Song Review – The Dixie Chicks – “Julianna Calm Down”
The hope when we heard that the Dixie Chicks would be releasing a new album is that it would be a moment of healing and reconciliation with a very important group in country music history that was embarrassingly blacklisted before “cancel culture” was part of the American vernacular. But with the sort of militant edge of their first single “Gaslighter,” the continued insistence by Natalie Maines to participate in outright political propaganda on her personal media pages to continue to poke the bear, and now this new song, any real reconciliation and healing with country music has been rendered quickly fleeting.
The fear when we heard that the Dixie Chicks had employed producer Jack Antonoff for their first record in 14 years was that instead of hearing the acoustic instrumentation that made the Dixie Chicks so vital in the late 90’s, we’d get the three women huddled around Antonoff’s laptop staring intently at pixels on a screen, wondering what best way to incorporate loops and samples behind a vocal track. That’s basically what you get with most Jack Antonoff-produced music. That’s one of the maneuvers he pulled with Taylor Swift right as she made her official transition from country to pop. And that’s what you get with “Julianna Calm Down.”
For all we know, this song will be a bona fide hit on pop radio. After all, that’s what Jack Antonoff is best equipped for—finding the right tempos and pentameters to optimize audio acceptance by the masses in line with current trends and sensibilities. He’s a hitmaker, just below the totem pole to Max Martin, Dr. Luke, and that ilk. But “Julianna Calm Down” is not country or anything akin to it, even if they tried to bury an effervescent notion of maybe some pizzicato on a fiddle or perhaps some spritzes of steel guitar in the mix that you must strain to barely hear.
But really the problem with the song is the writing. It’s already well-established in the forum of common knowledge that the worst thing you can ever possibly tell someone who needs to clam down is to calm down, correct? The setting for “Julianna Calm Down” is a breakup, which sure, can put one in a very ugly and unsettled frame of mind, and one where music is commonly one of the few true antidotes with its avenues for commiseration.
But this song seems to be more obsessed with looking at a breakup as a game, telling the jilted to “put on, put on, put on” a brave face, a “strut the fuck around” for the specific reason of not giving your previous lover the satisfaction of allowing them to see you appear hurt in a sort of adolescent understand of relationships and their aftermath. I mean, what a petty and shallow concern. Natalie Maines is basically compelling the audience to lie, while Emily and Marite get comfortable on the studio couch, stare at their shoes, perhaps surf Instagram or something, virtually non-existent on the track, their instruments resting snugly in their cases in a side room.
Much of the media is promoting the song as “empowering,” which means it will probably win seven Grammys. And it’s not that “Julianna Calm Down” doesn’t include some important lessons and reassurance, including underscoring the impermanence of the heavy emotions that present themselves after a breakup. I’m sure the young women of white American affluence who’ve been bestowed with names like Violet, Juno, Yaya, and Hesper who are name checked in the song will find this track very personal to them. But as a song, it just feels a little “meh” and directionless, and most certainly not country.
What made the Dixie Chicks cool was lush three-part harmonies, blazing instrumentation articulated by the women themselves, supple melodies, along with a strong feminine perspective. Here you get a rhythmic approach in hopes of implanting earworms in inattentive audiences, nouveau production, and mild writing. It’s just one song, but hopefully it’s not indicative of what we can expect from the entirety of their new album Gaslighter once it receives a release date after the COVID-19 quarantine.
2.5/10
Trigger
May 1, 2020 @ 10:42 am
Comments of a strictly political nature will be deleted. Please stay on the topic of this song. Thanks.
Tim
June 9, 2020 @ 7:44 am
I love the song.
Melissa W
May 1, 2020 @ 10:51 am
This song sound like it’s supposed to be empowering & supportive but I just get anger. This is working out to be a very angry break up record from Natalie. Aren’t there 3 people in this band? I have a feeling they had no real input and followed their leader. No thanks. I will pass on the anger.
Mike Honcho
May 1, 2020 @ 11:04 am
About as deep as I expected. The lack of musicality wasn’t, though. Kudos for putting ‘fuck’ in.
