Not Ready to Make Nice

Written by the Dixie Chicks and Dan Wilson
Performed by the Dixie Chicks on their album, “Home”

Some of you make think it bold of me to start out with one of the most controversial groups in Country Music history. But before and since the Dixie Chicks, country music couldn’t really claim a girl-group as instrumentally and vocally talented as Natalie Maines, Emily Robison, and Martie Maguire. Most of these “girl bands” fell into Pop (the Spice Girls) or R&B (Destiny’s Child).

No matter what you think of Natalie’s slip of the tongue back in 2003, nobody can deny the power of their dynamic. I was lucky enough to see these girls in concert during their Top of the World tour that same year (can’t believe that was 7 years ago…) from the coveted second row on the floor. I’m an avid concert-goer (just last year, I saw Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert [twice], Lady Antebellum, Keith Urban, Sugarland, and Jason Aldean) and to this day, that’s one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.

But in 2003, below the Mason-Dixon line especially, crowds (former fans, believe it or not) were smashing their CDs (literally) and burning them in bon-fires. I very vividly remember a news clip of someone stomping their Fly record to pieces. Radio stations refused (and most of them still refuse) to play their music. I never understood why people were so upset. Yeah, maybe Natalie shouldn’t have said this:

“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.”

on stage in front of thousands of fans overseas. But the fact is that she did. I’m sure she regretted it at some point, though she never outwardly apologized to anyone. Her personal opinions don’t change the fact that she is a solid musician, an excellent performer and entertainer. Luckily, Maines and the other chicks were able to channel their feelings into a song called "Not Ready to Make Nice" in 2006. The Chicks took home 5 Grammys for that song in 2007, including Song of the Year and Record of the Year. But (not so surprisingly) the same year, the Chicks won nothing at the CMT Awards or the CMAs. The country fanbase isn’t very forgiving in these situations and the Dixie Chicks are a perfect example of that.

Before I talk about the lyrics, take a listen for yourself by watching the music video. It’s your best bet for understanding anything beyond this point.




For me, one of the best things about the way this song is written is how prevalent (yet not overwhelming) the rhyming is. You could read this song straight through, realistically, and not appear “sing-songie.” Here, try it yourself. This is the first part of the song, typed out the way you’d say it in a conversation:

Forgive sounds good. Forget—I’m not sure I could. They say “Time heals everything,” but I’m still waiting.

See? Very obvious rhymes—good/could, everything/waiting. The song continues this pattern throughout; it’s not an easy technique in songwriting.

The song does another thing: emphasize the use of colloquialisms. Here’s what we’re given:

-Time heals everything
-Not ready to make nice
-I’m mad as hell
-Made my bed
-No regrets

This is such an important element of the song. The Chicks were the center of a lot of negative attention in the 3 years prior to the release of this single. Everyone had something to say about them and for the most part, it was not pretty. And the point is just that: people were talking, talking, talking. The Chicks were hearing it all—to their faces and behind their backs. This song was their outlet—one that slapped its audiences in the face because of the way the Chicks flipped the meaning of these colloquialisms. (They say “Time heals everything,” But I’m still waiting.) They used them in a surprising, nearly shocking way that either helped you gain more respect for them or lose it entirely. It was a very bold, risky move. But I’m of the persuasion that they pulled it off pretty perfectly.

Another thing I want to point out in this song is the overwhelming use of I, I’m, me, and my—personal pronouns. It’s actually not something I even noticed until looking at the words by themselves on a page. In poetry, this repetition has potential to be unnecessary and almost annoying if it’s not done the right way or if it doesn’t have a specific goal in the piece. But in songwriting, repetition is a requirement. That’s part of what makes it a song (the chorus is typically sung 3, maybe 4 times in a single track—and in songwriting, a “hook” is the part that gets stuck in your head, and makes you want to hear/sing the song over and over). In "Not Ready to Make Nice," this repetition is particularly effective and powerful because it’s so heavy and personal to the singer herself. When Natalie Maines sings “It turned my whole world around/And I kinda like it,” you believe her. If Martie or Emily, for some reason, would have sang any of these lines, the use of personal pronouns would have been null.

Last, I want to show you one of the most bonding elements between this particular song and the genre of poetry: self discovery. This song is therapy, a coming to terms, an outright statement of who the Dixie Chicks were in 2006. They said what needed to be said, not only for themselves, but for everyone else who chose to ridicule them. They were brave and true, to their themselves and the music.