantly amazed, listening to the classic rock radio station (locally owned and operated, go Detroit!) how political the "pop" music was in the 1960s and 1970s. I remember crying on the off-ramp one day soon after the war in Iraq started, listening to the song "American Pie." CCR's "Fortunate Son" also really hit me at that time as well.

So the question about whether or not it's "appropriate" doesn't make sense to me. Whether or not you consider the work of making pop music "art," it has certainly always been a forum for political statements. Besides, there are a lot of things that are considered "inappropriate" that I think need to happen more often, anyway, like civil disobedience and general strikes and drag.

[alcyone]

I don't think country fans ever liked Natalie Maines.

I tend to agree with you, poorfrances-- I saw some sort of TV biopic on the Chicks, and I remember it saying that Natalie didn't even listen to or like country music before she was tapped for the band. And they did go in a disappointingly pop-py direction over the years.

Based on what sunnyhorse said about Natalie's ideas for the group's future direction, then, maybe the move away from country will be a winning situation for everyone. I'll be interested to see whether rock/pop/alternative circles embrace them with open arms, though. They've popped up on the odd Vh-1 pop-culture countdown I've seen, and they always seem to get the "ha-ha, country cousins" line, rather than being treated as legitimate peers to the likes of Christina and Fiddy.

[Deleted]

I am probably straddling the fence between libertarianism and conservatism these days, but I was really turned off by the Chicks after Natalie's statements. But it really was not her statements as much as it was their article in Entertainment Weekly (yes, the one where they were naked). I thought the cover was in poor taste and in the article, they came off like petulent brats, thumbing their noses at their fans. I believe that the fans, have the right to disagree with their political stances and not buy their records. Although I completely agree that vandalism and death threats are horrible, especially since they were all having babies at the time. A mother's worst fear is something happening to her baby, I feel for them- for that. But lets not lump every dissenter in with the crazies.

[Sunnyhorse]

I'm not lumping every dissenter in with the crazies, but I get really tired of the "I don't like their politics, so I hate their music!" attitude. I mean, it bugs me that Gary Sinise (or Clint Eastwood, or Bruce Willis, or any number of other actors or musicians) is a Republican, but I still respect him as an artist. Natalie Maines can't sing? Come on -- the woman attended the Berklee School of Music on a vocal scholarship. She can sing.

[softtissue]

I don't have a beef with the content of the music (or movies) it is the tendency to "educate" those of us poor bumpkins who are unable to think for ourselves. The speechifying, grandstanding at various political gatherings, etc that I find tiresome. I don't begrudge them the right to do so, but they should not complain when I don't buy their music (or see their movies). The Sarandans, Maineses, and Clooneys of the world will simply have to do without my money. It reminds me of Charlie Chaplin bellyaching about this country and never became a citizen when he made many millions of dollars (tax free) from its movie-going citizens.

I generally like the Chicks' music but not enough to buy a disc (and certainly not now).

[alcyone]

I don't have a beef with the content of the music (or movies) it is the tendency to "educate" those of us poor bumpkins who are unable to think for ourselves.

Yes, the condescension does grate after a while-- and in my opinion, calling Toby Keith "ignorant" (as opposed to saying, "Well, I disagree with him about the war" or "I think his songs put things too strongly") was pretty condescending.

I do agree that it's possible to respect someone's art while disliking their politics, and I think Natalie has a great voice (although I haven't found her to be an especially expressive singer). The problem with pop music, even more so than with acting, is that so many of the fans aren't actually interested in the art in the first place. Britney Spears is (well, was) the classic example-- people fall in love with an image, a personality, and the catchy music is just a bonus. In the Chicks' case, a big part of their popularity was owing to country fans' liking the peppy, sassy, wholesome country-girl-power image of the group-- and when Maines altered that image, of course those fans fell away, music or no music.

[Deleted]

I saw a CMT documentary about the controversy and they showed an interview Natalie did in Australia right after the controversy. No joke, it went like this: the interviewer asked about the controvery.

Natalie (giggling): "I saaaaaiidd...what did I say? ::giggles::" Then she went on, "I guess it was the wrong thing to saaaay, at the time, or whatever, I didn't meeeaaan it....." I'm like, WTF? I honestly haven't seen such a dumber, more inarticulate "celebrity" since Britney Spears. Since then, it's obvious to me that she got some spin handlers to come in and do some damage control, and they revamped her to play the martyr. I don't think she has any real thoughts in her head, so the controversy was the best thing to happen to her because it gave her "cred." She wants to be in Fleetwood Mac, not the Dixie Chicks. Which is too bad for her because she has such a twangy country voice I don't think she'll ever make the transition from a country star into a total pop star. I think in the next two years or so she's gonna try and go solo and do the VH1 thing, because I don't think the Robinson sisters want to give up their bluegrass past totally.