Jake Cutter
May 1, 2020 @ 11:05 am
The lyrics? – whatever. Musically just not a good song, by any standard. Stranger things have happened, but If this becomes a pop hit I’ll eat my hat.
Corncaster
May 1, 2020 @ 2:14 pm
Lame and musically tone-deaf. There’s not a single line that has any music in it.
What is wrong with these people? Have they just given up on the music of language?
Sorry, this is turd in the punchbowl territory.
Jake Cutter
May 1, 2020 @ 3:13 pm
It sounds like a marketing jingle reject for YouTube.
If going though the motions for all the wrong reasons had a sound, this would be it.
Strait Country 81
May 1, 2020 @ 5:45 pm
Sounds like something from a Taylor Swift album
Aggie14
May 1, 2020 @ 9:49 pm
This song has no flow. Very choppy
Sarah
May 1, 2020 @ 11:18 am
less dixie chicks, more reviewing sunny’s new song poet’s prayer 😀 dixie chicks are quickly becoming meh and unlistenable for me
Mama&Trains&Trucks&Prison&GettinDrunk
May 1, 2020 @ 6:16 pm
Poet’s Prayer is amazing. Anything Sunny does is amazing though 🙂
Wesley Gray
May 2, 2020 @ 11:11 pm
Great song for sure. Sunny is underrated as hell. My acoustic was autographed by her!
OlaR
May 1, 2020 @ 11:24 am
Too long, whiney, not country…
…but i can’t wait for the dance mix. Should be a massive club hit.
A Frankie Knuckles (RiP), David Morales or Todd Terry Big Room Bangin’ Remix & Classic House MIx or a Deep House Mix or…oops.
Dom
May 1, 2020 @ 11:28 am
Trigger, have you heard Jack Antonoff’s production before, besides Swift’s catalouge? He’s far from the evil Max Martin that you are peddling him as.
He has produced most of the better Swift songs from her recent turn to pop but was by no means the catalyst for that change.
He is also responsible for some of the most esteemed and loved pop records of the last decade e.g Lorde’s Melodrama St Vincent’s Masseduction and Lana Del Rey’s Norman Rockwell. The latter featured mostly organic instrumentation. He hardly ever uses samples and quite frankly is a far better producer than you are giving him credit for. Not to mention in 2012 his own band bleachers put out a covers record with all female cover including Natalie Maine’s.
Is this song country? No its not, but just because he is a pop producer doesn’t mean he’s an evil super producer. In fact those last albums were big sellers for niche pop markets, not top 40 pop radio.
I have high hopes that there will be better from the record and hopefully some more country sounding songs but I’m not going to be upset as I know Antonoff is a fine prodicer, known for working with female artists not controlling them. I’m sure this is the vision they wanted not dictated to them.
Trigger
May 1, 2020 @ 11:45 am
I didn’t mean to imply that Jack Antonoff was evil or something. I just was trying to convey to country readers who may not know who he is that he’s a producer that has primarily dabbled in pop and radio songs. I would agree he’s a bit more deep than someone like Max Martin, and I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. As I said in my song review of “Gaslighter”: “The greatest fear when this new record was announced was that producer Jack Antonoff might take the trio in an electronic direction, as he’s done with the production of many of his records, including from former “country” performer Taylor Swift. That fear really doesn’t bear out with the song “Gaslighter.”
That said, I think the production of this song fails it. It may have been the Dixie Chicks call, but my fear was we would not get the wood on wire, and collaboration that made the Dixie Chicks so great, and that is born out here. This is Natalie Maines and a laptop. But it’s just one song.
Dom
May 1, 2020 @ 11:59 am
Of course and I understand that. But broader than country he is a fantastic producer and the albums I mentioned by Lorde and Lana Del Rey are very well produced records for female artists who don’t scale the charts that highly. Most of his chart success has come from his collaborations with Taylor Swift which the name comes with the territory of hit maker.
Obviously pop isn’t for everyone, but it can have a brain and has done with some of the music Antonoff has produced. I have higher hopes for the record but then again it could be dud.
