Line #2 Music/TheChicks


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Dixie_Chicks_635.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Left to right: Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, and Emily Strayer.]]
3
4	The Chicks, formerly known as the Dixie Chicks, are a long-running CountryMusic group known for its neotraditionalist country and bluegrass influences. The most famous lineup consists of lead singer Natalie Maines and backing vocalists/multi-instrumentalists Martie Maguire[[note]]née Irwin[[/note]] and Emily Strayer[[note]]also née Irwin; known as Emily Robison until 2013[[/note]], who are sisters.
5
6	The Dixie Chicks were founded in 1989 in Dallas, Texas, when the Irwin sisters joined with bassist Laura Lynch and guitarist/vocalist Robin Lynn Macy. The band recorded several bluegrass-influenced albums on indie labels under the production of Lloyd Maines. Macy left in 1992 and Lynch took over lead vocals for the band's last independent album. After signing to Monument Records in the mid-1990s, Lynch left as well and Lloyd's daughter Natalie was chosen as lead vocalist.
7
8	With a new sound led by Natalie's vocals, the band finally broke through in the latter half of the 1990s with its first Monument album, ''Wide Open Spaces.'' The album and its follow-up, ''Fly'', both produced several big hits (including the controversial "Goodbye Earl") as well as Grammy and CMA awards.
9
10	Following the dissolution of the Monument Nashville branch (which had produced no other successful artists during its timespan), the Chicks moved to Creator/ColumbiaRecords for the bluegrass-influenced ''Home''. This album looked like it might bring the Chicks' career to new heights, with back-to-back crossover smashes in "Landslide" and "Long Time Gone," as well as "Traveling Soldier," which resonated well in the wake of post-9/11 patriotism. However, during a tour, Maines remarked that she was ashamed to be from [[UsefulNotes/{{Texas}} the same state]] as then-president UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush. This remark, combined with some friction between her and Music/TobyKeith over his own 9/11 anthem "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue", led to a huge backlash from the country music community, including a sharp decline in radio airplay and a longtime departure before ''Taking the Long Way'' came out in 2006. This album was a lot more vitriolic in nature, and although lead-off single "Not Ready to Make Nice" fared poorly on country radio, it was a massive pop hit and won three UsefulNotes/{{Grammy Award}}s.
11
12	Robison and Maguire wanted to record a new Dixie Chicks album in 2009, but after Maines said that she was not ready to do one, the sisters recorded one album under the name Court Yard Hounds. They had also planned to start touring as such, until Maines decided to join the other two and tour alongside Music/KeithUrban and the Music/{{Eagles}} in 2010. In 2013, Court Yard Hounds released their second album ''Amelita'', while Natalie Maines released a solo album called ''Mother'', trading in her old country sound for pop/rock, with cover songs from sources as diverse as Ben Harper, [[Music/PearlJam Eddie Vedder]], and Music/PinkFloyd.
13
14	In the wake of the summer 2020 protests surrounding the death of George Floyd, and the subsequent removal of negative Southern imagery from most forms of media, the group officially renamed to The Chicks in June of that year. Their reunion album and first under the new name, ''Gaslighter'', came one month later. Despite positive reception by fans, the pushback from the 2003 incident still left them pretty much blanked by radio.
15
16	----
17
18	!!Principal Members (Founding members in bold, current members in ''italic'')
19	* '''Laura Lynch''' – vocals, bass (1990–93; died 2023)
20	* '''Robin Lynn Macy''' – vocals, guitar (1990–92)
21	* '''''Martie Maguire''''' – backing vocals, fiddle, mandolin (1990–present)
22	* ''Natalie Maines'' – vocals, guitar, Omnichord (1995–present)
23	* '''''Emily Strayer''''' – backing vocals, banjo, dobro, guitar (1990–present)
24
25	----
26
27	!!Discography
28	* ''Thank Heavens for Dale Evans'' (1990)
29	* ''Little Ol' Cowgirl'' (1992)
30	* ''Shouldn't a Told You That'' (1995)
31	* ''Wide Open Spaces'' (1997)
32	* ''Fly'' (1999)
33	* ''Home'' (2002)
34	* ''Top of the World Tour: Live'' (2003)
35	* ''Taking the Long Way'' (2006)
36	* ''Gaslighter'' (2020)
37	----
38	!!Their work provides examples of:
39	* AuthorTract: Large tracts of ''Taking the Long Way'' were dedicated to those who lashed out against Natalie's comment, saying she's still "mad as hell" at them, but also questioning why the haters would go so far as to send her death threats (which actually happened).
40	* AlbumTitleDrop: Several examples:
41	** From "The Long Way Around": "'''Taking the long way''', '''taking the long way''' around..."
