So it was really only a matter of time before I drudge up this topic (and funny how Drudge was the trigger for this posting). The Telegraph (big country fans don't you know?) had an article about the Dixie Chicks that I thought brought up a couple of interesting points.
Firstly, the Telegraph writes, "within days, their music vanished from the charts and the airwaves, apoplectic rednecks crushed piles of their CDs with tractors, and the FBI was feverishly monitoring death threats against the trio," of the fans who felt betrayed by their beloved Dixie Chicks. Leave it to the Telegraph to assume that all Dixie Chick fans are rednecks. That point aside, the Telegraph writer here obviously views anyone willing to step up and show their disagreement with the political opinions of a this country music act as uneducated, backwoods hicks. I can't stand when Euro Pseudo-Intellectuals assume that their enlightened opinions give them just cause for pejoratively criticizing those with whom they disagree. I can't really blame the Dixie Chicks for that kind of thought, so I will keep moving...
More telling was this quote from the Chicks (Natalie Maines of course), "The entire country may disagree with me, but I don't understand the necessity for patriotism. Why do you have to be a patriot? About what? This land is our land? Why? You can like where you live and like your life, but as for loving the whole country… I don't see why people care about patriotism." I don't know how I feel about this viewpoint. I certainly support ones' ability to speak freely, and speak his/her mind, but I guess I question why anyone who feels this way would want to remain an American? There are plenty of countries who would be glad to welcome the Chicks in with arms wide open (and gladly tax their earnings at a much higher rate than found in the US). Instead the Chicks appear to be content to stay in this land about which they don't feel patriotic (assuming the other Chicks feel the same as Maines). Did they feel patriotic when they sang the National Anthem at Super Bowl XXXVII, or any of the probable dozens of other times? Do they feel patriotic when America wins Olympic medals? Did they feel patriotic when they learned in history class about American involvement in WWII? I mean, if you really can't ever feel any patriotism for your country, why are you there? Just to take money from the citizens who will pay for your music?
I think this pretty well sums it up, "A lot of artists cashed in on being against what we said or what we stood for because that was promoting their career, which was a horrible thing to do. A lot of pandering started going on, and you'd see soldiers and the American flag in every video. It became a sickening display of ultra-patriotism." What the Chicks just don't understand is that some Americans are passionate about their country, its soldiers and the cause. They just don't understand how anyone could have this viewpoint, whether it is a citizen, a fan, or a fellow country music artist. Just because the Red, White and Blue are flying, doesn't mean there is a sinister, greedy reason behind it.
The Chicks are out of touch with their fan base and many of their peers. And more interviews like this just continue to emphasize that point. This is why they are taking their "Not Ready to Make Nice" tour North to our Maple Leaf neighbors.
two thoughts:
i suppose another great reason for the chicks to take their tour to our maple leaf neighbors is because they go there on just about every tour and there are loads of country fans there... even "big time" country singers come from there.
the other - it seems quite logical that someone might not be "patriotic" and yet would rather not completely uproot themselves and move a nation away from their family and friends/"peers". sure, some people have found good reasons to become expats, but not everyone does. it seems to me like someone would need a really good reason to want to go to all that trouble to move to another country, and i'm guessing the chicks haven't run across those reasons. seems normal to me.
Posted by: elfslinger | June 18, 2006 at 09:59 PM
Someone really needs to blow Maines' tiny little mind and drop that age ol' "dissent is patriotic" leftist mantra on her.
What's telling here is how Bush comes out as the better person. The Chicks dropped their bomb for attention right before Operation: Iraqi Freedom. Bush never even mentioned it - nor, as I recall, did anyone in his staff. It was pressure from fans and radio stations dropping them from rotation that forced Maines to apologize in the first place. Then three years later they come back with "Yeah we'll we're NOT sorry, so FU Bush!" I know they're just doing this to get in bigger with the global pop music scene but it almost looks like Maines is stalking the President. She may think she's the new Joan Baez but she's going to make folks wonder if she's not actually the new Squeaky Fromme.
