XPost: alt.music.country, rec.music.country, rec.sport.football.college   
   From: C.E.Beauchamp@NOSPAMcomcast.net   
      
   Jim Brown wrote:   
   > "Bryan S. Slick"  wrote in message   
   > news:MPG.1da8195ae6ccc7d398a714@news-40.giganews.com...   
   >> Yeah, I mean it.   
   >>   
   >> The song "Travelin' Soldier" just came on the radio station I'm   
   >> listening to, and it got me to thinking on this tangent.   
   >>   
   >> It seems to me that a great many artists take advantage of the   
   >> jingoism rampant in this nation to make a quick dime.  Whether they   
   >> agree with the sentiments in their music or not is fairly irrelevant   
   >> in this context.  World events beget wars beget patriotic fervor   
   >> begets.. profit.  On some level, this is fairly repugnant.   
   >>   
   >> Naturally, the argument can be made that most artist are simply   
   >> expressing themselves on the issues of the day, and if they make   
   >> money off of that whether the issue of the day involves American   
   >> soldiers in combat or not, they're simply doing what they do and   
   >> they have every right to make a living doing so.  I have no quibble   
   >> with said argument.   
   >>   
   >> In the case of the Dixie Chicks, however, we have an interesting   
   >> example of artists that could have exploited world events to their   
   >> own gain, and yet did the exact opposite.  When "Travelin' Soldier"   
   >> debuted on the radio, an outpouring of love and attention for the   
   >> Dixie Chicks came down the Billboard charts as an avalanche down a   
   >> Swiss Alp.  The song is a poignant description of a snippet of the   
   >> life of a young American soldier sent off to fight in Viet Nam, and   
   >> his interaction with a young girl in her senior year of high school.   
   >> Throughout the song, letters are exchanged, and Dixie Chicks' lead   
   >> singer Natalie Maines busts out doleful and dulcet tones, pouring   
   >> emotion into the lyrics.  As the song reaches its conclusion, the   
   >> "Travelin' Soldier" is killed, and the focus of the song switches to   
   >> the impact of his death on the young girl to which he was writing.   
   >> The song ends shortly thereafter.   
   >>   
   >> Shortly after the release of 'Travelin' Soldier', as mentioned   
   >> previously, the Dixie Chicks were riding high, and seemed to be on   
   >> the rebound after a brief drop in popularity after the impossibly   
   >> high crescendo reached after the release of their debut, "Wide Open   
   >> Spaces".   
   >>   
   >> And then one concert in Europe changed everything.  While political   
   >> fervor aimed in the main at President George W. Bush raged in the   
   >> United States, Chicks' member Maines addressed the crowd.  In   
   >> remarks that were replayed ad infinitum on American talk radio and   
   >> country stations, she told the crowd not to worry, that the Chicks   
   >> were embarassed to be from the same state as the American President.   
   >>   
   >> The backlash back at home was immediate and severe.  The Dixie Chicks   
   >> and their music were cast down into the pit of No Play/No Mention.   
   >> Requests for their music were rebuffed by DJs.  CD-burning parties   
   >> were held, and sales of the Dixie Chicks' music dropped to near-zero.   
   >>   
   >> While it can be said without question that Maines' comment was rather   
   >> ridiculous, particularly in the context of a concert (people come to   
   >> concerts to hear music, not the political views of the artists), on   
   >> at least one level, to make the statement at all was courageous on   
   >> the part of Maines.  The women of the Dixie Chicks are not stupid,   
   >> and Maines had to be aware of the fact that her comments would be   
   >> replayed back in the United States, and yet she took the opportunity   
   >> to express her dissent, regardless of the consequences.  While   
   >> stupendously foolish from a public relations standpoint, again, such   
   >> a move was courageous from a personal standpoint.  If Maines truly   
   >> felt that it was important for her to express her opinion on the   
   >> American President, and was willing to assume the PR penalties back   
   >> home, then bravo to her.  The right to express dissent with the   
   >> ruling government is a fundamental right of all Americans, and   
   >> there's no guarantee that the expression of same comes with the   
   >> right to be considered popular.  Knowing this, Maines chose to   
   >> exercise her rights.  Whether her message was pointless and foolish   
   >> or not (in my opinion, it was).. the expression of same was uniquely   
   >> American.   
   >>   
   >> This is assuming, of course, that she knew what she was doing and   
   >> didn't care about the consequences.  If she simply didn't think it   
   >> through, well then shame on her for not thinking before she spoke.   
   >   
   >   
   > alt.nail.head   
   >   
   > Plus the fact that they have put out little music since this.   
   >   
   >   
      
   My deal is this.  What she said was stupid.  When she was pressed about it   
   in interviews later...she demonstrated that she is a brainless twit...but I   
   do not care.  I like the music.  Lefties make most of the best movies and   
   best music.  I pay them to entertain me.  I do not much give a spit what   
   they think about the issues of the day.  It has no effect on whether or not   
   I buy their music or watch their movies.  I vote for politicians that agree   
   with me.  I buy entertainment that I like.  The two do not cross.  Jane   
   Fonda is one of the all time hawtest actresses in history and also one of   
   the greatest.  That is all.   
      
   --   
   v/r Beau   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)