If there is an indicator of his use of organic instrumentation I’ve linked one of the Lana Del Rey tracks below. It’s whether that choice was made when the Dixie Chicks went into the studio thats the question. I for one would love to here a sound similar to Home and I’m not to keen on Juliana myself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uFv9Ts7Sdw
Jake Cutter
May 1, 2020 @ 6:23 pm
Has he produced other records, for female artists??
Rusty
May 2, 2020 @ 5:00 am
He’s produced Lana Del Reys last album. It’s very good
Carmel
May 4, 2020 @ 1:54 pm
Thank you for linking that Lana del Rey song. I was an early fan of hers, but haven’t kept up with her recent work. That song is stunning, will have to check out the rest of the album.
Cool Lester Smooth
May 5, 2020 @ 7:38 am
It’s also worth noting that the tracks he’s produced for Swift have tended to be the least electronic/artificial/crappy on their given albums, especially relative to the cuts she puts out with Martin and Shellback.
Kk
May 6, 2020 @ 4:16 am
This reads like the bitter country fans that caused the Chicks to leave the genre. For shame. Luckily there are millions of us who don’t care if they’re country or not. Love the Chicks!!
ISOrealmusic
May 1, 2020 @ 11:42 am
You got us Trig! Now play the real song…
Conrad Fisher
May 1, 2020 @ 12:19 pm
hahaha. This made me lol XD
The lyric went by too fast for me to take it in right… I think it takes too long to get to the hook to be a pop hit, but what do I know. Also not a fan of profanity in songwriting.
Tom Smith
May 1, 2020 @ 11:51 am
Was Pink not available for this song?
DS
May 2, 2020 @ 6:57 am
Pink is too good for this trash
Jason Hannan
May 1, 2020 @ 12:07 pm
They are talented folks, this stuff just isn’t for me though.
John
May 1, 2020 @ 12:12 pm
Can I give a negative score for this song? On a positive note, at least they don’t berate their fans this time!
North Woods Country
May 1, 2020 @ 12:15 pm
When you’re too emotionally invested in the art, you paint black and white pictures and forget that the world is an overwhelming amount of shades of gray. Swing and a miss, just like “Gaslighter.”
Jeff
May 1, 2020 @ 12:16 pm
Total waste of talent.
John
May 15, 2020 @ 2:45 pm
I agree 100% Martie & Emily are so talented with all the Instruments they can play. A total waste of their skills as musicians. I’ll stick to listening to Taking the Long Way. That’s their best album and still is .
Benny Lee
May 1, 2020 @ 12:21 pm
Wow, that is an amateur level pop song.
wayne
May 1, 2020 @ 12:59 pm
Maines proving that they are simply washed-up with their contrived anger at the world. Mainstream media liking this album is the main reason I don’t. Time hog-face goes out to pasture where she can wade in her anger amidst the pig crap. They are talented as always and just as hateful.
Fuzzy TwoShirts
May 1, 2020 @ 1:16 pm
This is the stupidest thing ever. I’d rather listen to that Sham Hunt song that has Webb Pierce in it.
Shoot I’d rather listen to Gaslighter than this.
I’d also rather that Natalie Maines had just taken the hint that nobody ever wanted to hear from her again and vanished into the ethereal realm of forgotten celbrities and maybe appeared on worlds dumbest as a host or launched a two episode VH1 series that quickly gets canned.
This is just bad, and I really hope that this is the last song this “band” ever records.
Seriously, give up. pack it in, you’re terrible and nobody with enough brains to tie their own shoes would listen to this willingly.
Blake
May 1, 2020 @ 1:17 pm
Trigger, speaking of new songs… I’m surprised you haven’t touched on that new Mark Chesnutt song “I found Another You (& She Hates Me Too). Great to hear Mark putting out some real quality stuff… unlike this Dixie Chicks one, lol.
Mike Hunt
May 1, 2020 @ 10:38 pm
Lol. “I found another you and she hates me too”. You’ve got to be kidding me. What a joke
Blake
May 3, 2020 @ 10:33 am
How is it a joke?
