Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing (2006)

Greetings from Lithuania.I enjoyed "Shut Up & Sing" (2006) not only because i really like "The Dixie Chicks" band, but because this is a really involving documentary in a first place. I'm not the big fan of this band, but i did listen all of their records. But the reason of how i heard about this band in a first place was mainly because of that "scandal" and only after i listened to their music and really liked it. After i learned that there is even this documentary "Shut Up & Sing" about the "event" and "aftermath" - i couldn't stay away and not watch it.I really liked to learned more about this band, which this documentary does well. It also shows many of "behind the scene" things and they were interesting to watch. This documentary was also very well paced - at running time 1 h 30 min it almost never drags and is involving all the way. All in all "Shut Up & Sing" is a really good documentary about the "all American girls" who said to much, but never regret it.

I guess I'm the Dixie Chicks' new audience, their having been deserted by a certain breed of fan who interprets seventeen words as a good reason to renounce his or her loyalty and stomp a few CDs into oblivion. Why would any artist want such a fan in the first place? Where are the country-music fans who will stand up for them? Are we really this easily distracted, so many years after Lennon's infamous "more popular than Jesus" stompfest? Yeah, I suppose we are.This is a truly heartbreaking film. It's also really funny, and ultimately joyous. These three simply do not give in, and while there's a certain "Spinal Tap" quality about their efforts to redefine their careers in light of their abandonment by extremely fair-weather friends, the fact is that it worked. They're still the world's best-selling all-female band, and until we can round up three or more seriously fascist chicks who can work together long enough to deliver a significant challenge, I suspect that they'll remain that way.

First of all, the Dixie Chicks stole the title of their documentary from Laura Ingram's book "Shut Up and Sing" The Dixie Chicks used "Shut up and Sing" for the title just before the election. Maybe they just tried to get some press from Laura's success.Let see if we can't steer the folks back to the real source. Second, The Dixie Chicks are confused about the meaning of free speech. They have the right to say whatever they want but what they don't understand is that other people are free to comment about how silly or unpatriotic some of their statements are. People also have the right to protest them and boycott their music. That's what these ignorant girls don't get. They think they should be able to say whatever they want and everyone who takes offense should shut up. Shame on you girls.

I rented this last night because I absolutely love "Not Ready to Make Nice," their recent single, and I was intrigued by how they dealt with all the flack that arose from Natalie Maines' statement about being ashamed that the President is from Texas, and the documentary is really, really good. I've always liked the Dixie Chicks in spite of their ties to modern country music (something I absolutely despise), and I have to say that I totally love them now. The documentary doesn't make them seem perfect or righteous, and it's very clear that they didn't always know what to say or how best to express themselves with the whole media fiasco, but they really took things head on and they've come out completely on top, especially after their sweep at the Grammys, which happened after the documentary was made.I also had no idea until watching the Grammys that Dan Wilson (of Semisonic) co-wrote the album with them, and he's shown quite a bit in the documentary, which I was really excited about. I think the pairing was an awesome idea and I've always loved Semisonic (I think I had 'Closing Time' on repeat through most of 1999), so that was a really cool aspect of the film for me. :) I've also decided, after seeing how they've departed a bit from the country genre with this album, that I'd like to have the entire album to listen to, so that's my next plan for this afternoon.