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The Dixie Chicks

BPSCG said:
Maybe 'cuz no one gives a @#$% ?
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Yeah, pretty much. He's been outspoken throughout a lot of his career on political matters and the views expressed in that song is not at all inconsistent with his past views.

If he'd suddenly started shilling for the PNAC and claimed Bush and Rumsfeld were incredibly good leaders and that we need to convert the world to Christianity, there'd be a bit more of a ruckus with his fan base.
 
CFLarsen said:
Why isn't Neil Young getting a lot more heat for his new songs?



And so on...
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Neil Young does catch some heat for his songs and his politics. But he has a long history of being left politically and putting it in his songs. If he started insulting the American left in concerts he'd catch heat from people that have supported him for a long time just like the DC have.
 
Number Six said:
How is it that neither of use know whether the DC were deceiving their public all those years when they were popular, but you do know that they were honest all those years but simply changed their minds at some point?

From a cnn.com article:

Maines was quoted in late January on EW.com, before the single went to country radio, saying: "For me to be in country music to begin with was not who I was ... I would be cheating myself ... to go back to something that I don't wholeheartedly believe in. So I'm pretty much done. They've shown their true colors. I like lots of country music, but as far as the industry and everything that happened ... I couldn't want to be farther away from that."

She says being in country music to begin with was not who she was, and yet she mamaged to get into country music and become a star and stay one for several years. And on top of that she had the word "Dixie" in the name of her band! For someone who thinks she didn't belong in country music to begin with she managed to do a pretty good impersonation for several years of someone that did want to be there.
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Actually, Maines replaced the original lead singer of the band. The name of the band wasn't her choice. The band had been pretty much 'old' bluegrass, the original lead didn't want to go mainstream country. So a new lead singer was found.
 
CFLarsen said:
Why isn't Neil Young getting a lot more heat for his new songs?



And so on...
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You're kidding, right?

Far different fan base.

the "Y" in CSN&Y" stands for Neil Young. 60's anti-war activist, political activist, etc.

He also wrote (and still does) some pretty damn good songs.
 
CFLarsen said:
Why isn't Neil Young getting a lot more heat for his new songs?

And so on...
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Because Neil is perceived as an old lefty. The fact that he sings what he feels, whether on the right side or the left side of the fence, doesn't change his perception. He's not seen as being representative of America's Heartland™, like most country singers are. I thought he would have received more heat because the CD is just not that good. Like I said in another thread, I didn't expect another Needle And The Damage Done or Hawks And Doves, but I didn't expect the songs to sound so...dull.

Michael
 
Believe it or not, this is not the first issue where the Dixie Chicks have taken actions that would potentially alienate their fan base and have been caught in "contradictions".

At one time, the Dixie Chicks had posed 'naked' for a PETA ad (you know, the ones where they say "I'd rather go naked than wear fur...). However, they (or their managers) got the ads canceled because they felt that associating with an anti-fur/anti-hunting (and even anti-cattle farming) organization might make some of their fans upset. In fact, there are even rumours of them trying to bribe PETA to say the ad never happened.

http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/12025176
http://celiberal.com/linkcache/1b/161.html
http://www.tabloidcolumn.com/dixie-chicks.html (contains a small thumbnail of the ad)
 
coalesce said:
Because Neil is perceived as an old lefty. The fact that he sings what he feels, whether on the right side or the left side of the fence, doesn't change his perception. He's not seen as being representative of America's Heartland™, like most country singers are. I thought he would have received more heat because the CD is just not that good. Like I said in another thread, I didn't expect another Needle And The Damage Done or Hawks And Doves, but I didn't expect the songs to sound so...dull.

Michael
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I listened to a few tracks. It really was not up to his standards. I was surprised.
 
Rob Lister said:
You're kidding, right?

Far different fan base.

the "Y" in CSN&Y" stands for Neil Young. 60's anti-war activist, political activist, etc.

He also wrote (and still does) some pretty damn good songs.
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What does that have to do with his lyrics?

Are you saying that the Dixie Chicks were lambasted for something else than criticizing Bush and the war in Iraq?

coalesce said:
Because Neil is perceived as an old lefty. The fact that he sings what he feels, whether on the right side or the left side of the fence, doesn't change his perception. He's not seen as being representative of America's Heartland™, like most country singers are. I thought he would have received more heat because the CD is just not that good. Like I said in another thread, I didn't expect another Needle And The Damage Done or Hawks And Doves, but I didn't expect the songs to sound so...dull.