Ken
May 1, 2020 @ 2:02 pm
That’s really awful. Very disappointing. Worst thing they have ever recorded.
Normal Street
May 1, 2020 @ 2:25 pm
I could write a long list of things wrong with this song. It’s terrible in every way. Despite lockdown, I have better things to do so I will just say I expected better from the Dixie Chicks.
Jimmy Row
May 3, 2020 @ 4:10 pm
Why wouldn’t they use Lloyd Maines for producer?
Kevin Smith
May 1, 2020 @ 3:00 pm
Emily and Martie, time to ditch Ol mouthy. She’s only making you look bad by association. Start a duo group with the two of you showcasing your talents. Obviously this current project should be named The Dixie Chick considering its a one woman spectacle. And a disastrous spectacle at that. Really hope Trig is wrong and it doesn’t suck up Grammys.
Melissa W
May 1, 2020 @ 3:23 pm
They did. Their group is called Court Yard Hounds. I think they have released a few records.
Cool Lester Smooth
May 4, 2020 @ 5:33 pm
Yup.
They’re nowhere near as good as the peak Chicks, though.
LB
May 1, 2020 @ 3:30 pm
This is not exactly the comeback I was anticipating…I wasn’t big on Gaslighter and was hoping future songs would be better, but this is way worse. Yikes.
albert
May 1, 2020 @ 4:16 pm
i got 2 and a half minutes in and heard no ‘chicks’ ..only natalie mains ”singing” to a fake kik and a fake ‘organ’. she was making it up as she went along . if she wasn’t then wow ..that’s the best you can come uo with when you are actually TRYING to ‘write’ a song ?? .
this sounds like that kind of trendy rappy rambling we’ve come to expect from sam hunt . the fact that it comes from the DC’s …a trio we know has actually WRITTEN some pretty damn good songs makes it that much harder to stomach . this tells me the chicks are absolutely fresh out of song ideas and must surely be boring even themselves .
don’t they know we’re a captive covid audience ? why would they subject ‘fans’ to this ?
there are about a quadrillion songs around which would make this sound like a hipster on acid .
hang it up girls ….time to hang it up . you don’t need to continue embarrassing yourselves amazon and walmart are hiring .
Jerseyboy
May 1, 2020 @ 5:19 pm
This is depressing, I haven’t even listened to it yet, but from what I’m reading I may not. I loved their earlier stuff as well as my wife and kids, but this sounds like a total departure.
I’m surprised that They didn’t use Natalie’s dad Lloyd to produce, he’s a genius and has done a ton of great work recently. He’s one of my favorite steel players and producers. I may wait till other songs come out so it doesn’t ruin my image of them
Taylor 💜
May 1, 2020 @ 5:44 pm
I love the Dixie Chicks, and they are my all-time favorite band for sure. That being said, this song is definitely a huge disappointment. The lyrics are subpar and the production is terrible. Gaslighter was decent, but I was really hoping we’d get to hear some more of Martie’s kick-ass fiddling and Emily’s fantastic banjo playing. Maybe the rest of the record will be good though.
the pistolero
May 1, 2020 @ 7:40 pm
Wow. That was just…incredibly depressing, all things considered.
I remember the first time I heard “I Can Love You Better,” the first single from Wide Open Spaces, the Chicks’ first album with Natalie. I thought they had a cool sound, and the entire album was really good. And they only got better with Fly and Home. When you think about it, in the context of early 2000s mainstream country, the latter record was downright revolutionary. There they were, doing a borderline bluegrass record with a shit-ton of fiddle, mandolin, and banjo…and it sold like crack. In the era of Shania Twain and Faith Hill. There were also appearances on tribute albums to Bob Wills and Bill Monroe. I very clearly remember back when they were touring with George Strait in 1999, a week before that tour hit Houston, they did an interview with the Houston Chronicle, and they talked about when they were asked to do a pop remix of the title track to Wide Open Spaces. Natalie herself had this to say:
“We like those other artists, and we’re fans of that other music, but we don’t want anyone thinking we’re trying to not be country….We’re trying to bring country back to country.”
