Stand Up and Shout! (How the Dixie Chicks won 5 Grammys for refusing to shut up and sing, and why it matters to you.)
By Marsha Moyer | February 14, 2007 |
I’m probably just one of hundreds of bloggers this week sounding off on the topic of the Dixie Chicks’ sweep of Sunday night’s Grammy Awards, winning all five categories in which they were nominated, including Song, Record, and Album of the Year. A subdued but visibly triumphant Natalie Maines remarked that people had voted with their voices, and no doubt it was sweet vindication after country radio all but eviscerated the band and left it for dead after Maines’s much-publicized negative comment about President Bush created a firestorm four years ago. “A bunch of people just turned off their TVs,” she announced as they claimed their first trophy of the night. “Sorry about that.”
But she wasn’t sorry, and neither am I, and as a writer, you shouldn’t be, either, no matter how you may personally feel about the Chicks or country music or Iraq or the President. Why not?
Because odds are that someday someone, somewhere is going to try to tell you what you can and can’t write or publish. It might be something openly controversial, like a political essay or a piece on a moral or ethical issue, or it might be as seemingly innocuous as whether or not you can kill off one of your fictional characters.
As someone who’s been, shall we say, persuaded to make nice when it went against her inner grain, I believe we need to be reminded that artists have a right (some would say an obligation) to express our deepest feelings and points of view, whether or not they’re particularly fashionable or easy to digest. I know firsthand how it feels to have a piece of your soul called into question, as well as what it costs when you elect to hand it over rather than fight, to not rattle the cage.
Taking an unpopular stand is always scary, and refusing to cave in in the face of boycotts and death threats requires a level of nerve I can only marvel at. It’s not like I (or you) will ever face the kind of scrutiny the Dixie Chicks did, but the fact is that their victory at the Grammys just made the road ahead a little easier for the rest of us who rely on our voices to make our way. And, regardless of which side of the road you choose to travel, that’s something to stand up and shout about.
It is now obvious that the Grammy’s can be bought. If that were not the case, the Dixie Chicks would not have won anything. Let’s face it. They have had little or no substantial radio play. Their CD and Concert sales have slumped. They are loathed by nearly all of the Country Music Fans and almost half of the public. We have been in the music business for a long time and don’t know of anyone that voted for them. Their only hope for continuing sales was to have the group win some grammys (which the record company felt worthy of investing in (probably heavily). The truth is that when an artist decides to become political, the public has the right to “vote” for or against them. The public voted. The Grammys, however, were a paid political announcement.
If Columbia Records was able to “buy” Grammys for the Dixie Chicks, why didn’t they “buy” country radio and sell several million records instead? Even if what Mr. Gordon says is true, the record company stuck its neck out to support its artists, and that’s a good thing for those of us who make our living expressing ourselves creatively.
Who knows what happens in any industry’s dark alleys, really? It’s still important to express ourselves without having to worry about censorship. And if the DCs have alienated themselves from “half of the public,” my guess is they’ve endeared themselves to the other half.
I was flabbergasted by the argument that the Dixie Chicks were unpatriotic by merely saying that they were embarassed that our president was from Texas. They didn’t say kill the president or spit on soldiers sent to Iraq. They simply expressed an opinion that is protected by our First Amendment, perhaps the most cherished right of the builders of the constitution.
So in my opinion, the Dixie Chicks did the most patriotic, most American thing one could ever do. I, for one, cheered when they won. That album is their best work to date and it’s one that I’ll be playing 20 years from now.
Mary C.
well, i still like the dixie chicks, they are amazingly talented, esp. the fiddlers. i don’t agree with what natalie maines said but hey, its America. But U2 is very political, and they’ve won a poop load of grammy’s and i am pretty sure no record company ‘bought’ the grammies for them. hey maybe it was a political vote that got the d.c.’s the grammies, but who cares about the grammies anyway. look how many people have won them and then we’ve never heard from the again. like who was that group…oh yeah, hootie and the blowfish. what ever happened to them?
Last month I was about to leave a comment on a blog that was critical of the current administration. Nothing threatening mind you, just a comment. And I actually hestitated, worried about who might read it. The whole censorship thing really hit me at that moment. I was afraid of my own government. Me, a mom, wife, writer, blogger…just a regular old citizen. I am 47 years old and I have never felt that way before. It doesn’t matter whether you like what the Dixie Chicks said, or whether you are a republican or a democrat, we should not be afraid of letting our voices be heard. Period.
Not a fan of the Dixie Chicks and I didn’t watch the Grammy’s, but I do believe in freedom of expression.
Hi, I usually just lurk around here, but…
I don’t see what the big deal was about what the Dixie Chicks said about the President either. How many comedians have gone after the president over and over again? On Comedy Central, John Stewart does it every night. On CC’s program Last Laugh ’06, the public voted Bush this years “Biggest Tool.” Lewis Black, Frank Caliendo, and tons of others, all jabbing the president.
I totally agree, we need our first amendment rights, especially those of us who do (or want to) support ourselves through our voice.
Jason
I’m interested to see what this adds to the dialog. Curious stuff in this independent film! :
https://www.protestingthedixiechicks.com
https://myspace.com/protestingthedixiechicks
Chiming in late….
I think what’s courageous about the Chicks was that they fought against expectations at a time when their fanbase was rabidly, militantly on the political right. It really took guts for them to stand by their words and their position without caving into the pressure to “make nice”. I totally expected them to issue a “words were taken out of context” press release. Didn’t you? Didn’t everyone?
There’s a price to be paid for integrity, artistic or otherwise. Yes, the Chicks survived their moment, but there are thousands of others who didn’t. God bless ’em for standing up for their rights as well.
Interesting clip, Jan. I couldn’t help but be reminded of those old videos of Beatles fans breaking and burning the group’s records after John Lennon claimed to be more popular than Jesus. (I wonder if those same ‘fans’ hold tight to their anger today?) There will always be extremists, but I think that, in general, people respect others for saying what they think. And when there’s conflict about it, it can spark discourse, and that discourse can lead to new thoughts, feelings and directions – unboxing, I think you could say.
I’m glad so many have chimed in on this. Great topic, Marsha.
Yep! and it that same film (Protesting the Dixie Chicks), they do reference the Beatles incident.