Posted on 04/16/2003 10:56:39 PM PDT by faithincowboys
2002-08-08)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (LA Daily News) - ABC News Anchor Peter Jennings is apparently not the only celebrity to take issue with Toby Keith's chart-topping country hit, "Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue (The Angry American)." Now, the Dixie Chicks's lead singer, Natalie Maines, freely shares her dislike of the song. "Don't get me started," Maines told the Los Angeles Daily News. "I hate it. It's ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant. It targets an entire culture - and not just the bad people who did bad things. You've got to have some tact. Anybody can write, 'We'll put a boot in your ass.' But a lot of people agree with it. The kinds of songs I prefer on the subject are like Bruce Springsteen's new songs."
Keith's spokesperson had "no comment" in response to Maine's quote. In the past, however, Keith has been quick to defend the song, because it was written in tribute to his late father, who served in the Korean war. "That's why I'm so defensive when somebody jumps on that song, you know," said Keith. "You get on that and you just turn into a commie heathen with me."
Keith did respond to Maines' blather:
http://www.cmt.com/news/feat/tkeith.121402.jhtml
I think the only thing that got blown out of proportion is that they said there was a feud. I barely even commented on the situation. I've been told that she went in some major publications and made four or five [comments] like we were lobbing the ball back and forth. But it's America. She can think what she wants to about me; I don't care. If she makes it a big war, I'll bury her. She can think about my song what she wants to. If she wants to get personal about it, then I'll be her Huckleberry......usually when somebody says something about this song, they open their blowhole and something flies out. They realize real quick, in just a few days, that they probably bit off more than they could chew. Because they start feeling the heat from the military, from families who have sons and daughters preparing to go to Iraq and who are in Afghanistan already and all the conflicts that we're in. That's where I underestimated this song when I wrote it. It was just feelings that I felt, but I didn't realize that it was an anthem for the military people and how much it's meant to them. You step on their ground, they starting fighting back at you...
...By you asking me my opinion on what I think of what she said about me, that's like asking Barry Bonds what he thought about what a softball player said about his swing. You don't do that. She's not a songwriter, so we can't discuss the mechanics of the song. Why don't you just go down on Second Avenue and pick one of those homeless guys and ask him what he thinks about it? To me it's the same.
...I'm not into making it a war. I said all I'm gonna say about it. I repeated exactly what I told the Atlanta Constitution when they asked me. I said, 'Man, you're asking me to respond to something below the radar.' I'm a songwriter, she's not, and so she can say my song is ignorant, but it's ignorant for her to say that because she's not a songwriter. She said anybody could write 'boots in your ass,' but she didn't. She has never written anything that's been a hit, so it's ridiculous for me to have to respond to that. Now if Hank Cochran or Merle Haggard or somebody responds, then we'll sit down and discuss what I could have done better on that song. But I'm not going to get into a cat fight with somebody who can't write a song...
...I dare anybody with a big mouth to show up at my show and just stand out there. I'll give them the stage. I tell you what, I'll go out and sing "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" and anybody that wants to call it ignorant can walk right out on my stage, and I'll give them the mike and they can address the audience. I dare them. Bring it on, buddy.
From another FReeper:
"The first rule of holes: When you're in one, stop digging"
Won't somebody please tell I didn't read this, that Natalie Maines did not say this.
Austen school system. About the same thing.
I don't think so. Her father, Lloyd Maines, is a near (and justly) legendary Texas guitarist, session musician and country/roots music record producer. I've no idea what his political beliefs are, but I've thoroughly enjoyed many an evening hearing him play, uninterrupted by air-headed blather.
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