Not Ready to Make Nice
Encyclopedia
"Not Ready to Make Nice" is a country pop
song co-written and performed by the American
all-female band
Dixie Chicks
for their seventh studio album
Taking the Long Way
(2006). The song was released as the first physical single
from the album in June 2006.
On February 11, 2007, it won three Grammy Awards in the categories of Record of the Year
, Song of the Year
, and Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
In 2009, Rolling Stone
named "Not Ready to Make Nice" the 77th best song of the decade.
made of the American President
George W. Bush
while performing in a concert in London
, United Kingdom
. Taking the Long Way was the first studio album released by the Dixie Chicks after that. The controversy, and the band's reaction to it, is the major theme of some of the songs in the album, including "Not Ready to Make Nice".
The song, which was written by all three band members (Maines, Emily Robison and Martie Maguire) along with Dan Wilson
, is a statement of how they feel over the controversy, the banning of their songs from country music radio stations, and freedom of speech
.
The band went on to the October 25 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show
to promote the documentary film
Shut Up and Sing
and the music video of the song was quickly shown. While interviewing the band, Winfrey
said the song is so well written that someone cannot even tell if it concerns the controversy. Indeed, Maines said that she and the other songwriters wanted the song to have a universal interpretation. However, the final lines of the fourth verse are unequivocally about the death threats the band received during the 2003 Top of the World Tour
:
Some other lines in the beginning of this same verse are about a scene featured in the documentary Shut Up and Sing, in which a mother, who was protesting the Dixie Chicks at one of their concerts, is goading her young child to say "screw 'em!":
In the song, "daughter" was used instead of "son" as a matter of poetic license.
for "Not Ready to Make Nice", which was directed by the acclaimed British director Sophie Muller
, uses the contrast of dark and white colors. The video starts with a scene of Natalie painting the white clothes of the other two band members, Martie and Emily, with black paint, which symbolizes the boycott of the band. Then, Natalie is seen wearing a black dress with her hands on a puddle of black paint. In another scene, the band members are sitting in a chair and when Natalie gets up to say something, Martie and Emily pull her back in to the chair. Then, Natalie and the other Dixie Chicks are seen in an environment that looks like a classroom
and the teacher sends Natalie to write the English proverb
"To talk without thinking is to shoot without aiming" on the blackboard
. On the final scenes of the video, Natalie is seen in front of three doctors in what appears to be a mental institution, trying to escape from them.
The music video of the song broke the record as the longest run at #1 on VH1
's VSpot Top 20 Countdown
spending 15 weeks at the top, 14 of them consecutive. The video also became the second ever to retire to the 20/20 club on the show on 7 October 2006, when it was at #9 on the countdown. In December 2006, it was named one of the best videos of the year by VH1. "Not Ready to Make Nice" was ranked #36 on CMT
's 2008 ranking of the 100 Greatest Videos.
performed a parody
of the "Not Ready to Make Nice" music video. In the parody, Crista Flanagan
portrays Natalie Maines as standing by her comments about George W. Bush
; however, her bandmates, portrayed by Nicole Parker
and Arden Myrin
, want to apologize so they can remain popular in the United States. Flanagan, as Maines, states that there is no God
, she supports radical Islam
ic Jihad
, and that every woman should wear a burqa
. In the parody, Flanagan writes on a blackboard, "I am angry and important". In the parody, Flanagan is lobotimized
and her bandmates toast the operation; whereas in the original, Maines resists being treated by doctors and is toasted by her bandmates.
, Rolling Stone
and USA Today
. The song has been praised by these critics for being a statement in which the band does not regret Maines' anti-Bush statement.
, Good Morning America
, The Late Show with David Letterman, among others. It was also performed to internet radio
s such as Sessions@AOL
and LAUNCHcast
. It was performed in every single concert of the band's Accidents & Accusations Tour
(June 15–December 5, 2006). It was also performed at the 49th Grammy Awards, just minutes before the band won the awards for Song of the Year
and Record of the Year
. (In a nod to the controversial origins of the song, Grammy producers had longtime singer-activist Joan Baez
introduce the performance.)
chart, becoming the first song by the band to chart in the U.S. after the 2003 controversy. It was able to chart in the Billboard Hot 100 because of a high number of download
sales (it debuted at #11 and peaked at #8 on the Hot Digital Songs
chart), despite low country radio airplay.
