I'm Not Ready To Make Nice

I am not a country music fan. I don’t enjoy twangs in my music and I want lyrics that go deeper than ‘My truck broke down, my woman left me and my dog died’. I will admit there have been a few country artists over the past few years who don’t make me want to shove a potato peeler in my ears but none that inspire me to run out and buy their CD.

Okay, that is a lie. Thanks to the movie Walk The Line I now own several Johnny Cash CDs, but that is another story and it can be blamed on corporate brain washing, I’m almost sure of that. I own all but one (the newest one because I haven’t seen it in stores yet) of The Dixie Chicks CDs. Shut up.

I appreciate people who write their own songs and play their own instruments. In other words, I really dig musicians. The other reason I like these women is because they are unpretentious, gutsy and speak their minds. Yes, I am referring to the time they slammed President Bush without apology on British TV causing a huge backlash against them in the States. All they did was give an opinion and they received death threats along with the banning of their music on certain radio stations and several bon fires were held where their CD’s were used as marshmallows. It was an intense image. Scary even. All I kept thinking was ‘words did this’. Seeing children as young as nine participating, throwing their CD’s into the fire at the urging of their parents, made me sick. This image keeps me from questioning the doubts I have about human beings.

Well The Dixie Chicks have come out with a new song called ‘I’m Not Ready To Make Nice’ and I think the title says it all. The lyrics are as CLEAR AS DAY; they are raw and get straight to the point without asking you to take pity. I love it. They were hurt by the actions of some of their fellow Americans (supposed champions of free speech) and this song is their melodious response. It hits hard from start to finish and only fuels my long time admiration of the band, its members and their music. Check it out.