Songfacts: You can leave comments about the song at the bottom of the page.
When Natalie Maines remarked at a concert that she was "Ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas," The Dixie Chicks were dropped from playlists at many radio stations and were subjected to many attacks on their character, even death threats. This song is about how she is not willing to forgive them for it. (thanks, Shannon Mulvany - Spokane, WA)
Dan Wilson from the group Semisonic helped The Dixie Chicks write this. Emily Robison said: "The stakes were definitely higher on that song. We knew it was special because it was so autobiographical, and we had to get it right. We've all gone through so many emotions about the incident. We talked for days with Dan before putting pen to paper, and he really helped get inside our heads and put these feelings out. And once we had this song done, it freed us up to do the rest of the album without that burden." Natalie Maines added: "We tried to write about the incident a few times, but you get nervous that you're being too preachy or too victimized or too nonchalant. Dan came in with an idea that was some kind of concession, more 'can't we all just get along?' and I said, nope, I can't say that, can't do it. And we talked about it, and he said, what about "I'm not ready to make nice?" From the outside, normal people really weren't aware of how bizarre and absurd it got. Dan was really good at cluing in to that, saying something that didn't back down, but still had a vulnerability to it. This album was therapy. To write these songs allowed me to find peace with everything and move on." (quotes from a publicity release)
This won a Grammys for Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year. Taking The Long Road also won for Album Of The Year.
This single had a surge in sales of paid digital downloads after the group were featured on the television broadcast of the 2007 Grammy Awards. It originally peaked at #23 in its original US chart run in the summer of 2006. The single re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #4 in February 2007. This huge leap in sales meant that the song tied with "Control Myself" by LL Cool J and Jennifer Lopez as the highest re-entry in the history of the Billboard singles chart. "Control Myself" re-entered at #4 the previous year. (thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England)
Comments:
when I saw a father and son team in the midwest US being interviewed on tv before being shipped off to fight in Iraq state that Iraq was behind the 9/11 attacks the term 'US Intelligence' came to mind. This brave group and their songs are no less important to US history than '4 Dead in Ohio', 'Sky Pilot' and other anti-war anthems recorded 40 years ago. Besides the girls are better musicians and writers than their c&w counterparts who lament about the drunk or dog that ran away.
- roman, barrie, ON
you all should get some lives! :)
- hank, St.Catherines, ON
i love how this song can fit so many situations in life.
lately i've been listening to it a lot, even though it's not really my usual kind of music.
i'm being blamed and reprimanded for siding with my friends rather than my family, when my family was the one who was in the wrong. my dad and cousin started a fight with 2 of my best friends, and my cousin was arrested because one of my friends is pressing charges.
they expect me to go on like nothing happened, be "part of the family" again, but I'M NOT READY TO MAKE NICE. AND I'M NOT READY TO BACK DOWN CUZ I'M STILL MAD AS HELL.
- Morgan, gresham, OR