So, Mr. Bush, you can take that as a 'fuck off' then....

February 11th – As you all know, if you've been paying attention, I’m not a C&W fan (see January 1st). I think it has something to do with the ‘down home’ persona that’s peddled alongside it; that everyone who sings C&W is either a good ole’ boy or a cheated on but feisty lady. I know, I know, I’m stereotyping, sorry, but that’s how it’s come across to me for years …you know; the dog’s died, the wife’s run off, the husband cheats and beats, that sort of thing… wasn't there a song with the lyrics;

“My car sounds like an old tin can,

My wife ran off with another man,

I sprained a muscle in my fishin’ hand, and my income tax is due,

I lost all my money in a poker game,

And I think my left leg is-a-goin’ lame

My brother asked me to change my name, and that’s just what I’ll think I’ll do…”?

Well, that’s the sort of thing…until ole’ stick-in-the-mud me came across the Dixie Chicks… 

I would still take issue with the sometime slightly stereotypical, C&W nasal incantation of their lyrics but I have to say, they can certainly turn a tune, and the 5 Grammy Awards they walked away with on this day in 2007 certainly backs that up.

The one obvious thing that the more perspicacious of you will have spotted if you know the band at all is that…well, they aren't bad lookin’ either. Now, before you slap the lid down on the laptop with a grunted, “Typical bloke; never mind the talent, look at the tits”, that’s not what I wanted to pursue.

As I've already noted, they really can write and perform a song and, like The Martin Harley Band, they have a lovely way of sketching out small dramas that really stir the imagination. You only have to listen to a their stuff, a showbiz story (Heartbreak Town) a relationship story (Let Him Fly) a war story (Travellin’ Soldier) or a politics story (I’m Not Ready to Make Nice) – and I’d strongly advise that you play any of the above tracks and put the lyrics up too; you’ll be writing stories or screenplays or seeing films in your head almost immediately…honest… But, even with all that said about their musical ability, they are kinda easy on the eye too… That’s not a fault, not a masculine reading of something that should be seen from a higher plane, it’s a fact brought about by the way they’re marketed. They are sold as not only capable but also desirable. We see it in all forms of marketing, including modern music, and it’s becoming more and more prevalent in the classical world now. Nicola Benedetti can really play a violin, I mean REALLY, but goodness me she also looks sumptuous, sexy and slightly scary, particularly when she looks direct into camera. 

I digress…back to The Dixie Chicks. They may be one of the best song writing teams to come out of the C&W scene in many a year, and you may take issue with the way they are marketed in photo and interview situations, which seems to be of a ratio 30% talent and 70% TALENT, but they sure turned that on its head in the beautiful nude cover shoot they did for ‘Entertainment’ magazine. It was a great way to weld their beauty, their femininity and announce their political status-quo/fuck-off at one and the same time. The shot made a very strong political point and Natalie Maines’ statement in the interview an even stronger one;
“Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States (Dubya) is from Texas” 

This underlined their political stance and their courage 'cos it won them no friends in the higher echelons of the ruling class. Not surprising when you consider that the song ‘Not Ready to Make Nice, which was the cause of the entire furore, was a direct challenge to Bush and his war on terror, bogeyman politics (one day we’ll all realise that war is just another form of racketeering). I’m sure someone should have said to them, “Tread carefully, my dears, you’re taking on George ‘Dubya’ Bush, the man for whom the words ‘spitefully vacuous’ were invented”, but they did it all the same. 

What they very quickly found out was that, vacuous he may be but, as I've noted before in my musings, the rich and powerful of this world DO bear grudges, know NO shame and will be out to getcha if you so much as question their perceived wisdom, no matter how shitty that wisdom is. 
After the hidden lyrics in the song were deciphered (?) by the collective brainpower surrounding Dubya, radio stations stopped playing their music and they received hate mail and death threats, one aimed specifically at their children…all probably courtesy of ‘a government department’.

Didn't stop them doing what they do best though, so, at whatever level I place C&W music and even though one of the first things to leap out of any photo of them is that they are great lookers I say, in all humility and admiration; hats-off, ladies…