By Jamilah Hoffman, 2/14/07
Winning every award they
were nominated for, the Dixie Chicks album, “Taking the Long Way,” won album of
the year at this years Grammy Awards. In
a year marked by a Democratic takeover of Congress, and the plummeting of
George Bush’s approval ratings, the thought is that there is a significant
change in American society. The feeling
is that 2007 is a totally different year than 2003, when the backlash against
the Dixie Chicks hit a fevered pitch.
You may remember that
Natalie Maines, lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, said to a stadium full of
people in
Immediately, the CD burning began, along with a concentrated effort by
country music stations to blacklist the Chicks” music. While their base may have abandoned them, the
group set out to make music that was grittier and more substantial than their
previous albums. It reflected their
experience of speaking out when it’s not a popular thing to do, the attacks
they received for their views, and their opinions against the war.
“Not Ready to Make Nice,”
which was the first single released from their album, won Grammy’s for record
and song of the year. The song laments
the fact that it’s a sad story when a mother teaches her daughter to hate a
stranger for words that she (
fact, would send someone over the edge enough to where they would want her
dead. But it also takes a stand. When
baby, with no regrets”” and the line, “I’m not ready to make nice, I’m not
ready to back down,” the Dixie Chicks are defiant. They are going to stand by
what they said, in the face of all the criticism and death threats because it
was the right thing to do.
While some feel the Dixie
Chicks are being rewarded for their views, their album was great and they
deserve every award they received. The
question remains whether or not other artists will view the Dixie Chicks as an
example for themselves to take a stand against the Bush regime and make art,
whether it’s music, film or any other form that reflects that stand. 2007 is a different year than 2003. People are venturing out to speak out against
the war and George Bush, but much more is needed, and artists should use their
platform to voice that view.