So much for that, I guess. I know how we got here, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. And make no mistake, I DO NOT like it one little bit, any more than so many old Metallica fans liked what they did after …And Justice For All.
Matt F.
May 3, 2020 @ 10:42 pm
Major props for the unexpected Metallica reference!
the pistolero
May 4, 2020 @ 4:33 am
Thanks. That was the first thing that came to mind, because, as you’ll hear if you listen to the song, it’s just as different than what the Chicks were doing before as the Black Album was from what Metallica was doing before. Probably more so, because there were still shades of the old Metallica with songs like “Holier Than Thou” and “Through the Never.” Honestly, now that I think about it, if this song and “Gaslighter” are any indication, musically speaking, this album is going to be the Chicks’ equivalent of Reload.
(The funny thing about me making that comparison is that TBA was what got me into Metallica. I just ended up liking what they were doing before a lot, A LOT better. TBA was my gateway to real metal, honestly.)
Jack W
May 5, 2020 @ 6:55 am
I’m not a natural speed metal fan, but as my first deep musical love was Led Zeppelin, I do remain a fan of good hard rock. I first dipped by toes in the Metallica pool with TBA and Reload somewhere around 2000. TBA is better, but I think Reload is a good hard rock album (love Fuel and The Memory Remains, for starters). Didn’t really care for Load, though. Shortly picked up the previous albums except for Kill ‘Em All, which I ended up getting fairly recently. Then, a few Megadeth albums and a live one by Motorhead (NSTH). I think that’s I need i the way of speed metal, really. But I get the disillusion one would feel if your bread and butter Metallica were the first four (or three) albums. Anyway, I think we we’ve heard from The Chicks here is a more jarring transition than Metallica’s Load/Reload. For me, it’s more like if they put out something that sounded like The Cure. I actually like The Cure, but that’s not an album I’d be hankering for.
Joshua
May 1, 2020 @ 8:28 pm
hang it hang it hang it hang it up
hang it hang it
Natalie, hang it up.
Try to remember the wide open spaces
Don’t let your hate and bitterness steal the last bit of peace in your soul
so Natalie
hang it hang it hang it hang it up
hang it hang it
Hang it up Natalie.
Jeff Givens
May 1, 2020 @ 8:51 pm
Extremely disappointing. Terrible song. They are too old to try to be Taylor Swift. Hopefully the rest of the album plays to their sizable talents, instead of pandering to an audience of angst ridden teenagers.
Kenny Penman
May 2, 2020 @ 3:29 am
I’m not sure what people are expecting? The world since the last Dixie Chicks album has moved and changed, we’ve had many women move to positions off the back of ME2 movement etc. to a world view which is openly more critical of men. Sure, Natalie is the front for what appears to be bitterness in Gaslighter and the worry and fear here, but should we lay it at her door only? Is it not more the female world waking up and vocalising their feelings in ways we as men may find unconfortable? All the chicks have been divorced since they last released a record. It’s quite possible that the album is an amalgam of the thoughts all 3 women have had since those experiences. Because Natalie is the most openly outspoken – someone, as pointed out above – who does seem to take some pleasure in prodding the bull, I think people assume that this is only her voice talking. When you get to the politics isn’t it that the same? It is totally possible that the other 2 would rather Natalie had never spoken out against Bush on that UK stage but, and I could be wrong, I have seen little to show that they disagreed that strongly, or that they were swift or public in a condemnation of their bandmate. They in fact showed a very admirable loyalty to each other. What we may well have is an album where all three girls want to go more Pop or whatever it will be – and that’s where this album is heading. I think country fans would love the old chicks back – those that would have them back at all – but in a world where they almost certainly don’t need the money and went through the experiences they did – watched themselves be demonised and records burnt etc it might be less than surprising that they don’t feel much of a debt to that old bunch of listeners, the old ways. Where acts like Kasey Musgraves have headed more Pop, Taylor Swift become the world’s biggest music art and the music of people like Lana Del Ray (also mentioned above) inhabited soundscapes they perhaps could imagine themselves in, I’m not surprised in a shift of direction. That they should change has to be entirely for them to decide – whether an audience will follow them or not remains to be seen. People like David Bowie was forever moving to ground where it felt like career suicide only to see it as part of a path to eventual classic projects. Who knows with the Chicks. Personally, 1 in 100 it seems, I actually quite like this track, for the most part it misses the girl’s harmonies and I agree the organ and percussion isn’t that engaging, but it has a certain stillness that I like – I can imagine it being sung loudly by a female audience at any future Chick’s gig – check out their old concert footage there were a lot of women in that audience. I’m not sure there are many in the SCM readership – it would be interesting to know what they thought. Not a great song, but it seems so conflated with all sorts of other feelings and biases that it was always hard to get a hearing that wouldn’t have preferred you stuck your cowboy hat back on, and made a remake of Home.
