It was this week back in 2003 when the news broke that Natalie Maines, the singer for the country group the Dixie Chicks had uttered 15 words at a concert in Britain that would have an unbelievable affect on a career that had seen enormous CD sales, a string of radio hits and legions of fans.
It was a simple statement of fact on the eve of a war that has since been proven to have been begun on a premise of lies to the American people and the promise of enormous profits to the suppliers of the military and the rebuilders of the country we were about to destroy.
"Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas."
That's all she said. Suddenly, the Dixie Chicks found themselves embroiled in a career-shattering tornado of blacklisting, CD-stomping events (kinda like when Lennon claimed the Beatles were bigger than Jesus), degrading insults, ridicule and the kind of sentiment that seemed really out of place given the simple, honest nature of her statement. Another irony is that their song "Travelin' Soldier," a lovely, sympathetic, understated song (featured in Fahrenheit 9/11) about a young boy that goes off to war never to return was a gigantic hit at radio when she made the statement.
Natalie certainly misread her audience at country radio, which tend to be flag-waving, don't-question-the-fantasy, love the leader types. However, concert ticket sales and CD sales continued strong, and the Chicks won a Grammy last month for a song that no one has heard on the radio, "Top of the World."
Airplay for the Chicks has not really returned, and their carrer in music will always have this event as a defining moment when things went south (pun intended).
Natalie had every right to be ashamed and every right to speak her mind to that sentiment.
So, 2 years down the road, I wonder how those who turned their back on the Dixie Chicks and spoke with such venom against them feel about a war that has killed 1500 American brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers in Iraq, has no end in sight, based on lies from Bush...
R
And one name read and nobody really cared
But a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair