Natalie Maines Essay

Natalie Maines vs. War
“Just so you know, we’re ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.” (Maines). This is what Dixie Chick, Natalie Maines, said during her London concert on March 12, 2003. Little did she know, this comment would turn the band’s world upside down. The Dixie Chicks had a storm of rage coming towards them. Their fans would become upset because of the band’s liberal views on war and Maines’ bash on President George W. Bush. Due to America's involvement in the Iraq war, Natalie Maines reacted by publically bashing President Bush at her concert, in turn upsetting her republican country fans.
The Iraq war was justified by the 9/11 attack, but after years of Bush not bringing the soldiers home, Americans started to retaliate. President Bush did not wait long after 9/11 to call war on Iraq. Bush was ready to “get started on this [war]" (qtd. in Hamilton). He was eager to start the war and this essentially marked the beginning of the whirlwind of trouble for the Dixie Chicks. Even though President Bush was not the direct cause, this is what led the Dixie Chicks to have their anti-Bush feelings. Bush said that war was his last option for the U.S. But by early January 2003, Bush decided that he was definitely going to call a war. The war was a violent uprising that caused many American soldiers to perish. This made citizens back home mad. The only person they could blame for the dying soldiers was President Bush. Many people disagreed with his choices. Also, many people saw his war tactics as a failure. He was failing because he could not find the weapons that Saddam Hussein was going to use for mass destruction (Hamilton). But, many people thought that “Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction” (Blumenthal). The republican people thought that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. They believed President Bush when he said that it was true. However, liberals thought that Bush knew that there were no weapons of mass destruction. They thought that President Bush had just made this up to support world democracy. This shows that there was controversy among citizens to show how someone, such as Maines, could bring themselves to talk badly about Bush. Although it mostly affected the U.S citizens, the war in Iraq also had an impact on other countries. People in London were protesting the war in Iraq. They had led marches to the capital boycotting the war. This could be the reason why Maines made her statement (Schwietert). She wanted to appeal to her British fans. Although it was uncalled for, she did feel like this would help the band’s popularity to grow. She would rather tell the British fans what they wanted to hear, than to stay loyal to her own country and president. The Dixie Chicks’ popularity was growing which would later cause them to be deeply affected by their loss of fans. Throughout their many musical triumphs, the Dixie Chicks became famous country artists and had a large fan-base. The Dixie Chicks were a popular Bluegrass band. They won a lot of Grammy's and CMA awards. Their songs were often high on the popular song charts. They truly made a name and a huge fan-base for themselves (Leahey et. al.). The Dixie Chicks were major country icons. They had six number-one hits and many other songs that had been on the Country Billboard Chart. They had also won many CMA and AMA awards. They won several Grammys such as: three-time Best Country Album, four-time Best Country Performance by a group and Best Country Instrumental Performance. They had also been nominated twice for the Best Album of the Year for Taking the Long Way (Schwietert). Because of their large fan-base, the Dixie Chicks would be greatly impacted by Natalie Maines’ anti-Bush comment. They had so much going for them from their many awards and musical triumphs and it all came crashing down when Maines’ made her statement. However, Maines’ anti-Bush comment was not the first she had stirred up trouble.
When a

Show More

In The Bedroom Analysis

Laura Lynch Research Paper

Xmas Songs Essay

SAORA Newsletter 2 November 2014 Essay example

Natalie Maines Essay

Related Documents: Natalie Maines Essay

In The Bedroom Analysis

Laura Lynch Research Paper

Xmas Songs Essay

SAORA Newsletter 2 November 2014 Essay example