For the issue dated February 24, 2007, in the wake of its Grammy success, the song re-entered the Hot 100 at #4, after a 20-week absence, becoming the band's highest charting single to date on the general music charts. It also tied with LL Cool J
and Jennifer Lopez
' "Control Myself
" as the highest re-entry at the chart. That same week, the song would also receive a Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America
for digital downloads of over 500,000. However, its drop to #28 in the next week broke the record for the biggest drop out of the top five in a single week, beating Clay Aiken
's "Solitaire
", which fell from #4 to #27 four years earlier.
The song was also very popular in Canada
, where it peaked at #3 on the BDS
chart. It also became a Top 20 hit in Australia
, becoming the second single of the band to chart on the ARIA chart, at #18. In the United Kingdom, the song charted poorly on the UK Singles Chart
, peaking at #70; however, it became the fourth single by the band to chart in that country. The song ended up going Platinum in the United States.
:
49th Grammy Awards:
released a version of Not Ready to Make Nice in Portuguese
, titled Não Tô Pronta pra Perdoar.
Country pop
Country pop, with roots in both the countrypolitan sound and in soft rock, is a subgenre of country music that first emerged in the 1970s. Although the term first referred to country music songs and artists that crossed over to Top 40 radio, country pop acts are now more likely to cross over to...
song co-written and performed by the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
all-female band
All-women band
An all-female band is a musical group composed of female musicians exclusively. A distinction is made here with a girl group, in which the members are solely vocalists, though this terminology is not universally followed.-1920s-1940s:In the Jazz Age and during the 1930s, "all-girl" bands such as...
Dixie Chicks
Dixie Chicks
The Dixie Chicks are an American country band which has also successfully crossed over into other genres. The band is composed of founding members Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily Erwin Robison, and lead singer Natalie Maines...
for their seventh studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
Taking the Long Way
Taking the Long Way
-Public reception:On May 31, 2006, the album took three number one spots on the charts of Billboard magazine. It was number one on the Hot Country Albums, Top Digital Albums, and on the Billboard 200 chart, going Gold in its first week with 526,000 units sold....
(2006). The song was released as the first physical single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
from the album in June 2006.
On February 11, 2007, it won three Grammy Awards in the categories of Record of the Year
Record Of The Year
Record of the Year may refer to:*Grammy Award for Record of the Year*The Record of the Year, a British award based on public polling...
, Song of the Year
Grammy Award for Song of the Year
The Song of the Year is one of the four most prestigious awards in the Grammy Awards ceremony, if not in all of the American music industry. It has been awarded since 1959 and unlike the Record of the Year award, which goes to the performer and production team of a single song, Song of the Year...
, and Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
In 2009, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
named "Not Ready to Make Nice" the 77th best song of the decade.
Song information
Controversy erupted over the Dixie Chicks in 2003 following a critical comment vocalist Natalie MainesNatalie Maines
Natalie Louise Maines Pasdar is an American singer-songwriter who achieved success as the lead vocalist for the female alternative country band, the Dixie Chicks...
made of the American President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
while performing in a concert in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Taking the Long Way was the first studio album released by the Dixie Chicks after that. The controversy, and the band's reaction to it, is the major theme of some of the songs in the album, including "Not Ready to Make Nice".
The song, which was written by all three band members (Maines, Emily Robison and Martie Maguire) along with Dan Wilson
Dan Wilson (musician)
Daniel Dodd "Dan" Wilson is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, Grammy-winning songwriter and producer...
, is a statement of how they feel over the controversy, the banning of their songs from country music radio stations, and freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
.
The band went on to the October 25 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
to promote the documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Shut Up and Sing
Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing
Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing is a 2006 documentary film produced and directed by Academy Award-winning director Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck ....
and the music video of the song was quickly shown. While interviewing the band, Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
said the song is so well written that someone cannot even tell if it concerns the controversy. Indeed, Maines said that she and the other songwriters wanted the song to have a universal interpretation. However, the final lines of the fourth verse are unequivocally about the death threats the band received during the 2003 Top of the World Tour
Top of the World Tour
Top of the World Tour was the 2003 concert tour by American country music trio Dixie Chicks. It was in support of their album Home, and named after the song "Top of the World" on that album.-History:...
:
- "And how in the world
- Can the words that I said
- Send somebody so over the edge
- That they'd write me a letter
- Saying that I better shut up and sing
- Or my life will be over."
