I think the point is that the original phrase – “dyed-blond bubbleheaded celeb” – is not gender specific. There are plenty of dyed-blond bubbleheaded male celebs out there.
This is exactly why I think “Born in the USA” was adopted by so many politicians. On a casual listen the only part that is even remotely understandable is the chorus. So if all you hear is “I was born in the USA!” over and over again, you’d think it was a pretty patriotic song too.
It’s not just BEP. Jay-Z rapped anti-war lyrics on Panjabi MC’s Mundian Te Bach Ke (Beware of the Boys):
“International Hov,
We['re]… back home
screamin “Leave Iraq alone”
But all my soldiers in the field
I will wish you safe return
But only love kills war, when will they learn?”
[aside]Also, can anyone explain the Ronald Reagan reference in these lyrics:
“Before bin Laden got Manhattan to blow,
Before Ronald Reagan got Manhattan to blow,”[/aside]
I think the Jay-Z/Panjabi MC song was also Grammy-nominated.
And on Outkast’s album Speakerboxx/The Love Below, (also Grammy nominated) Big Boi’s song War contains the lyrics:
“When will we all, awake up out this dream
Come here and smell the Folgers, the soldiers are human beings
Man actin as if he was the supreme bein
Clockin the souls of men out like he was G-O-D and
W-A-Rrah, there’ll be no tomorrow but sorrow
and horror will follow the hollow hearts battle for dollars
Politicians, modern day magicians
Physicians of death, more health care for poor health
Who makin us ill, they makin us kill
That’s makin me spill my guts (chill Big, lay in the cut)
For what? I refuse to sit in the backseat and get handled
Like I do nuttin all day but sit around watch the Cartoon Channel
I rap about the Presidential election and the scandal
that followed, and we all watched the nation, as it swallowed
and chalked it up, basically America you got fucked
The media shucked and jived now we stuck - damn!”
All mainstream artists, all in the past year.
Yes it does. “Freedom of Speech” means that common people are not permitted to disagree with celebrities. When ordinary people disagree with celebrities, they are violating those celebrities’ freedom of speech. Commoners like you and me don’t deserve freedom of speech.
The matter regarding the Dippy Chips is one of audience (country music). The same is true for Streisand (old people). Their audience demographic is not exactly the most amenable to criticism of the government. It’s essentially a marketing decision for them. If they’re willing to take the PR/market hit, then they can go ahead and say what they want. However, if they say what they want, they should be willing to take the PR/market hit. It’s either stupidity or childishness for them to think that people are not permitted to buy or not buy their product on whatever basis damned well suits them.
Why do you think this when this very thread is about how The Dixie Chicks got nailed to the wall by “commoners” while BEP were not. It almost seems like you’re saying BEP are celebrities while DC apparently aren’t.
Oh, look, it’s strawman day at the conservative club. Or was there a point hidden amongst all your blithering?
I think some of you guys are way off here. Let’s use the Dixie Chicks as an example. Natalie Maines has just criticized the presiden’ts policies and intelligence. Now…
Example of a person who has abandoned respect for the right to free speech: “She should not be ALLOWED to say that! She must be legally forced to apologize and retract her statements!”
Example of a person who is exercising their own right to free speech: “That was a really stupid thing for her to say, and she is a stupid person for saying it! I’m boycotting her music and thinking up insulting names to call the band over internet message boards!”
Now, feel free to call the latter people total dipshits, but to say that they are only paying lip-service to free speech is completely absurd.
Here’s another song that largely slipped under the radars. System of a Down’sBoom!
This is a comparison of Apples to Oranges. The BEPs are taking a stance on the war and speaking on it, giving their opinion and their reasons for their opinion. The Dixie Chicks made a cheap-shot personal attack on the president:
Being made in front of a foreign audience added insult to injury. It’s like saying “We know the world is laughing at America, and WE ARE TOO!! HAHA!”
I’m not judging right or wrong for either the Chicks or the BEPs, or for any other artist/journalist/whoever that has made a statement for or against the war in Iraq or just poking fun at our president. I’m just pointing out that the difference between the Chicks and the BEPs isn’t race, musical genre, sex, or anything like that – it’s content.
