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Portions of this paper were presented at the annual conferences of the U.S.-Branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (April 2008), the Northeast Modern Language Association (April 2008), and the International Country Music Conference (May 2011). The author thanks Travis Stimeling for his valuable feedback and support on this project, Christopher J. Oglesby for permission to reproduce his photographs, and the journal's anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments and suggestions. Lyrics for "Texas in My Rear View Mirror" (Mac Davis) are reproduced with permission of Hal Leonard Corporation, and for "Lubbock or Leave It" (Emily Robison, Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines and Mike Campbell) with permission of Alfred Publishing and Wild Gator Music.
"It's not just about Lubbock, but any small hypocritical town."
--Natalie Maines on "Lubbock or Leave It"1
The May 2006 release of the Dixie Chicks' fourth studio album, Taking the Long Way, was a much-anticipated event for country music. Following the backlash against lead singer Natalie Maines for her denunciation of President George W. Bush from a London concert stage, many were eager to see how the trio would respond to the industry, the media, and former fans. Instead of placating the country music audience, however, the group released a boldly unapologetic album that confronted their critics head on. They were, according to the title of their lead single, "Not Ready to Make Nice" over the political controversy that had surrounded their career for more than three years. 2Although the single and its video attracted national media attention, it was the album's seventh track, "Lubbock or Leave it," that was most heatedly discussed in Maines's Texas hometown--even before the album was released. Co-written by Maines, her bandmates Emily Robison and Martie Maguire, and Mike Campbell (of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), the song responded to Lubbock's participation in the 2003 boycott of the Dixie Chicks' music. When local entertainment journalist William Kerns published the song's lyrics in May 2006, Lubbock residents soon began expressing their objections to the portrayal of their hometown as small and narrow-minded. 3The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal's website received a barrage of comments, and local musician Billy Briggs even co-authored a response song ("Trouble in the...