Redemption appeared to be the theme of the night at the Grammys, from the Dixie Chicks’ triumphs to Mary J. Blige’s gracious acceptance speech to Carrie Underwood’s win for the spiritual surrender anthem, “Jesus Take the Wheel.”
Not everyone handled their redemption with grace. After the Dixie Chicks took their first Grammy–for best country vocal performance by a duo or group–it seemed clear that record-industry voters, if not all country fans, had sided with the Chicks in their red-state/blue state set-to over their comments about the Iraq War. By the time they won their second award–for country album–it was clear Chicks’ lead singer Natalie Maines was ready to gloat. “To quote ‘The Simpsons,’ ‘Heh, heh’,” sneered Maines in accepting the Grammy.
It took her bandmate Martie Maguire to thank the fans who had stuck with them, and allude to the fact that their best-country album honors had come from liberal industry folk, not Nashville proper. “It’s a very strange place to be sometimes… without a genre necessarily,” said Maguire.
Maines later chimed, “I’m ready to make nice!” and called herself “humbled” by the group’s Record of the Year award, but it was literally too late–only the die-hard Red Hot Chili Pepper fans were waiting up to see their guys perform by that point in the over-long show–and too political. I don’t begruge Maines her freedom to speak. Anyone with a microphone that big has the duty to speak truth to power. But if you’re going to be a protest rocker, Natalie, be cool. Take your redemption, such as it was, as a gift, instead of sounding like a member of the newly ascendant congressional Democrats.
Underwood put a point on Maines’s chatter when she accepted her second Grammy, for best New Artist, immediately following the Chicks’ second appearance. She began, “I love country music, first of all.” How nice was that?
posted February 12, 2007 at 6:31 pm
What I like about Beliefnet is the inspiration. What I read in the Dixie Chicks and Anna Nicole postings as intolerance. Not very inspirational…
posted February 12, 2007 at 10:56 pm
How, exactly, can it be ‘too late’ for redemption? Especially when ‘too late’ is literally minutes after the event? She’s expected to be gracious over death threats and attempted destruction of her career, and we can’t be understanding of one ‘ha ha’ during the Grammys?
posted February 13, 2007 at 4:37 am
Wow. These ladies had the president of the United States bad-mouthing them, their own fan base started sending them death-threats, their friends and family in the music industry distanced themselves (nice loyalty) and yet they still wrote such a powerful song and earned this awardAnd you can t understand a little hehe ? You can t see the humor in it? I d have laughed myself into the ground until they had to pull me off stage with a 10 comedy cane!
posted February 13, 2007 at 2:43 pm
C’mon now, Bush-bashers were not going to win a grammy? Hollywood loves anti-Americans with a passion. If Hugo Chavez would have sung a song he too would be “gloating.” Heh-heh . . . It’s odd that there wasn’t a special recognition of achievement award also given to these quasi-American singers.
posted February 13, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Well, only if ‘Bush’ is synonymous with ‘America’. They never said one bad thing about America.The day that a single person, no matter who, is considered to be equivalent to the whole country, and we can’t criticize him because of it, we won’t have to go looking for tyrants to overthrow.Oh, and it isn’t just ‘Hollywood’. Not like they gave an award to a group that didn’t sell any records. The sales built slowly (which says ‘there goes the whole ‘they did it as a marketing ploy/for money/fame’ theory), but by the time of the Grammys, the album is certified double platinum, and is one of the top 10 selling albums for the year. They are in a small group that includes Led Zeppelin and the Beatles who have sold over 12 million units of a single album. All without still being even heard on most country stations, or any station that is owned by ‘Clear Channel’. (And how AMERICAN is it to silence your critics?)So, apparently, it isn’t just Hollywood that loves them. Nor are they particularly anti-American. In two years, Bush will be out of office. Who will be ‘America’ then? If the President is Hillary Clinton, will criticizing HER get the same ire from you?
posted February 13, 2007 at 8:38 pm
Oh, and if Underwood ever experiences anything even close to what the Dixie Chicks did from the Country Music Industry, both artists AND management, and still says ‘First of all, I love Country Music’, then I might consider it equivalent. Country music has been very nice to Underwood, its no surprise that she still likes them.If she got death threats from their fans, then her opinion could change.
posted February 18, 2007 at 2:32 am
maines had a right to say what she did. why be gracious? sure it is classy and best, but she is musician, not a role model. i totally trash that bastard bush elected by the supreme court who claims easy cheesy christianity to other countries. it is retroactive diplomacy. if she had said “i am ashamed of texas or america…” but she DID NOT. she was ashamed of bush. if she had said “i am ashamed of clinton” then country fans would have been happy. hypocrites.
posted February 18, 2007 at 6:39 am
Make nice with this, Dixie Chicks: Playin’ Politics with the Dixie Chicks Dr BLT (c)2007 http://www.drblt.net/music/DixieChicks.mp3