Some other lines in the beginning of this same verse are about a scene featured in the documentary Shut Up and Sing, in which a mother, who was protesting the Dixie Chicks at one of their concerts, is goading her young child to say "screw 'em!":
- "It's a sad sad story
- When a mother will teach her
- Daughter that she ought'a hate a perfect stranger"
In the song, "daughter" was used instead of "son" as a matter of poetic license.
Comments by band members
The band members released their comments about writing the songs of Taking the Long Way through the website Frontpage Publicity. They commented the following about "Not Ready to Make Nice":- Emily: "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."
- Martie: "We had reached a point where we were laughing a lot about it, and people didn't really know how far it had gone. I realized I had suppressed a lot about the death threat. It all came flooding back in the process of writing this song, I think we all realized just how painful it had been for us.."
- Natalie: "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."
Music video
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Not Ready to Make Nice", which was directed by the acclaimed British director Sophie Muller
Sophie Muller
Sophie Muller is a British music video director, noted for her long-time collaborations with artists like Sophie Ellis-Bextor, No Doubt, Sade, Shakira, Shakespears Sister, Garbage, Blur, Annie Lennox and Eurythmics.-Background:...
, uses the contrast of dark and white colors. The video starts with a scene of Natalie painting the white clothes of the other two band members, Martie and Emily, with black paint, which symbolizes the boycott of the band. Then, Natalie is seen wearing a black dress with her hands on a puddle of black paint. In another scene, the band members are sitting in a chair and when Natalie gets up to say something, Martie and Emily pull her back in to the chair. Then, Natalie and the other Dixie Chicks are seen in an environment that looks like a classroom
Classroom
A classroom is a room in which teaching or learning activities can take place. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, including public and private schools, corporations, and religious and humanitarian organizations...
and the teacher sends Natalie to write the English proverb
Proverb
A proverb is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim...
"To talk without thinking is to shoot without aiming" on the blackboard
Blackboard
A chalkboard is a reusable writing surface.Blackboard may also refer to:* Blackboards are synonymous with "boards of infamy", an element of agitation-propaganda in the Soviet Union in 1930s, coincidental with Holodomor...
. On the final scenes of the video, Natalie is seen in front of three doctors in what appears to be a mental institution, trying to escape from them.
The music video of the song broke the record as the longest run at #1 on VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's VSpot Top 20 Countdown
VSpot Top 20 Countdown
VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown is a weekly television show on the VH1 cable television network in the United States. The long-running series began in 1994 as the VH1 Top 10 Countdown, as part of VH1's "Music First" rebranding effort...
spending 15 weeks at the top, 14 of them consecutive. The video also became the second ever to retire to the 20/20 club on the show on 7 October 2006, when it was at #9 on the countdown. In December 2006, it was named one of the best videos of the year by VH1. "Not Ready to Make Nice" was ranked #36 on CMT
CMT
- Medicine :* California mastitis test* Certified Massage Therapist* Cervical motion tenderness, a sign of pelvic inflammatory disease* Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease* Chemically modified tetracyclines* Circus Movement Tachycardia...
's 2008 ranking of the 100 Greatest Videos.
MADtv parody
The Fox late-night sketch show MADtvMADtv
MADtv is an American sketch comedy television series. It licensed the name and logo of Mad, but otherwise had no connection with the humor magazine outside the animated Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin cartoon shorts and images of Alfred E. Neuman that the show featured during the late 1990s. Its first...
performed a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of the "Not Ready to Make Nice" music video. In the parody, Crista Flanagan
Crista Flanagan
Crista Flanagan is an American comedic actress best known for her work as a cast member on the FOX sketch comedy series MADtv from 2005 to 2009 and for her recurring role as Lois Sadler on the AMC series Mad Men.-Early life:...
portrays Natalie Maines as standing by her comments about George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
; however, her bandmates, portrayed by Nicole Parker
Nicole Parker
Nicole Frances Parker is an Emmy Award-winning actress and singer best known for her work on Fox's sketch comedy show MADtv. In July 2009, she concluded her run as Elphaba in the Broadway production of Wicked...
and Arden Myrin
Arden Myrin
Arden Myrin is an American comedian and actress known for her role on the television show MADtv.-Early years:Myrin was born in Little Compton, Rhode Island, a seaside fishing village. She was the younger of two children; her father was an accountant, and her mother was a real estate agent. As a...