Michael
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If anything, Neil Young is the All-American Boy, singing about freedom and waving the flag. Dixie Chicks are just good-looking mediocre C&W singers.
 
CFLarsen said:
Are you saying that the Dixie Chicks were lambasted for something else than criticizing Bush and the war in Iraq?
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While that is true, it's not quite that simple. And if you would have read all posts in this thread you would see that. I'm not holding out hope on that one though.
If anything, Neil Young is the All-American Boy, singing about freedom and waving the flag. Dixie Chicks are just good-looking mediocre C&W singers.
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Well you are entitled to your opinions.
 
Seems to be the smartest career move they could have made. I see stories about them all the time. Who would give a flip about a country girl band otherwise?
 
Souther man don't need him around anyhow. . . Doesn't sound like at least some souther folk consider him an all American boy.
 
CFLarsen said:
What does that have to do with his lyrics?

Are you saying that the Dixie Chicks were lambasted for something else than criticizing Bush and the war in Iraq?

If anything, Neil Young is the All-American Boy, singing about freedom and waving the flag. Dixie Chicks are just good-looking mediocre C&W singers.
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I don't see Neil singing about freedom and waving the flag in the same vein as, say, The Ballard Of The Green Berets or Okie From Muskogee, and I don't think that he has that image attached to him. It's kind of like saying that Born In The USA is a flag-waving anthem based on the title, not the lyrics.

Michael
 
coalesce said:
I don't see Neil singing about freedom and waving the flag in the same vein as, say, The Ballard Of The Green Berets or Okie From Muskogee, and I don't think that he has that image attached to him. It's kind of like saying that Born In The USA is a flag-waving anthem based on the title, not the lyrics.

Michael
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That brings up an interesting point about the value of defiance in regard to patriotism. IMHO, anyone who bitches 100% of the time is not patriotic, even if they have valid complaints. Because that says (to me) that they're more in love with the sound of their own voice than the country they claim to want to improve. If there's nothing worth praising, ever, then I'm not going to take a claim of "protesting out of love" seriously. What part do they love? None I can find.

Springsteen does a good job of making sure we know what he loves about the US as well as what he doesn't, for instance. Can't say I've heard enough Dixie Chicks to say one way or the other, though.
 
coalesce said:
Because Neil is perceived as an old lefty.
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Well I heard mister Young sing about her
Well, I heard ole Neil put her down
Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
A Southern man don't need him around anyhow
Ronnie Van Zandt, 1974
 
Jocko said:
That brings up an interesting point about the value of defiance in regard to patriotism. IMHO, anyone who bitches 100% of the time is not patriotic, even if they have valid complaints. Because that says (to me) that they're more in love with the sound of their own voice than the country they claim to want to improve. If there's nothing worth praising, ever, then I'm not going to take a claim of "protesting out of love" seriously. What part do they love? None I can find.

Springsteen does a good job of making sure we know what he loves about the US as well as what he doesn't, for instance. Can't say I've heard enough Dixie Chicks to say one way or the other, though.
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Well said, Jocko.

With the exception of "Earl Had to Die", I'm not aware of any Dixie Chicks song which takes a political stance. "Earl" resulted in some noise as its a cheerful song about killing a wife beater.
 
CFLarsen said:
What does that have to do with his lyrics?

Are you saying that the Dixie Chicks were lambasted for something else than criticizing Bush and the war in Iraq?
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Yes. They were lambasted for criticizing Bush and the war in Iraq while being in a musical genre that has a fan base that had very strong feelings in favor of both. A subtle, yet distinct difference from Neil Young who is criticizing Bush and the Iraq war in a musical genre that has a fan base that is either indifferent or not in favor of both.

I'm reasonably sure you'll gloss over that detail and make a painful semantic game out of it that will go on for hundreds of posts, probably with a few shifting of the goalposts, contextual misrepresentations and red herrings.

I doubt many think the Dixie Chicks were wrong for the criticizm, but they were wrong to think that doing so wouldn't affect their popularity, as evidenced by the lackluster album sales and poor radio play.
 
CFLarsen said:
What does that have to do with his lyrics?
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???

I honestly don't know how to respond to that. I'm glad others did.

Do you know his claim to fame?

Do you know his fan base?

Do you know the DC claim to fame?

Do you know their fan base?

Utterly, utterly, ???
 
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