"Let them Hate Us"
July 11, 2006INTERVIEW WITH A DIXIE CHICK
"Let them Hate Us"
Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks discusses her group's new album and her outspoken criticism of US President George W. Bush, the boycotts, the death threats, their betrayal by Nashville and why the group is "not ready to make nice."
The Dixie Chicks began their careers in the late 1980s as tradition-conscious country darlings. They fiddled Bluegrass numbers and warbled harmless tunes like "I Want To be a Cowboy's Sweetheart." Their career took off in 1995, when singer Natalie Maines joined the band, which was formed by sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robinson. Their album "Wide Open Spaces" sold 12 million copies in the United States alone. But later, they became a lighting rod for controversy, with songs like "Goodbye Earl," a ditty about domestic violence in which an abused wife takes deadly revenge on her no-good husband and gets away with it. But the fun became a nightmare after a Dixie Chicks concert in 2003 in London, where singer Maines told the crowd and the world that she was "ashamed" that President George W. Bush came from her home state of Texas. Some American conservatives claimed that Maines's remarks were equivalent to treason, and the group faced massive boycotts from country fans and Nashville and death threats.
With the release of "Taking the Long Way," their first album since falling from grace in large parts of America, the group has departed from its country roots. But the group is no less angry, and the album's first single, "Not Ready to Make Nice," is a call to arms. In the song, Maines, 31, sings: "I'm still mad as hell and I can't bring myself to do what it is you think I should." Despite modest radio play, the album still topped the US pop charts and in Germany it is in the top five.
In a recent SPIEGEL interview in Cologne, Maines discussed the boycotts, the drama and why she remains one of Bush's most outspoken critics.
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posted by ... @ 11:27 AM
2 Comments:
Natalie Maines was right when she said she has a big mouth. My Momma told me that when you shoot your mouth off you have to face the consequences, maybe hers didn't tell her that. The problem is she forgot what her political science teachers said: Everyone in America has the right to free speech and that includes those who oppose her thoughts and choose not to buy Dixie Chick Albums. Fox News has the right to speak against her,just as she has the right to speak against the President. What she probably didn't understand was that since she is a public figure she would bring out all the loons, and those loons have the right to speak against her and her friends and family as well. Unfortunately free speak isn't always free, many Americans have died for that right ie: Soliders and people like Martin Luther King who have stood up for what they thought was right. It is not a crime in American to say what you think, but when you speak out you have to remember that there maybe unwanted consequences to your actions. If Natalie can stand the heat maybe she should have stayed out of the fire. Being
free means sometimes having to go your own way alone.
Hi Reddragon,
I agree and wish more people would step out of the box and see what is happening, I fear it will be too little too late.
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