BEP isn’t up and whining about how their “freedom of speech” is being destroyed because mere paeones are disagreeing with them. The Dippie Chips did exactly that. The attitude of liberals is quite plain: Ordinary people ought not to be permitted to disagree with liberal celebrities.
I came into this thread to make this exact point. It’s not what’s being said, it’s how (and largely, where) it’s being said. Protest songs are nothing new… Neil Young’s Ohio, Bob Dylan’s Blowin in the Wind, etc. No uproar, no outcry, but no outright defamation of the country or its President either. I wsn’t mad that the Dixie Chicks oppose the war - but to insult their own President in front of a foreign audience is not acceptable, in my opinion.
I still don’t understand how this means that only celebrities get to speak their mind. The Dixie Chicks said something some people didn’t like. Those people expressed their displeasure. The DC expressed their displeasure with those people’s displeasure. Seems to me freedom of speech is doing just fine on all points.
It’s a conspiracy. When Iraq was starting up, the Dixie Chicks came out with “Travelin’ Soldier,” a sweet, sappy anti-war song. The song quickly went to the top of the charts, as we country music fans cried our little eyes out.
Some of the male country artists wanted to cash in on 9-11, but they were taking a more testosterome-oriented approach, and having the Dixie Chicks dominating the airwaves with a cautionary tale was, well, a bee in their bonnet. So they exacerbated the situation and sold their albums by saying “This is what country music really thinks about the political situation,” and by getting radio stations around the country to take “Travelin’ Soldier” off the air. In particular, Toby Keith has these offerings:
Beer for my Horses
Grandpappy told my pappy’ back in my day’ son
A man had to answer for the wicked that he done
Take all the rope in Texas
Find a tall oak tree’ round up all of them bad boys
Hang them high in the street for all the people to see that
Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue
Hey Uncle Sam put your name at the top of his list
And the statue of liberty started shaking her fists
And the eagle will fly
And its gonna be hell
When you hear mother freedom start ringing her bell
And it will feel like the whole wide word is raining down on you
Brought to you courtesy of the red, white and blue
Only with the distraction and rage brought about by completely discrediting the Dixie Chicks and disparaging the feminine side of the genre (which includes a lot of sensitive male artists singing about their dogs and lost loves too), could a song about lynching make it to number one. :rolleyes: Yes, even in country music.
As far as Black Eyed Peas go, I dislike their music, but I’ll offer up tangent Eminem in the plea that it’s rap, not race. Since when has anyone cared that Eminem is unpatriotic? And yet…
White America
Sent to lead the march right up to the steps of Congress,
And piss on the lawns of the White House,
To burn the casket and replace
It with a parental advisory sticker,
To spit liquor in the faces of in this democracy of hypocrisy.
Fuck you Ms. Cheney
Fuck you Tipper Gore
I’ve never been to a concert where the artists weren’t embarassed by the current sitting president, so I’m standing by the scapegoat theory.
… What?
The main difference is that white people can’t be black. While males can be blond bubble-heads. (DUH!)
Since it seems everyone seems to think this is GD maybe this should get moved. But I’ll take a shot at this since no one else has. My guess it’s got something to do with cocaine, Reagan was the 80s, popular drug of the 80s was coke, I might be wrong but I think there are some theories about cocaine and Nicarauga or something. Maybe someone else can build on this?
Today’s definition of irony, ladies and germs, from Chastain86:
Internet users flaming each other on a message board over the meaning of a song that, in essence, tells people to be nice to each other. :rolleyes:
I’m glad some of you aren’t responsible for conducting land wars in Asia. Be nice and settle down, for Christ’s sake.
I’m not seeing anybody flaming anyone in this thread about any song. Oh,wait-- gex gex did accuse Dogface of blithering. Mostly it’s about why The Dixie Chicks raised some people’s ire while BEP did not.
I think my reasons (racism and anti-womanism) have been shown to be false. It had more to do with audience, expectations and the presentation of the (supposedly) offensive message.
I thought that was Willie Nelson.
It was Toby Keith and Willie Nelson doing a duet. In the video, they formed a posse and everything!