Not Ready to Make Nice
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| "Not Ready to Make Nice" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by Dixie Chicks | ||
| from the album Taking the Long Way | ||
| Released | March 2006 (U.S.) | |
| Format | Digital download Radio airplay CD single |
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| Genre | Country–pop | |
| Length | 3:55 | |
| Label | Columbia Records | |
| Writer(s) | M. Maguire, N. Maines, E. Robison, D. Wilson | |
| Producer(s) | Rick Rubin | |
| Certification | Gold (RIAA) | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Dixie Chicks singles chronology | ||
| "I Hope" (2005) |
"Not Ready to Make Nice" (2006) |
"Everybody Knows" (2006) |
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| Alternative single cover | ||
"Not Ready to Make Nice" is a country–pop song written and recorded by the American all-female band Dixie Chicks for their seventh studio album, Taking the Long Way (2006). The song was released as the first physical single from the album in March 2006.
In February 11, 2007, the song won the three Grammy Awards in the categories of Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. [1]
Contents |
[edit] Song information
Taking the Long Way was the first studio album released by the Dixie Chicks after controversy erupted over them in 2003 following a critical comment vocalist Natalie Maines made of the American President George W. Bush while singing in a concert in London, United Kingdom. The controversy and the band reaction to it is the major theme of some of the songs in the album, including "Not Ready to Make Nice."
The song, which was written by all of the three band members along with Dan Wilson, is a statement of how they feel over the controversy, the banning of their songs from country radio stations, and freedom of speech.
The band went on to the October 25 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show to promote their album and the music video of the song was quickly shown. Host Winfrey shared sympathy with the band by commenting that before the invasion of Iraq she did an episode titled Is war the answer? and received hate mail as the result of that. While interviewing the band, Winfrey said the song is so well-written that you can not even tell it is about the controversy [2]. Natalie said that she and the other writers wanted the song to have a universal interpretation. However, the final lines of the fourth verse, are about the death threats the band received during the 2003 Top of the World Tour:
- "And how in the world
- Can the words that I said
- Send somebody so over the edge
- That they'd write me a letter
- Saying that I better shut up and sing
- Or my life will be over."
Some other lines in the beginning of this same verse are about a scene featured in the documentary Shut Up and Sing (2006), in which a mother, who was protesting the Dixie Chicks at one of their concerts, is goading her young son to say "screw 'em!":
- "It's a sad sad story
- When a mother will teach her daughter
- That she ought'a hate a perfect stranger."
In the song, "daughter" was used instead of "son" as a matter of poetic license.
[edit] Comments about the song by band members
The band members of the Dixie Chicks released their comments about writing the songs of Taking the Long Way through the website Frontpage Publicity [3].
- Emily commented that the song is "special because it's autobiographical" and that they "have all gone through so many emotions about the incident. We talked for days with Dan before putting pen to paper, and he really helped get inside our heads and put these feelings out. And once we had this song done, it freed us up to do the rest of the album without that burden."
- Martie commented: "I realized I had suppressed a lot about the death threat. It all came flooding back in the process of writing this song. I think we all realized just how painful it had been for us."
- Natalie stated that the Dixie Chicks "tried to write about the incident a few times, but [they got] nervous that [they're] being too preachy or too victimized or too nonchalant."
[edit] Music video
The music video for "Not Ready to Make Nice", which was directed by the critically-acclaimed British director Sophie Muller, uses the contrast of dark and white colors. The video starts with a scene of Natalie painting the white clothes of the other two band members, Martie Maguire and Emily Robison, with black paint, which symbolizes the banning of the band by part of her comment. Then, Natalie is seen wearing a black dress with her hands on a puddle of black paint. In another scene, the band members are sitting in a chair and when Natalie gets up to say something, Martie and Emily pull her back in to the chair. Then, Natalie and the other Dixie Chicks are seen in an environment that looks like a classroom and the teacher sends Natalie to write "To talk without thinking is to shoot without aiming" on the blackboard. On the final scenes of the video, Natalie is seen in front of three doctors, trying to escape from them.