Conrad Fisher
May 2, 2020 @ 5:25 am
This is a helpful perspective.
OMFS88
May 2, 2020 @ 8:08 am
Expecting? I was expecting some of the best music I’ve ever heard, on par with their prior releases.
This is pure fiddle faddle!
the pistolero
May 2, 2020 @ 8:20 am
While I can understand the perspective here, it’s not the song’s attitude that bothers me personally. I’m all for being empowered and encouraged to keep your chin up and your shit together in the face of a breakup. It just seems that musically, at least — if this song and “Gaslighter” are any indication — they have completely abandoned what made them special and distinctive. It might be a stretch, even uncharitable, to say that they don’t have anything to offer the modern Top 40/Hot AC/CHR fanbase, but I don’t see them having near the success in that realm as they did in country music, even accounting for the fact that people don’t buy nearly as much music anymore as they once did.
And I think chalking opposition up to any extent as “wanting a remake of Home” is a bit unfair. The two albums before it sounded nothing like it, and they were both great. I for one would have much preferred they keep exploring the traditional country stylings not only found in Home but in the two previous albums. None of that was a recycling of what had come before but rather a fresh new spin on it. I would much rather have preferred they take that further as opposed to just abandoning it.
Kenny Penman
May 2, 2020 @ 12:13 pm
Hi Pistolero – I didn’t mean to say people can’t dislike the song because they would have preferred Home, I would have preferred Home myself. Perhaps more that for us to have expectations of them, and I want the album to be great – whether country or Pop – or whatever station in between, is possibly more about us than them. We can of course vote with our ears and cash and not support it if we don’t like it. I still like it enough – which I’m realising probably makes me 1 in 1000 rather than 1 in 100 :-). Ultimately that we seem to care says a great deal about how much affection the bands excellent earlier albums are clearly held.
albert
May 2, 2020 @ 9:53 am
bottom line , kenny , is that regardless off the times , the motivation , the ‘ziegeist ‘, the rationale , this is just a poorly conceived , crafted and executed ‘song’. its about SONGS . its supposed to be about MUSIC .
the narrative has no context , melody , let alone STRONG melody to grab the ear or heart , it is somewhat condescending , characterless , lacks a vibe of any description , contains little to no imagery , no honest observational insight , very little actual artistry in terms of musicianship or , at the very least , vocal input from the other chicks, its repetitive in intent and far too long for a ‘story’ with such a weak and obscure narrative to sustain a listener’s interest . it has no character development …no one for a thoughtful person (THOUGHTFUL ) to connect with …..I could go on , of course , but for me a SONG needs to be a SONG first with some crafting touchstones in place not merely to illustrate an awareness of same but to put them into service of the ‘message’ in the most effective way possible . the ‘message’ here SEEMS to be simply ” calm down “…SUNG TO whomever. but the message I and , apparently , many others here are getting , is that this is not a good piece of music for all of the reasons I’ve talked about above. and I didn’t even get to the question of it being a COUNTRY . its obvious that it is not and was never meant to be .
