Not Ready To Make Nice

Yesterday I was feeling quite melancholy. I was re-hashing several frustrating moments in my head, and feeling just a little bit like having a pity party. Not for myself, but for society as a whole, because it seems to be like some things are a bit screwy.

So I did what any normal, red-blooded, crabby woman would do. I went shopping.

I had several errands to run, and on my way to picking up some packing tape, I bought the new CD from the Dixie Chicks. And my mood lifted immediately as I slid the disk into my car player.

The Dixie Chicks and I formed an oddball relationship several years ago. I'm not one for country music, not that I will completely admonish it, it's just not a pre-set on my dial. Back in 2000, the only thing I'd heard of the Chicks was that they existed.

The night Rug was born, they stuck me in my room around midnight. Rug was exhausted, she just slept. But me, I was all fired up with adrenalin, who was gonna sleep? I'd just given birth to a human being, and for those in the know, the effort exerted does not equate to brushing your teeth. It's a little higher on the Exertion Scale.

So of course the hospital has basic cable. My choices were: infomercials, QVC, infomercials, reruns of "Renegade" or the Country Music Channel. And while Lorenzo Lamas was just delicious in "Grease", I had no desire to watch him drive his mo-mo cycle and solve crimes. I turned on CMT, and these crazy girls were singing in their wedding dresses, running around. But it was such a sweet song, 'Ready to Run', and I will forever remember that song as part of my stay while having Rug. I bought their CD as soon as I got home from the hospital.

Since then I've gotten every CD of theirs, and I honestly know all the songs.

When the controversy occurred in 2003 regarding Natalie Maines statements happened, the first thing I thought was, "Yeah, this will not bode well in the red states." I probably didn't hear much of the fervor, since I don't listen to country stations, I just listen to their CDs.

But when I got her CD and listened to her songs, it was obvious she had become quite disillusioned about the situation, and was still struggling to deal with...well, I'd like to say the abandonment of her fan base, but from her song it sounds like she had to deal with much, much more:

How in the world can the words that I said

Send somebody so over the edge

That they'd write me a letter sayin' that I better shut up and sing

Or my life will be over

I plan on listening to their CD a lot, and any more that they continue to make. I'm glad they did't back down. Several reviews of their CD I read said something to the effect of, "Couldn't they have just let it go?" Like let's just move on...if your kid was threatened with their life, could you just 'let it go'???? But in the end, it's their music I love, and it makes me happy. It seems to me that some people need a little more of that, happy.

P.S. I was going to post more, but I read kerrianne's take on it, and it's far better written.