I applaud the Dixie Chicks for having the guts to stick with their beliefs. Let us never underestimate the power of a protest song, whether it's "This Land Is Your Land," "What's Goin' On," or "Ohio."
For my money, the best protest song in years is still flying under the radar. It's "We Can't Make It Here" by James McMurtry. You can hear an acoustic version on You Tube if you type in James McMurtry.
According to McMurtry's web site, the Chicago rock stations started playing the studio version of "We Can't Make It Here" (CD: Childish Things, 2006) and they got mobbed with requests for it.
The song is quite long but it covers every single base. The town gone to seed, the factory closed down, no jobs so poor kids have to enlist while the CEO's kids don't bleed in "their damn little war," the singer is loading shelves in Wal-Mart with the same shirts he once made in the textile mill, and on and on.
This could be a new union anthem. I wish it would be. I wish this artist, whose dad just won an Oscar for "Brokeback Mountain," would get the attention he deserves for this awesome song.
And I'm sorry I have to post this on Memorial Day when everyone's driving to the beach. Except me. I don't like traffic, or people, that much.