Kenny Penman
May 2, 2020 @ 12:21 pm
Hi Albert – I don’t entirely agree that the song needs to have much content to be a good song, or perhaps even a good country song, which as you point out it isn’t trying to be. I think there is a thought in there, even if it is slight and little fleshed out – and for the most part I think it manages to avoid an overtly condescending tone – as opposed to say Taylor Swift’s You Need To calm Down. I do however have no issue with anyone over them disliking it. I do disagree that we should see the band as necessarily going down the tubes as they have allowed Natalie to dominate their sonic and lyrical and political ‘agenda’ though – I think they are all likely to be choosing these paths – which I was picking up as a certain vibe in the comments. The chart placings for the last single weren’t great, so perhaps this, and tracks to come, will signal that 14 years away and a paucity of country sounds will leave them adrift without a fan base.
Loretta Twitty
May 2, 2020 @ 4:12 am
I often have a foul mouth, but something about an “F Bomb” here is disappointing. It feels like 13 year olds using it for shock value at the family dinner. I guess, I expected more from the DC. I expected they would aim for Americana type vibe. Ugh, this hurts. I am have been a fan since day one, but this…Tonight the heartaches on me.
albert
May 2, 2020 @ 9:56 am
you nailed it loretta . the f-bomb is exactly like a 13 year old trying to shock her dad or impress her friends . adds NOTHING to the already weak narrative and indeed …a very disappointing turn from maines and co.
DS
May 2, 2020 @ 7:03 am
Is this supposed to be music?
618creekrat
May 2, 2020 @ 7:15 am
Maybe the chorus could be reworked into a turkey call.
OMFS88
May 2, 2020 @ 8:06 am
What in tarnation?
Rethinking my stance of “buy anything the Chicks will sell me”.
Jim
May 2, 2020 @ 8:58 am
I read your review and a few of the comments before I listened to it, and it was still so much worse than I thought it would be. My poor wife didn’t realize it was The Dixie Chicks when she came in and it was playing.
the pistolero
May 2, 2020 @ 9:39 am
Not surprising, really. For all practical intents and purposes it’s a Natalie Maines solo single.
Clyde Benton
May 2, 2020 @ 9:21 am
All of this reconciliation talk is ridiculous. If you were, or are, triggered by Natalie’s political positions then you probably need to chill out a little. I disagree with Jason Isbell’s politics, but I’m looking at a signed record on my wall. His music is good, as was the previous work by the Dixie Chicks.
This song posted here? My word, that’s bad. So bad that it offends. Not because Natalie discovered a cuss word, but because the writing is vapid, and the music might as well not exist. This is spoken poetry from someone who dropped out of college in 2004 and has complained about their job ever since while not bothering to grow up.
Travis
May 2, 2020 @ 4:23 pm
‘Natalie Maines is basically compelling the audience to lie, while Emily and Marite get comfortable on the studio couch, stare at their shoes, perhaps surf Instagram or something’
Somebody needs to start a program to help musicians left on the sideline while their band leaders pursue this electronic shit. Reminds me of the Zac Brown band. I’ve never been a ZB or DC fan but I feel bad for the band members who have to deal with that.
Travis
May 2, 2020 @ 4:30 pm
After listening, if this doesn’t end up at the top of worst songs of 2020 list, I’ll be blown away. There are a lot of awful and non country music in mainstream country, but this song sounds like it took zero effort to write and record.
Di Harris
May 2, 2020 @ 4:43 pm
What?
Maybe it is because she’s
Putting on
Putting on
Putting on
That he’s turned off
How about just being yourself.
This song is an embarrassment
Jack W
May 2, 2020 @ 5:16 pm
Yeah, this is not good. Surprisingly bad for a song with the Dixie Chicks name associated with it. I really didn’t care for Gaslighter much either, but this is on another level. I don’t know, maybe start looking at Patty Griffin’s catalog again for songs?
the pistolero
May 2, 2020 @ 5:38 pm
I had that thought. Or Bruce Robison, Darrell Scott, or Radney Foster…
Cool Lester Smooth
May 5, 2020 @ 7:30 am
Yeah, they’ve really never been “all that” as songwriters (and I LOVE “Taking the Long Way”)…and their best original songs tend to be from the sisters (specifically Martie), not Maines.
