The attacks on the United States on September 11th,
2001 at the World Trade Center were a moment of weakness and fear with a
response of patriotism; American citizens were in the position in which they
must take a stance for who to support, but the decision couldn’t be their own,
it had to be in the best interest of the country and if they denied this way of
living they would be declared treasonous and were systematically outcast from
society. Following the attacks and the declaration of the “War on Terror,” lead
singer of the Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines, exercised this notion of “treason”
with a comment expressing her disapproval with the declaration of war and was
ashamed to have President Bush from Texas. After Natalie said this, the group
was thrown into a political warfare unknowingly and was constantly attacked
with accusations of being a treasonous group and experienced dismissal by the
groups of people that they were formally accepted and welcomed by, the country
population.
As a result of
being entered into a battle the Dixie Chicks had no intention of starting, they
experienced the indication of the contemporary political issues going on in
their time, being that they had already existed long before Natalie’s comment. During
this time in which terror had struck America, political messages in music were
interpreted as the real thing, and were determined “true” and were
unquestionable. Revenge and patriotism were in the hearts of the Americans and
they were ready to support in the time of war. When this concept wasn’t
followed by the Dixie Chicks, this caused mass confusion and feelings of
betrayal. The group, primarily Natalie, insisted her political believes were
her own and that she was merely a performer making conversation with her fans.
The war on terror was a sensitive subject and was not viewed as a time by the
American people as a time to be bashing their commander and chief. The caliber
of criticism on the Dixie Chicks was National and didn’t blow over in a couple
of days. Radio stations were threatened on being boycotted by people across
America if they continued playing songs by the group days after the comment was
made. Radio station after radio station dropped the Dixie Chicks from their
playlists and as their fame fell; their infamy began to billow underneath them.
The Dixie Chicks were being silenced for expressing their own personal
political beliefs. The problem behind that is that the Dixie Chicks rights were
being infringed upon. It wasn’t their music which caused such uproar, but it
was what they believed outside the frame of music. Three years after, Kanye
West was providing a service on national television for the hurricane Katrina
relief organizations when he made his infamous blast on George Bush, “George
Bush doesn’t care about black people,” A comment arguably even more offensive
towards America’s leader. Though the world was shocked at Kanye’s claim, it was
quickly swept under the rug and was laughed at by the public. Why can something
so serious be a joke and the joke by taken so seriously?
There
are several things to take away from a story like the Dixie Chicks’. An event
like the September 11th attacks perpetuated the fact that when
stricken by fear and patriotism, the American people will defend what they
know, and what they thought they knew was their government had their best
interest in mind. The lesson to learn from the “Shut Up and Sing” documentary
is that music is used by several organizations as a tool to convey an important
message. During the times of the war on terror, our government and people would
use songs with revengeful tones as a way to acquire approval for war. In the most recent Presidential campaigns run
by John Mccain and Barrack Obama, the music played was indicative of the kind
of message each party wanted to get across. John played songs such as “Born in
the USA” by Bruce Springsteen to set a tone of pride for being a United States
citizen. John’s campaign runners were
either unaware or unconcerned of the true nature of the song. Springsteen
actually requested that Mccain take the song off of the playlist because it
wasn’t about American pride, but it was a song following the Vietnam War about
the injustice the American soldiers were given because there were no jobs to be
filled up, so soldiers were left on the streets. Barrack used music as a way to
identify himself with the American people.
Bettye LaVette and Jon Bon Jovi performed "A Change is Gonna Come" by Sam
Cook. Performances like this happened all through Barrack Obamas Inaguration,
and was meant to show unity and togetherness by performers who normally
wouldn’t be performing together. If music is used by such influential people to
convey a message of their own, then music doing the opposite can cause turmoil
on a career such as Natalie Maines and the Dixie Chicks. When they worked
against the voice of “truth,” their careers suffered and they had nothing to do
but pick up the pieces and begin to rebuild.
Music is often
taken for granted when looking into its’ influence on societal and political
aspects. With repetition, music can shape the way we think and feel and can be
the determination on what is true and what is not. The Dixie Chicks’ story
illuminated the history and provided an example of contemporary music combating
the political range. Taking these lessons into account and learning the effects
of music on the world is crucial towards understanding the way our world works
as a whole.
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