Dixie Chicks
May. 15th, 2006 09:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmc_bksInstead of listening to The Shrub's immigration mess, I watched the episode of 60 Minutes that I taped last night. [I'm not totally disinterested -- I'll read the transcript of the speech -- I just can't bear to listen to his painful speeches.] Watched the piece on the SEIU organizer, fast forwarded through the Harlem school project, paid attention to the interview with the Dixie Chicks. I like their music, which seems really rock and roll sometimes, very bluegrass at other times. Some of their more ballady stuff doesn't appeal, because it verges on syrup for me. The songs I tend to like are the more raucous ones, like Sin Wagon and Let It Rip.
So, after a three year hiatus, they're releasing another album. Their last one tanked after the lead singer made controversial statements about The Shrub. Does it make a difference now that 70% of America disapproves of his job performance? Apparently not in my area, because I've never heard their new single played on any of the rock, country, pop or easy listening stations. Of course, it's not an apologetic song, which will alienate a lot of listeners. Plus, a lot of their fan base was country-based, which is disproportionately red state.
When I think about the hit that their career took, I'm reminded that the American public really wants female entertainers to look good and have no opinions. Male singers (Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Bono, etc.) are allowed to have political opinions with impunity. It doesn't matter how blunt they are. Kanye West, anyone? Actors can espouse whatever political party or position they desire (George Clooney) or even run for political office (Schwartenegger). But women entertainers are only supposed to have opinions about traditionally female things (starving children in Africa, like Angelina Jolie).
Back to the interview. I liked what I heard of their new album, enough to put it on my wish list at Amazon. And I appreciate that the three of them are sticking together and kind of burning their bridges, in the sense of saying that they weren't going to stop having opinions or being musicians, and that if country music fans couldn't separate their music from their politics it was the fans' loss. But I thought Natalie Maines (sp?) was a little disingenuous when it came to her wide-eyed-blinking response to some of the questions posed by interviewer.
So, after a three year hiatus, they're releasing another album. Their last one tanked after the lead singer made controversial statements about The Shrub. Does it make a difference now that 70% of America disapproves of his job performance? Apparently not in my area, because I've never heard their new single played on any of the rock, country, pop or easy listening stations. Of course, it's not an apologetic song, which will alienate a lot of listeners. Plus, a lot of their fan base was country-based, which is disproportionately red state.
When I think about the hit that their career took, I'm reminded that the American public really wants female entertainers to look good and have no opinions. Male singers (Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Bono, etc.) are allowed to have political opinions with impunity. It doesn't matter how blunt they are. Kanye West, anyone? Actors can espouse whatever political party or position they desire (George Clooney) or even run for political office (Schwartenegger). But women entertainers are only supposed to have opinions about traditionally female things (starving children in Africa, like Angelina Jolie).
Back to the interview. I liked what I heard of their new album, enough to put it on my wish list at Amazon. And I appreciate that the three of them are sticking together and kind of burning their bridges, in the sense of saying that they weren't going to stop having opinions or being musicians, and that if country music fans couldn't separate their music from their politics it was the fans' loss. But I thought Natalie Maines (sp?) was a little disingenuous when it came to her wide-eyed-blinking response to some of the questions posed by interviewer.