The music video of the song broke the record as the longest run at #1 on VH1's VSpot Top 20 Countdown spending 14 weeks at #1, 13 of them consecutive. The video also became the second ever to retire on the show on 7 October 2006, when it was at #9 on the countdown.
[edit] Live performances history
[edit] Television and internet
To promote the single and the album, the Dixie Chicks performed the song on the following television programs:
- The Ellen DeGeneres Show (Syndication)
- Good Morning America (ABC)
- The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS)
It was also performed on the following internet websites:
"Not Ready to Make Nice" was also be performed at the 49th Grammy Awards cerimony, just minutes before the band won the awards for Song of Year and Record of the Year.
[edit] Tours
"Not Ready to Make Nice" was performed in every single concert of the band's Accidents & Accusations Tour (June 15–December 5, 2006).
[edit] Chart performance
"Not Ready to Make Nice" initially charted at #23 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the first song by the Dixie Chicks to chart in the U.S. after the 2003 controversy. The song was able to chart in the Billboard Hot 100 because of a high number of download sales (it charted at #8 on the Hot Digital Songs chart), despite low country radio airplay. For the issue dated February 24, 2007 the song re-entered the Hot 100 at #4 in the wake of it's Grammys success, becoming the band's highest charting single to date. It also tied with LL Cool J's "Control Myself" as the highest re-entry at the chart. That same week, the song would also receive a Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America for digital downloads of over 500,000. However, its drop to #28 in the next week broke the record for the biggest drop out of the top five in a single week, beating Clay Aiken's "Solitaire", which fell from #4 to #27 four years earlier. [1]
The song was also very popular in Canada, where it peaked at #3 on the BDS chart. It also became a Top 20 hit in Australia, becoming the second single of the band to chart on the ARIA chart, at #18. On the United Kingdom, the song charted poorly on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at #70; however, it became the fourth single by the band to chart in that country.
| Chart[4] | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia ARIA Singles Chart | 18 |
| Canada Jam! Country Songs | 1 |
| Canada Jam! Hits 100 | 3 |
| Spanish Top 40 | 17 |
| Sweden Top 40 | 20 |
| UK Singles Chart | 70 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Tracks | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 4 |
| U.S. Billboard Pop 100 | 6 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | 32 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs | 36 |
[edit] Awards and nominations
Country Music Television Awards
- Video of the Year
- Group Video of the Year
- Record of the Year (won)
- Song of the Year (won)
- Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (won)
[edit] References
- ^ "Making nice to Dixie Chicks", Glenn Gamboa, Newsday (February 12, 2007)
- ^ Dixie Chicks on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
- ^ The Chicks talk about the writing process of the songs of Taking The Long Way at FrontPagePublicity.com
- ^ Chart position for "Not Ready to Make Nice" at Top40-Charts.com
[edit] External links
- Live performance by the Dixie Chicks of "Not ready to make nice"
- The Dixie Chicks official website
- The Dixie Chicks press room
- A fan site dedicated to the Dixie Chicks fan
- Watch an interview that the Dixie Chicks gave to 60 Minutes
- "Not Ready to Make Nice" lyrics
- Dixie Chicks won five Grammy Awards
- Dixie Chicks, Carrie Underwood, Vince Gill Among Country Grammy Contenders
| Dixie Chicks |
|---|
| Natalie Maines | Emily Robison | Martie Maguire |
| Laura Lynch | Robin Lynn Macy |
| Discography |
| Studio albums: Thank Heavens for Dale Evans | Little Ol' Cowgirl | Shouldn't a Told You That | Wide Open Spaces | Fly | Home | Taking the Long Way |
| Live videos: An Evening with the Dixie Chicks | Top of the World Tour: Live |
| Documentary: Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing |
| Tours: Fly Tour | Top of the World Tour | Vote for Change | Accidents & Accusations Tour |