, want to apologize so they can remain popular in the United States. Flanagan, as Maines, states that there is no God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
, she supports radical Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic Jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
, and that every woman should wear a burqa
Burqa
A burqa is an enveloping outer garment worn by women in some Islamic religion to cover their bodies in public places. The burqa is usually understood to be the woman's loose body-covering , plus the head-covering , plus the face-veil .-Etymology:A speculative and unattested etymology...
. In the parody, Flanagan writes on a blackboard, "I am angry and important". In the parody, Flanagan is lobotimized
Lobotomy
Lobotomy "; τομή – tomē: "cut/slice") is a neurosurgical procedure, a form of psychosurgery, also known as a leukotomy or leucotomy . It consists of cutting the connections to and from the prefrontal cortex, the anterior part of the frontal lobes of the brain...
and her bandmates toast the operation; whereas in the original, Maines resists being treated by doctors and is toasted by her bandmates.
Critical response
"Not Ready to Make Nice" was very well-received by music reviewers from publications like Allmusic, Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
and USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
. The song has been praised by these critics for being a statement in which the band does not regret Maines' anti-Bush statement.
- Allmusic reviewer Stephen Thomas ErlewineStephen Thomas ErlewineStephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
said the following about "Not Ready to Make Nice":
- "Given the controversy of 2003, the conscious distancing from country makes sense — and given songs like the defiant "Not Ready to Make Nice", the Dixie Chicks don't sound like they're in retreat on Taking the Long Way; they merely sound like they're being themselves."
- Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
music reviewer David Browne commented the following about the song:
- "If you wonder whether they have regrets about the incident, "Not Ready to Make Nice" makes it clear they don't. When Maines gets to the part about all the death threats, her voice rises and the strings well up; it's a true pop-money-shot moment."
- Rolling StoneRolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
music reviewer Barry Walters commented the following about the song:
- "Rather than try to forget about singer Natalie Maines' anti-Bush remarks of 2003 -- which landed them in hot water with a lot of station program directors -- the threesome declares it's still "Not Ready to Make Nice"."
- USA TodayUSA TodayUSA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
music reviewer Brian MansfieldBrian MansfieldBrian Mansfield is an American writer and journalist. A longtime music writer and critic for USA Today, Mansfield is also the writer/producer of syndicated weekly radio program America's Opry Weekend for American radio network Dial Global Radio Networks and author and co-author of a number of books...
commented the following about the song:
- "They're "Not Ready to Make Nice" with the yahoos who threatened their lives over an offhanded comment. So give the Chicks credit for sticking to their guns, and give them more for getting on with life."
Live performances history
To promote both the single and the album, the Dixie Chicks performed the song live on some television programs such as on The Ellen DeGeneres ShowThe Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...
, Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, The Late Show with David Letterman, among others. It was also performed to internet radio
Internet radio
Internet radio is an audio service transmitted via the Internet...
s such as Sessions@AOL
Sessions@AOL
Sessions@AOL is a special avenue of programming conducted by AOL Music. Originally an AOL exclusive, Sessions@AOL can now also be seen as an avenue for non-AOL users as well. Sessions@AOL consists of exclusive and intimate performances of songs by popular musicians, with likes of bands such as...
and LAUNCHcast
LAUNCHcast
Yahoo! Music Radio is an Internet radio service offered by CBS Radio through Yahoo! Music. The service, formerly offered by LAUNCH Media, and originally developed by Todd Beaupré and Jeff Boulter, debuted on November 11, 1999, and was purchased by Yahoo! in October, 2001...
. It was performed in every single concert of the band's Accidents & Accusations Tour
Accidents & Accusations Tour
The Accidents & Accusations Tour was a 2006 concert tour by the Dixie Chicks. It was their first tour where tickets were sold after the scandal which ensued in 2003 when lead singer Natalie Maines publicly criticized President George W. Bush at Shepherds Bush Empire in London during the Top of the...
(June 15–December 5, 2006). It was also performed at the 49th Grammy Awards, just minutes before the band won the awards for Song of the Year
Song of the Year
Song of the Year may refer to:* Dove Award for Song of the Year* Grammis Song of the Year* Grammy Award for Song of the Year* Latin Grammy Award for Song of the Year* Singing News Fan Awards for Song of the Year...
and Record of the Year
Record Of The Year
Record of the Year may refer to:*Grammy Award for Record of the Year*The Record of the Year, a British award based on public polling...
. (In a nod to the controversial origins of the song, Grammy producers had longtime singer-activist Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
introduce the performance.)