Jason
May 4, 2020 @ 8:27 am
I gotta say…I like it. I liked everything they’ve done and I’m really glad it doesn’t sound like WOS, Fly, Home, or any of the other records. Is it the best thing I’ve ever heard…nope. I just dig music. I’m very interested in this record because although Natalie may be angry, she can sing her butt off and this band has always has something interesting to say. Just MHO
Cool Lester Smooth
May 4, 2020 @ 5:47 pm
Not great…but I was expecting it to be way worse based on the reactions here.
Don’t really feel any anger, here. It’s more of a melancholy, stiff upper lip sort of thing.
Definitely felt more like a Pink song than the Chicks’ wheelhouse
Dixie Chick'd
May 4, 2020 @ 8:30 pm
As someone not that keen on a lot of country music, this song is great! I think I’ll check out their previous records as well. I’m really excited for the new album.
Barstool Hero
May 5, 2020 @ 5:17 am
Sounds like Alanis Morrissette dipped in bubble gum pop.
src
May 5, 2020 @ 7:27 am
Am I missing something, does this “critic” even identify himself as the author of this way off base review. I’m sorry, I’m sure you’re a nice guy but you have no clue when it comes to the storytelling part of writing a song. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you have never written a song in your life. If you have please feel free to post the lyrics here, I’d love to take a look. Keep strutting
CountryKnight
May 5, 2020 @ 8:34 am
Typical tripe from the Chicks.
If they weren’t made into martyrs, no one would care. The JFK of country music.
Elle Emgee
May 7, 2020 @ 2:10 pm
I am a huge fan of the Dixie Chicks and I’m wondering if we even heard the same song here. “Julianna Calm Down” is awesome in every way.
Atomic Zombie Redneck
May 13, 2020 @ 3:21 pm
It’s ok, but it sounds less like a single and more like the odd, hidden bonus track.
JPA8930
May 26, 2020 @ 9:56 pm
I honestly hear MUCH more anger in the comments against this song than the song itself. I agree with the one commentator in the sense that it is much more of a “stiff upper lip” song than an angry song. I always hear her speaking to their kids (since the Chicks have all gone through divorce at this point) and other women in similar situations when I listen to this song. It also speaks quite well to a life of quarantine, which is probably why they released it when they did. Reading all of these genuinely (mostly) nasty comments just reminds me of when Linkin Park did their last album and how much vitriol the supposed “fans” threw at them for it because it was such a departure from their previous albums. Then Chester killed himself and everyone backpeddled. (A slightly different situation, but remember that these are still human beings with feelings and emotions) They are doing what feels right for them right now. Speaking their truth and what it means to them. You don’t have to like it or listen to it. You don’t have to like her or her personality. But at least she’s always been herself and has never pretended to be someone else or placate others. And on that note, since they really don’t even want to be associated with country music or the country music industry who so scathingly turned their backs on them in the first place, I guarantee you that neither Natalie or Martie or Emily will care if you don’t like them or their music. You are no longer their target audience and haven’t been for close to 20 years at this point. 🤷♂️
Marguerite
May 28, 2020 @ 7:27 pm
I have been where Natalie found herself….you have to convince yourself you are going to be ok before the truth catches up! I interpreted the song to be one of hope and endurance and survival….. I’ve been there so I get it! Go Dixie Chicks! Sounds good!
Bert
June 7, 2020 @ 5:25 pm
Since TTLW, I can think of 5 songs that the Chicks have covered; Lana Del Ray’s Video Games; Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball; Patty Griffin’s Don’t let me die in Florida; Prince’s Nothing Compares to you; and Beyonce’s Daddy Lessons. They have gone from Producers Paul Worley/ Blake Lively, to Lloyd Maines, to Rick Rubin, to Jack Antonoff. It stands to reason that this music will be different.