The Daily Escape:
Delaware Water Gap, NJ – 2020 photo by Craig Conklin
OK, Wrongo was wrong, again. He said on Saturday that changing the name of the Dixie Chicks to the Chicks wasnât going to do anything for them. Wrongo ignored the power of a great protest song, and what it can do for your career.
And the Chicks have such a protest song in the just-released âMarch Marchâ which is featured below.
But first, a few words about the mostly-forgotten Dixie Chicks. They were country, but not the faux patriotic kind. Their name came from the song by Little Feat, âDixie Chickenâ. If youâve never heard it, youâre in for a treat, so listen at the link above.
Despite the name, they were pretty progressive in their music and lyrics. And they got in trouble for it in the Bush II administration. From Wikipedia: (brackets by Wrongo)
âOn March 10, 2003, nine days before the invasion of Iraq, the Dixie Chicks performed…in London, England. It was the first concert of their Top of the World tour in support of their sixth album, Home. Introducing their song âTravelinâ Soldierâ, [Natalie] Maines told the audience the band did not support the upcoming Allied invasion of Iraq and were âashamedâ that President George W. Bush was from Texas.
Many American country music listeners supported the war, and Mainesâs remark triggered a backlash in the United States. The Dixie Chicks were blacklisted by thousands of country radio stations, and the band members received death threats…â
This was a huge deal back then. The entire country music industry ostracized them. At roughly the same time as the Chicks were blacklisted, the House GOP pushed to rename french fries and french toast in their cafeteria to âfreedom friesâ and âfreedom toastâ. Freedumb!
But the Chicks were correct. It wasnât simply the Iraq war, it was illegal torture, the rise of the unitary executive, the attacks on free speech, and the destruction of the Iraqi state, and how that destabilized the Middle East. The Dixie Chicks’ protest grew to include all of that.
Looking back, Nashville didnât have a clue about how to respond after 9/11. In their simplistic view, we had WWII, a story about the good guys vs. the bad guys. We also had Vietnamâs multiple shades of gray. But from a marketing perspective, and based on their collective ideology, Nashville wanted Bushâs Iraq war to be perceived at the WWII end of the spectrum.
In retrospect, the Chicks were a lot closer to where most of America was on the Iraq war than their Nashville gatekeepers. If you have any doubts about their political bona fides, listen to their anti-Vietnam song, Travelinâ Soldier, written by Bruce Robison in 1996.
So onward to the Chicks’ new song. Watch it full screen, itâs worth it.
This is protest music at its best. There have been protest songs all along, but the last time they were truly relevant was in 1970, with the CSNY song âOhioâ memorializing the Kent State shootings.
In 2020, itâs taken a pandemic, a maliciously negligent government, and disgusting abuses of authority to maybe slap us wide awake. Time to wake up America! Listen to the Chicks do âMarch Marchâ:
Full Lyrics:
 [Chorus]
March, march to my own drum
March, march to my own drum
Hey, hey, Iâm an army of one
Oh, Iâm an army of one
March, march to my own drum
March, march to my own drum
Hey, hey, Iâm an army of one
Oh, Iâm an army of one
[Verse 1]
Brendaâs packinâ heat âcause she donât like Mondays
Underpaid teacher policinâ the hallways
Print yourself a weapon and take it to the gun range
(Ah, cut the shit, you ainât goinâ to the gun range)
Standinâ with Emma and our sons and daughters
Watchinâ our youth have to solve our problems
Iâll follow them, so whoâs cominâ with me?
(Half of you love me, half already hate me)
[Chorus]
[Verse 2]
Tell the olâ boys in the white bread lobby
What they can and canât do with their bodies
Temperatures are risinâ, cities are sinkinâ
(Ah, cut the shit, you know your city is sinkinâ)
Lies are truth and truth is fiction
Everybodyâs talkinâ, whoâs gonna listen?
What the hell happened in Helsinki?
[Chorus]
Those who read the Wrongologist in email can view the video here.