Posted by: George Berryman | June 18, 2006 at 11:09 PM
Hm, I see. We're back to the Dixie Chicks.
Let's just work backwards, shall we?
George: I don't know what you mean... how exactly did Bush come out the better person? When the "Chicks dropped their bomb" they alienated a lot of the jingoistic fans of this country. When Bush dropped his bomb, over 2,500 American soldiers and, at least, 37,000 Iraqis died, so far. Which is better?
Jordan: I agree with Kurt. "I mean, if you really can't ever feel any patriotism for your country, why are you there?" Family and friends. In fact, isn't it the conservatives who always talk about the importance of a healthy family and accuse liberals of wanting to destroy it? Or did I miss the memo, and the proper order of ranking for affiliations is now: 1) nation, 2) family, 3) voting district, 4) church?
I still find it laughable, though, that you think the Dixie Chicks are crying themselves to sleep with their millions of dollars while their songs don't make it quite so high on the Billboard lists (peaked at 23 for their title track, still in the top 50, and I think that's just in the States). I don't know what fan base you think is so key to their success.
More importantly, though, there is a definite confusion on Maines's part, and yours too. Who the Dixie Chicks are having trouble with is the jingoistic fans (and radio stations), those who support the nation as if it were a sports team. I don't need to run around shouting about how great America is, nor work myself up into a fervor, to be proud of this nation. In fact, it's because the Founding Fathers were afraid of that fervor that we have such strong Constitutional principles and a Bill of Rights. At the end of the day, it's the Republic, and the principles behind it, that I am proud of. I don't have to like George W. Bush, nor get excited over the death of Zarqawi, nor cry every time I see the flag in order to be patriotic.
To point out something you missed, though: Maines's comment, "A lot of artists cashed in on being against what we said or what we stood for because that was promoting their career, which was a horrible thing to do. A lot of pandering started going on, and you'd see soldiers and the American flag in every video. It became a sickening display of ultra-patriotism.", is just stupid. Only if she had not seen any videos before the uproar could she have missed that 9/11 was when all that exploded. Country musicians were already patriotic, but they were quick to jump on the "Don't Tread on Me" bandwagon, and were well rewarded for it.
Posted by: Bill | June 19, 2006 at 10:31 AM
The thing that gets me in all of this is the degree of joy that many conservatives attain while watching something negative happen to the Dixie Chicks.
It's like they just want to say "See...this is what happens when you talk bad about our guy! "
Posted by: matt | June 19, 2006 at 11:46 AM
A correction:
The Dixie Chicks album hit no. 1, and they've stayed at the top of the Top 200 list since it came out. From what I can tell, the singles haven't gotten quite that high, but it's not a bad start.
Posted by: Bill | June 19, 2006 at 12:28 PM
Glad to know I can stir the pot sometimes...
Kurt - of course they were always going to go to Canada, and Australia too. The difference here is that they are postponing (at least they say it is only going to be postponing) about half their US dates and go ahead and venture on to friendlier climes (did I really just get a chance to use that word correctly - oh, I hope so). The point here is that they really seem surprised that their fan base has not yet forgiven them.
As to the second issue, I can see your point about not wanting to uproot and all, but I still can't comprehend a complete lack of any type of patriotism for your country. You don't have to support the war to be a patriot. You don't have to serve in the military to be a patriot. Heck, you don't even have to place your hand over your heart during the National Anthem to be a patriot. Being a patriot is about loving and honoring one's own country, and I don't understand anyone who can't feel at least a twinge of that for the US, even if they really wish there were things they could change about our native home.
Obviously I moderate a tad more to the middle than George, but what I would suggest is the Prez did just as I expected he would do. To respond to anything the Dixie Chicks said would have given credence to what Maines said. Additionally, we all know, like all other great politicians, Bush has other people who will speak out against such criticism for him. He looks better by just staying above the fray.