42	** "Let Him Fly" is this for ''Fly''.
43	** "A Home" could be considered this for ''Home'', though other songs mention home as well.
44	* AssholeVictim: The titular antagonist of "Goodbye Earl," a missing person "who nobody missed at all".
45	* TheBandMinusTheFace: Subverted with the albums that Martie and Emily cut, if only because they credited them to the Court Yard Hounds.
46	* TheCameo: Music/JohnMayer on "I Hope", Chris Thile of Music/NickelCreek on "White Trash Wedding" and "Lil' Jack Slade", among others.
47	* ClothingConcealedInjury: "Goodbye Earl" has Wanda wearing dark glasses, long-sleeved blouses and makeup to cover up the signs of her abuse by Earl.
48	* TheCoverChangesTheGender: Averted with "Long Time Gone", originally recorded by a male artist. They didn't change the lyrics at all.
49	* CoverVersion:
50	** "Landslide" by Music/FleetwoodMac appears on the album ''Home''.
51	** "Goodbye Earl" is a cover of an unreleased Sons of the Desert track -- the "Earl" character reappears in several of writer Dennis Linde's songs -- but the Dixie Chicks' version is much better known.
52	** "Travelin' Soldier" was recorded originally by Bruce Robison, and then again by Ty England. The version recorded by The Chicks was the first to be released as a single.
53	* CueTheFlyingPigs: "Cold Day in July"
54	* DeclarationOfPersonalIndependence: The song "Wide Open Spaces", and numerous other songs where the young person needs to "stand on their own" for the first time. Subverted in "Johnny Don't Take Your Gun To Town," where it turns out the kid wasn't ready to go out alone after all.
55	* EarlyBirdCameo: Before she joined the Chicks, Natalie sang backing vocals on a Pat Green album.
56	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Their first three albums were straight-up bluegrass with a different lead singer.
57	* EmpathicEnvironment: Inverted in "Cold Day in July", which describes a painful breakup taking place on a beautiful sunny day.
58	* HatedByAll: The title character of "Goodbye, Earl" is a scumbag through and through. After Mary-Anne and Wanda do him in, no one seems too broken up that he's gone missing.
59	--> ''Well, the weeks went by and spring turned to summer and summer faded into fall\
60	And it turns out he was a missing person who nobody missed at all''
61	** The music video takes it a step further; Earl's ''zombified corpse'' is among the crowd dancing and celebrating with the rest of the townspeople in the last verses.
62	* IHaveNoSon: Portrayed mercilessly in Court Yard Hounds' "Ain't No Son", which is sung mostly from the perspective of a parent whose son comes out of the closet.
63	* LeavingTheNestSong: "Wide Open Spaces" directly addresses a young lady's need to escape her small, closed-off life and embrace the "wide open spaces" where she'll have "room to make her big mistakes." While mostly confident and positive, the song does contain an element of uncertainty, ending on the phrase "she knows the highest stakes."
64	* LongRunnerLineup: The Maines/Maguire/Robison lineup (1997 onward, more or less).
65	* LoopholeAbuse: The entire point of "Sin Wagon" can be summed up as "Raise as much hell as possible, then ask God for forgiveness at the last possible moment". Could be a case of ArtisticLicenseReligion, or ComicallyMissingThePoint, or an unfortunate TruthInTelevision, depending on the listener.
66	* MoodWhiplash: The opening verse of "Goodbye Earl" sound like a country-western weeper about DomesticAbuse and the close relationship between best friends...and then takes a left turn straight to CrossesTheLineTwice.
67	* LyricalColdOpen: "Tonight the Heartache's on Me"
68	* LyricalDissonance: "Goodbye Earl" is awfully upbeat for a song about two women who kill an abusive husband and then dispose of the body.
69	* MurderBallad: "Goodbye Earl". Although in this case the murderee [[AssholeVictim completely deserved it.]]
70	* MsFanservice: All three Chicks are fairly easy on the eyes, as evidenced by the photo up top.
71	* NewSoundAlbum: ''Wide Open Spaces'' succeeded in part because it blended the band's existing bluegrass sound with mainstream country and pop influences. Oh yeah, and the fact that it was the first album with Natalie Maines on lead vocals.
72	** ''Home'' could be considered an ''Old'' Sound Album, in that it reverts to a completely acoustic, bluegrass-influenced sound, with drums only appearing on one one track ("Travelin' Solider", which has an in-story reason for them to be there).
73	** And then ''Taking the Long Way'' [[ZigZaggedTrope goes right back to country-pop]] after it.
