| In 1997, I met the Dixie Chicks
on two different occasions, when I worked for a local news radio station.
This was slightly pre-mega stardom, when they were plying program
directors for airplay. I found them to be delightful, playful "gals" with
a sly sense of humor. And they were awfully easy on the eye. I came away
from the second meeting with a autographed photo that was emblazoned with
the words "We'll be sure to call you if we need a bass or guitar player!"
written by
Natalie Maines.
(No, I had a lawyer look at it and it's not a binding contract, DAMN.)
Anyway, that brings me to recent well publicized events involving these charming
homegrown "country pickers".
I don't care what side of the war, the Bush Presidency or the price of tea in
China the Dixie Chicks are on. I think they should be embarrassed by their
ridiculous wardrobe, far more than by their shared Texas roots with President
Bush. I think what Natalie Maines said in London was completely meaningless,
in the grand scheme of the body politick, but where they said it was cowardly.
Did you notice a Marine or helicopter pilot packing up and going home
out of the realization that Natalie Maines made his task a lost cause? That must
have escaped me, too. In other words, what she said matters not a whit and neither
does the screaming and whining and CD smashing of those who would have had
her publicly horsewhipped. It does, however, create a histrionic air of grossly
overstated views and their responses. Clueless musicians needing tongue exercise
are painted as akin to Al Qaeda operatives. That's really idiotic, and we
should have far more brains than to fall for such overdriven hogwash.
Anyone can stand in front of a very
liberal, primarily European audience and bust the President's chops. That
takes neither brains nor courage, and it's typical of rock stars and movie
stars to say what they believe their audiences want to hear. Eddie Vedder didn't say anything particularly offensive ( or coherent ) in Denver
a few weeks ago; he just monkeyed around on stage with a mask of the presidential
face on a stick. If you'd read the Fox News website the next day, the whole Pepsi
Center emptied in to the street and Pearl Jam CD's were set ablaze by the ton.
Not so...a few dozen soreheads hit the bricks and the show went on. (They missed
an ass kicking take of Yellow Ledbetter, too; I have the CD of the show. Idiots!) The bottom line is that the whole situation is ludicrous and a complete waste of time
and hot air. Rock stars lose control of their pampered mouths and the thin skins of
the other persuasion decide they must be shouted down. It's dumbassed and
dumberassed. More importantly, very few of the so called "media elite " and
the "VH-1 voices" have any idea what they are talking about. I'm sure that's a
point I need not labor over. Fabulous
Thunderbirds lead singer
Kim Wilson,
in explaining why he feels the music business and politics don't mix, once
told me " Why does being a bass player or a songwriter mean you have any
more license to run your mouth about Russia or Burma than any truck driver
or pool cleaner?" I couldn't agree more. One of the biggest names in
music, Bruce Springsteen,
has managed to be claimed by both the far left and far right at various
times even though he never draws political lines, he simply writes about
personal struggle and human frailty. He's never, to my knowledge, ever
voiced an opinion about the Iraq War, abortion, gun control or even which
bottled water he favors. He doesn't sell his name or publicly stand behind
political candidates. My guess is he'd say that's not his job and he
doesn't think people care about, nor should they have access to, his
private views on issues, wars or candidates. I'm a big fan of Springsteen
and I'm glad he is refreshingly lassiez-faire when it comes to political
names and political stances. Don't mistake his lack of opinionation for a
lack of interest or a lack of passion for issues.
Youngstown
is a poignant a commentary as there is on
the shattered
hopes of the American blue collar worker. There are a host of other songs,
many of them on his most recent CD
The Rising,
that reflect a deep and powerful connection between his muse and
condition. But Springsteen realizes that there's nothing to be gained from
using his music or his stage shows as a bully pulpit for pretentious
political blather that "radiates more heat than light," as Neil Peart,
drummer and lyricist for the Canadian rock band Rush, once wrote. |
I own a couple of
Ted Nugent CDs and I think he's a thick headed right
wing blunt instrument. He makes David Lee Roth seem subtle. But I still
love cranking up Stranglehold
on the stereo. I just wish he'd put a
stranglehold on his fellow musicians who think they are doing us a favor
with their inflammatory, reactionary views, whether they are Toby Keith
or Peter Gabriel.
I don't damned well care what any of them think, and I'm
not talking about censorship. You and I probably don't have a basketball arena
full of people waiting to hear what we think and many of us are a whole lot
smarter and better informed than Tim McGraw or Sting. All I'm asking is
that you let the music do the talking, as Springsteen does. Stand up for values
and ideas, not symbols and rhetoric, and do so in your songs if you must.
Remember, what was written on Woody Guthrie's guitar : "This machine kills
fascists". He didn't say "This machine hates President Hoover" and he
didn't cross the country yammering about his feelings about this that and the
other. If he had, he'd be as irrelevant as Pete Seeger, another know-nothing
chatterbox who has appropriated Guthrie's legend and ability more than a
few times too often. Woody Guthrie was a storyteller and one of the best ever.
He let his characters paint pictures and that allowed listeners to see things and
situations they may not have been exposed to otherwise. TV was hardly a factor,
much less the internet, and MTV when he was around. But it's hard to imagine
him taking verbal potshots and fomenting record smashing parties. He knew what
he knew and he had no illusions about how persuasive a mere musician could be.
But the songs were another matter entirely. The same with Bob Dylan. Well,
most of the time. OK, now and then. Without the great songs and their sharp
messages, he's just a male Joan Baez and I think I can safely say, nobody
wants to see that, now do they?
Far too much polarizing drivel is being tossed out casually by stuffed shirts
who were given their "pulpit" by CD buyers or movie goers. That "pulpit"
was given them for their music and their art. It's unavoidable that the values
that make their work meaningful will often be drawn into debates about
war, politics, social issues and religion. That's normal and sometimes
actually interesting ( C,S,N,Y's scathing
Ohio, for example ) But, when
the band ain't playing, then their views are just irritating pop-up ads; the information
given is almost never worth the trouble and the format it's delivered in offers
nothing anyone really needs or wants. The real "artists" here don't need to
start brush fires with shoot from the hip statements about issues they know
little about. Unfortunately, bored to tears puppies in the media relish the
chance to hear a mind on vacation attached to a mouth on overtime and they
often provide gasoline to turn a brush fire into a forest fire.
Ted Nugent and The Dixie Chicks are
neither great scholars nor great articulators. Neither deserve the
attention they get for their views and attitudes and we'd do ourselves a
favor if we ignored both them and the lynch mobs who campaign against
them. When some boneheaded musician can't resist temptation to believe
that a gold record is synonymous with a Fulbright Scholarship, we should
know the difference. No matter whether these views appeal to us or not, we
should steadfastly refuse to allow them to matter a tinker's damn to
anyone with an ounce of common sense. When it comes to musicians with
politics on their minds I say, let the music do the talking or shut the
hell up. If that's too tough a proposition, then go drive trucks or clean
pools. That'll show you how much your views about war or old growth
forests matter to the rest of society.
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