Bill - To say that only "jingoistic" fans were against Maines and the Chicks is rather short sighted. I do not consider myself jingoistic, nor would I suggest that many of my contemporaries are also. Having faith and trust a president's foreign policy, supporting an effort to wipe out (or at least moderate) terrorism and retaliating against people who disagree with such an opinion is not "jingoism" or any other kind of "-ism." It is merely a difference of opinion and in this case, a backlash against those who disagree with said opinion. It is also a bit patronizing (suggesting that such behavior is inappropriate, as the use of the term "jingoistic" would imply).
As for country artists jumping on the bandwagon - I suspect that country music has not always been your music of choice. Long before September 11th, country artists were singing, "This Land is Your Land (by Woody Guthrie)," "God Bless the USA" and "Tell Me I was Dreaming." Country musicians have always known their fan base to be one of the earth, the church and the Red, White and Blue. They write songs their fans want to hear (at least the successful ones do).
At the time of their statements, the Chicks were on the top of the world. Their most recent album at the time had topped 6 million in sales, they were one of (if not the) first artists to get out of a bad contract and into one that was going to make them much, much more money, and they sold out concerts in every stop (ask any artist, the money is not in the album sales, but in the concerts and merchandising).
I guess what really surprises me is that they just don't get it. They don't understand the reaction. They never saw it coming, and apparently still don't know why it happened. They even retracted their statement and apologized (only to later say "Just kidding...we don't really apologize, since doing so didn't help the album sales or concert attendance"). I will give the Chicks this, they can produce some toe-tapping music (7 #1s, and 15 top 25s), but until they understand how to reconnect with their US fan base, the one hit single off an album that breaks the top 25 and only sells half a million copies just won't cut it.
Posted by: Jordan | June 19, 2006 at 01:02 PM
Hopefully you were making a joke in that second paragraph, but to point it out to everyone... the tour the Dixie Chicks were in the middle of during the "incident" was called On Top of the World.
And a couple of corrections:
1) I don't listen to a lot of country, but I do notice obvious trends. I just counted on Billboard. Of 34 releases and re-releases of "God Bless the USA" that fall under the category of country, 5 were released before 9/11, 29 after it.
2) I'm not an expert, or anything, but I consider Woody Guthrie to be a folk artist. Maybe it's the same thing, maybe it's not. To me, it's the same fine line as rock and pop. There's a difference there, even if record stores stick them together most times. I don't listen to radio stations that play pop like Britney Spears, nor ones that play country like Lee Greenwood (I don't consider those artists to be the same, but I'm trying to draw a line that's obvious).
3) I definitely don't consider you jingoistic. But I also don't consider your choice to not purchase an album to be much of a problem for the Chicks. You even said that much of the money comes from concerts and merchandising. I'm stepping out on a limb here, but how many concerts of theirs have you been too? How many of their t-shirts did you own before 2003? My comment about jingoism is about the angry calls, death threats, and bitterness spewed on the airwaves about the Chicks. I think those more violent reactions to the "incident" came from the jingoistic part of the fan base, but I really don't know. These are just my suspicions.
Posted by: Bill | June 19, 2006 at 02:21 PM
You don't even have to go as far as death threats to talk about the jingosim. Just take a look at the very proactive way some folks attempted to derail the Dixie Chicks.
After a very short time it became less about what Maines said, and much more about how much damage could be done.
Just take one look at the gleeful tone of conservative's reports regarding the change of tour plans.
Posted by: matt | June 19, 2006 at 03:28 PM
Bill, I really like your statement about patriotism in your 10:31am comment. Your definition helps to draw a distinction between a patriotism that remains proud of the principles upon which a country is founded and a nationalism that blindly and oftentimes dangerously praises the country itself, to the point that the country can do no wrong.
Posted by: Brian | June 20, 2006 at 01:14 AM