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Resisting exile and asserting musical voice: the Dixie Chicks are ‘Not Ready to Make Nice’1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 October 2010

Jada Watson  and
Lori Burns
Jada Watson
Affiliation:
E-mail: jada.watson@gmail.com
Lori Burns
Affiliation:
Perez Hall, Room 315, University of Ottawa 50, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada E-mail: laburns@uottawa.ca
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Abstract

In 2003, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks denounced President George W. Bush from a concert stage in London, England leading to serious career consequences for the country music trio. In response to three years of public criticism and radio boycotts, the Dixie Chicks released their single ‘Not Ready to Make Nice’, with an accompanying video critiquing the oppressive institutional power that sought to silence them. Through an analysis of music, text and images in this song, this paper explores how the Dixie Chicks responded to the backlash and regained their voice in the music industry. The paper offers a critical summary of the political incident, an interpretation of the images of symbolic containment and resistance that are prevalent in the video, and an interpretation of the musical elements in relation to the lyrics and images. Through the intersection of lyrics, music and images the Dixie Chicks create a platform of resistance to the social and institutional oppression they experienced.

Type
Articles
Information
Popular Music , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , October 2010 , pp. 325 - 350
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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