A Better way

By Dilip -

Everyone i know
Is in the fight of their life
And I believe there's a better way

 The Dixie Chicks made the quintessence of American music. You can't get more American than country and western. And they were the best. Yet they were denounced as traitors and anti-nationals (sound familiar?) when, nine days before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, lead vocalist Natalie Maines told a British audience: "We don't want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas." They were boycotted, banned from radio channels and generally demonised. Their CDs were run over by bull-dozers, one of their homes was vandalized, and the band was forced to use metal detectors at shows because of several death threats.

Sixteen years after the Iraq war, and despite the war being denounced as a disaster by several top US political leaders; the hostility to them has still not abated. Their rendering of the anti-war song Travellin Soldier is highly evocative of the human tragedy of war. (Read the lyrics). But thousands of war veterans love them for their music and their courage.

The Dixie Chicks represent the best of America. God bless you ladies. Keep singing
The Dixie Chicks perform in Washington, D.C., in June 2013.

(Gerald Martineau / The Washington Post)

Here are lyrics and music for a couple of their songs (click the titles. Their children are all lined up behind them in the first one, all playing some instrument or other)

Better way
I'm a living sunset
Lightning in my bones
Push me to the edge
But my will is stone

[Chorus]
'cause I believe in a better way

Fools will be fools
And wise will be wise
But i will look this world
Straight in the eyes

[Chorus]
'cause I believe there's a better way
I believe in a better way

What good is a man
Who won't take a stand?
What good is a cynic
With no better plan?

[Chorus]
I believe in a better way
I believe in a better way

Hope these words feel pleasant
As they rest upon your ears...
Reality is sharp
It cuts at me like a knife

Everyone i know
Is in the fight of their life

[Chorus]
And I believe there's a better way
Take your face out of your hands
And clear your eyes
You have a right to your dreams
And don't be denied

[Chorus]
I believe in a better way

Long way around
My friends from high school
Married their high school boyfriends
Moved into houses in the same ZIP codes
Where their parents live

But I, I could never follow
No, I, I could never follow
I hit the highway in a pink RV with stars on the ceiling
Lived like a gypsy

Six strong hands on the steering wheel
I've been a long time gone now
Maybe someday, someday I'm gonna settle down
But I've always found my way somehow
By taking the long way

Taking the long way around
Taking the long way
Taking the long way around

I met the queen of whatever
Drank with the Irish, and smoked with the hippies
Moved with the shakers
Wouldn't kiss all the asses that they told me to

No, I, I could never follow
No, I, I could never follow
It's been two long years now …

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