Natalie Maines, lead singer of Dixie chicks, voiced her opinion about the War in Iraq and her feelings towards the current president in 2003. This comment caused quite an uproar in the country music industry and in the U.S. The Dixie chicks too full responsibility for their actions while countless amounts of radio stations banned their music and the public held protests to boycott the chicks music by destroying CD’s and such. Natalie Maines, and the other two members of the band, express the remorse and anger through the song “Not ready to make nice.” The passion of pain and frustration is apparent in the lyrics and visually in the music video.
The rhetoric in the lyrics is plain to recognize. The lyrics depict a feeling of anger and a hint of remorse. But the remorse only goes so far. Of course the band members are sorry for what was said and who it offended but time cannot erase the drama that that one little quote had caused. The reader can sense that a grudge is being held for the emotional distress the writers had endured. “I’m not ready to make nice, I’m not ready to back down,” shows the reader that the Dixie Chicks are not ready to put their guard down and to forgive and forget. Maines said what she felt and was punished immensely for her opinions. Like everyone who lives in the United States, people are entitled to have an opinion and to speak freely on whatever subject any way they want. The United States was founded on the constitution and its amendments and these ladies should not be hated because they had the right to freedom of speech. Others might have different opinions on the exiting president and how he ran this country but no one was ridiculed more than the Dixie chicks.
The pathos is evident in the text which is why this musical group chose to write a song like this. The writers are upset with how strongly people reacted and how it affected them. “I’ve paid a price and I’ll keep paying,” Maines, and others girls of the band, understand the actions that follow Maines words, but the pain it has caused the group is still lingering in the back of their minds still returning to haunt them. In the song it says “time heals everything, but I’m still waiting,” even thought what’s in the past is long gone, the girls still feel pain on the subject. The pathos is the strongest is this stanza: “ And how in the world can the words that I said send somebody so over the edge that they’d write me a letter sayin’ that I better shut up and sing or my life will be over,” Not only did people destroyed their music and radios wouldn’t play their music, they received hateful letters telling her to basically don’t talk or your life will be over. The logos is the strongest part of the song. The members of this band have every right to be upset on how the situation was handled and what they went through. This rhetoric in the lyrics is very strong and can persuade a reader to sympathize with this musical group.

links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwc5YSAc-7g

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/dixiechicks/notreadytomakenice.html