The Soundtrack

 

... to my own little personal "Knives Out" story lol.

For context, the song was written by The (Dixie) Chicks, 5 years after lead singer, Natalie Maines, said the following onstage at their concert in France on March 10, 2003:

 "Just so you know, we're on the good side with y'all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas."

At the time, then President Bush was trying to garner Congressional financial support to declare a "pre-emptive strike" on Iraq, claiming they had WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) - but showed us no evidence of that.

Also, the last intel we had on Osama bin Laden was that he was hidden in  the Afghanistan/Pakistan border mountain range, NOT Iraq - which is, in fact, where he was found and killed in 2011 under the Obama administration.

Lastly, the brand-new Homeland Security created after 9/11 told us to go buy trash bags and duck tape to tape over our windows due to Anthrax threat - also bogus - because it was just one nut sending them to congress members at the time - the public at large was never at risk.

(Also, Anthrax is most potent in water and thus would most likely be distributed in water systems - and when powder-dusted, as IF trash bags and duct tape would protect us!?!)

President Bush has since claimed he received "bad intel" and even MAGA has acknowledged this was a bogus claim.

Regardless, at the time, President Bush told her to "Shut up and sing" which became the mantra against her/them.

Radio stations refused to play The Chicks music anymore.

People had burning parties of their CDs.

There was even news footage of a steamroller rolling over a pile of their CDs.

They received death threats.

All this, despite the fact that many music of the late 60s was in protest of the Vietnam War? 

Ah, the Republican Party - the "freedom of speech" party - except when its criticism or even jokes about them😜

What happened to The Chicks became a cautionary tale signalling the era of protest songs in the 60s was over - thus why there are very few now, when they are perhaps needed most.

Thus, in 2007, Natalie Maines wrote this song and The Chicks released it on a new album, which many didn't hear/see because radio stations were still refusing to play their songs even 5 years later.

At the time, she wrote it while regretting saying it, but only because  of how saying so also affected her bandmates -  and yet she still felt the same way and that she had the right to say it - but most importantly, the punishment received didn't fit the crime.

 ...

"Not Ready to Make Nice" - The (Dixie) Chicks 

Forgive, sounds good.
Forget, I'm not sure I could.
They say time heals everything,
But I'm still waiting

I'm through, with doubt,
There's nothing left for me to figure out,
I've paid a price, and I'll keep paying

I'm not ready to make nice,
I'm not ready to back down,
I'm still mad as hell
And I don't have time
To go round and round and round

It's too late to make it right
I probably wouldn't if I could
Cause I'm mad as hell
Can't bring myself to do what it is
You think I should

I know you said
"Can't you just get over it?"
It turned my whole world around
.... and I kind of like it

I made my bed and I sleep like a baby,
With no regrets and I don't mind saying,
It's a sad sad story
That a mother will teach her daughter
that she ought to hate a perfect stranger.

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!

I'm not ready to make nice,
I'm not ready to back down,
I'm still mad as hell
And I don't have time
To go round and round and round
It's too late to make it right
I probably wouldn't if I could
Cause I'm mad as hell
Can't bring myself to do what it is
You think I should

I'm not ready to make nice,
I'm not ready to back down,
I'm still mad as hell
And I don't have time
To go round and round and round

It's too late to make it right
I probably wouldn't if I could
Cause I'm mad as hell
Can't bring myself to do what it is
You think I should

Forgive, sounds good.
Forget, I'm not sure I could.
They say time heals everything,
But I'm still waiting

Despite the fact that most Americans (including MAGA) have acknowledged the Iraq War as a mistake based on bad intel - and  Osama bin Laden was Afghanistan from the start - virtually no one has acknowledged that Natalie was right to raise a red flag - and their reputation continues to be tarnished.

Why?

Because nobody likes to admit they were wrong or that they were duped and that their mob-mentality mistreatment of others was neither warranted or justified.