74	* PoliceAreUseless: In "Goodbye Earl", the cops are in no way able to protect Wanda from Earl's abuse. It also works in Wanda's favor after she and Maryanne kill Earl, since they only do a half-hearted job in trying to find him: "And it turned out he was a missing person who nobody missed at all."
75	** It’s implied (especially in the video) that while the police were powerless in stopping Earl’s abuse, they still hated him just as much as everyone else in town and may have done a shoddy job of investigating his disappearance for that reason.
76	* PopCulturalOsmosis: The Dixie Chicks have become more famous worldwide in the early 2000s for opposing UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush, the war in Iraq and the enormous backlash they received than for their music.
77	* ProtestSong: "March March", which is about the spirit of protesting. The music video features various protests, including anti-Vietnam and the UsefulNotes/BlackLivesMatterMovement.
78	* PrecisionFStrike: Present in ''Gaslighter'' including in "Sleep at Night" and "March March"
79	* RevengeBallad: "Goodbye Earl", about a woman and her best friend who take revenge on her abusive husband.
80	-->Earl had to die\
81	Goodbye, Earl!\
82	[[TamperingWithFoodAndDrink Those black-eyed peas\
83	They tasted all right to me]], Earl
84	* RunawayBride: The music video for "Ready to Run" has the girls leave their would-be husbands at the altar and go wherever and grab whatever can help them get away fastest. They end up being chased by a mob of angry people ''and'' their fiances, before jumping in a pool and needing to be fished out. Ironically, the song is about avoiding becoming a RunawayBride by bailing at the mention of marriage or long-term commitment.
85	* ShoutOut
86	-->''I'm not ready to make nice\
87	I'm not ready to back down\
88	I'm still [[Film/{{Network}} mad as hell and I]] don't have time\
89	To go round and round and round!''
90	* SequelSong: "Goodbye Earl" is one to Music/SammyKershaw's 1993 hit "Queen of My Double Wide Trailer". Both were written by Dennis Linde.
91	* ShotgunWedding: PlayedForLaughs in "White Trash Wedding".
92	* TakeThat: Many of the songs on ''Taking the Long Way'' address the reaction to Maines head-on.
93	** Similarly ''Gaslighter'' was written in the aftermath of Maines' divorce as well as the political situation of the late 2010s.
94	** During their feud with Music/TobyKeith over the song "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue," Maines wore a shirt with the acronyms "FUTK," [[BlatantLies claiming]] that the initials stood for "'''F'''riends '''U'''nited in '''T'''ruth and '''K'''indness."
95	** "Lubbock or Leave It" is one to the city of Lubbock, Texas, where it's implied that, like Music/BuddyHolly before her, Natalie won't be appreciated there until she's [[DeadArtistsAreBetter dead and gone]].[[note]]Natalie has been fairly left-wing her whole life, and Lubbock definitely isn't. She used to get into political arguments at school all the time, and even deliberately try to get into trouble for things she'd seen black students get pulled up for.[[/note]]
96	** "Not Ready To Make Nice" is an entire song telling anyone who has a problem with their political statements to fuck off.
97	* TakingYouWithMe: Subverted in "If I Fall You're Going Down with Me", since the falling refers to love and not death.
98	* TheyDontMakeThemLikeTheyUsedTo: "Long Time Gone" compares the current sound of country radio to a few country music legends, which is a bit of a TakeThat to the former and a ShoutOut to the latter:
99	--> ''They sound tired, but they don't sound [[Music/MerleHaggard Haggard]]''
100	--> ''They've got money, but they don't have [[Music/JohnnyCash Cash]]''
101	--> ''They've got [[Music/HankWilliamsJr Junior]], but they don't have [[Music/HankWilliams Hank]]...''
102	* ThirteenIsUnlucky: ''Fly'' has a couple variants to make "Let Her Fly" the fourteenth track. Some pressings have track 13 as a one-second silent track listed in the booklet as "ain't no thang but a chicken wang"; others just have track 13 consist of the last couple seconds of "Heartbreak Town", which is track 12.
103	* TitledAfterTheSong: The band named itself after the Little Feat song "Dixie Chicken."
104	* UnmournedDeath: In "Goodbye Earl," the only people who know for sure that Earl is dead are his killers, but no one else is particularly put out that he's gone.
105	-->''It turns out he was a missing person who nobody missed at all.''
106	* WanderlustSong: "Cowboy Take Me Away"
107	* WhamLine: From "You Were Mine," sung from the perspective of a woman whose husband has left her for another woman. The majority of the song is about her own despair over the break-up, and then:
108	--> ''I can give you two good reasons to show you love's not blind...''
109	--> ''He's two and she's four and you know they adore you''
110	--> ''So how can I tell them you've changed your mind?''

Context Music / TheChicks