Chart performance
"Not Ready to Make Nice" initially peaked at #23 on the Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart, becoming the first song by the band to chart in the U.S. after the 2003 controversy. It was able to chart in the Billboard Hot 100 because of a high number of download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
sales (it debuted at #11 and peaked at #8 on the Hot Digital Songs
Hot Digital Songs
The Hot Digital Songs chart ranks the best-selling digital singles in the United States, according to Billboard.Beginning in February 2005, digital sales have been incorporated into many of Billboards music single charts. It was decided to do so mainly because of the dramatic rise in popularity of...
chart), despite low country radio airplay.
For the issue dated February 24, 2007, in the wake of its Grammy success, the song re-entered the Hot 100 at #4, after a 20-week absence, becoming the band's highest charting single to date on the general music charts. It also tied with LL Cool J
LL Cool J
James Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...
and Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
' "Control Myself
Control Myself
"Control Myself" is a song by American rapper LL Cool J from his twelfth album, Todd Smith . It was produced by Jermaine Dupri and features fellow American singer Jennifer Lopez...
" as the highest re-entry at the chart. That same week, the song would also receive a Gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
for digital downloads of over 500,000. However, its drop to #28 in the next week broke the record for the biggest drop out of the top five in a single week, beating Clay Aiken
Clay Aiken
Clayton Holmes "Clay" Aiken is an American singer, songwriter, actor, producer and author who began his rise to fame on the second season of the television program American Idol in 2003. RCA Records offered him a recording contract, and his multi-platinum debut album Measure of a Man was released...
's "Solitaire
The Way/Solitaire
"The Way"/"Solitaire" is the second commercial double A-side CD single by Clay Aiken released on March 16, 2004, on the RCA label.In the summer of 2004, "Solitaire" replaced "This is the Night" as the bonus track on new versions of Aiken's Measure of a Man.The Way was featured in Scooby Doo 2:...
", which fell from #4 to #27 four years earlier.
The song was also very popular in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, where it peaked at #3 on the BDS
Jam!
Jam! is a Canadian website, which covers entertainment news. It is part of the CANOE online portal, owned and operated by Quebecor through its Sun Media division....
chart. It also became a Top 20 hit in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, becoming the second single of the band to chart on the ARIA chart, at #18. In the United Kingdom, the song charted poorly on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, peaking at #70; however, it became the fourth single by the band to chart in that country. The song ended up going Platinum in the United States.
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia ARIA Singles Chart | 18 |
| German Singles Chart | 89 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
47 |
| Sweden Top 40 | 20 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 22 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
70 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 4 |
| U.S. Billboard Pop 100 Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009... |
6 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks Adult Top 40 is a variation on the United States Billboard charts... |
29 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary | 32 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
36 |
Year-end charts
| Charts (2007) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 98 |
Awards
2007 CMT Music AwardsCMT Music Awards
The CMT Music Awards is a fan-voted awards show for country music videos and television performances. The awards ceremony is held every year in Nashville, Tennessee, and broadcast live on CMT. Voting takes place on CMT's website, CMT.com.-History:...
:
- Video of the Year (nominated)
- Group Video of the Year (nominated)
49th Grammy Awards:
- Record of the YearGrammy Award for Record of the YearThe Record of the Year is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards presented annually. It has been awarded since 1959.-History:The honorees through its history have been:*1959-1965: Artist only.*1966-1998: Artist and producer....
(won) - Song of the YearGrammy Award for Song of the YearThe Song of the Year is one of the four most prestigious awards in the Grammy Awards ceremony, if not in all of the American music industry. It has been awarded since 1959 and unlike the Record of the Year award, which goes to the performer and production team of a single song, Song of the Year...
(won) - Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with VocalGrammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with VocalThe Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded from 1970 to 2011. The award has had several minor name changes:*In 1970 the award was known as Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group...
(won)
Cover version
In 2007, Brazilien singer Wanessa CamargoWanessa Camargo
Wanessa Godói Camargo Buaiz , or simply as Wanessa, a Brazilian pop singer-songwriter...
released a version of Not Ready to Make Nice in Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, titled Não Tô Pronta pra Perdoar.
External links
- The Dixie Chicks official website
- The Dixie Chicks press room
- A fan site dedicated to the Dixie Chicks fan
- An interview that the Dixie Chicks gave to the CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
show 60 Minutes60 Minutes60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation.... - Live performance by the Dixie Chicks of "Not ready to make nice"