The Chicks are a quintessential – albeit controversial – Texas group. Originally known as The Dixie Chicks, this trio, composed of members Natalie Maines, Emily Strayer, and Martie Maguire, was founded in Dallas, TX.
The controversy surrounding the group stems from comments Maines made about President Bush in 2003, criticizing him for his involvement in the Iraq War, saying she was ashamed to be from the same state as him. The Chicks were blacklisted from many country music stations, and their music and ticket sales suffered greatly. The Chicks’ position on Bush was cited as an inspiration by modern country artists like Taylor Swift, and fellow Texan Kacey Musgraves.
Many people expected their 2006 album Taking the Long Way to include some sort of apology for Maines’ remarks, but songs like“Lubbock or Leave It” quickly proved these expectations wrong.
Written by the band and songwriter Mike Campbell, the lead guitarist of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, “Lubbock or Leave It” refers to a town in West Texas, and according to band member Emily Robinson, they drew inspiration from “…a documentary called The Education of Shelby Knox, which was about a girl – she was 16 at the time, very religious – trying to get Lubbock to teach sex education in the schools. And Lubbock has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy and STDs in the US, so it really showed what happens when you keep this information away from people. Lubbock is also one of the last hold-out radio stations that still won’t play us, and of course Natalie is from Lubbock, so she has personal experience with the box that a small town can keep you in.”
The lyrics of this song speak on the struggle some Texans have with being tied to Texan identity itself – it focuses on the close-minded views that a lot of Texans have about the world and the idea of ‘southern hospitality and how surface level it can be. Although The Chicks don’t mention Lubbock outright for much of the song, there are a few instances where it is referenced directly. In the verse, “Oh, boy, rave on down loop 289 / That’ll be the day you see me back / In this fool’s paradise” they’re referring to the highway that surrounds Lubbock.
The song mentions also Buddy Holly – he was from Lubbock and the lyrics “Cause this is the only place / Where, as you’re getting on the plane / You see Buddy Holly’s face” are referencing his death in a plane crash in 1959. The first verse also includes a few of his song titles built into the lyrics, and Maines draws comparisons between how her hometown is treating her in the present and how they treated Buddy Holly before his fame (and before his death), saying “Maybe when I’m dead and gone / I’ll get a statue too.”
[Verse 1]
Dust bowl, Bible belt
Got more churches than trees
Raise me, praise me, couldn’t save me
Couldn’t keep me on my knees
Oh, boy, rave on down loop 289
That’ll be the day you see me back
In this fool’s paradise
[Chorus]
Temptation’s strong
(Salvation’s gone)
I’m on my way
To hell’s half-acre
How will I ever
How will I ever
Get to Heaven now
[Verse 2]
Throwing stones from the top of your rock
Thinking no one can see
The secrets you hide behind
Your southern hospitality
On the strip the kids get lit
So they can have a real good time
Come Sunday they can just take their pick
From the crucifix skyline
[Chorus]
Temptation’s strong
(Salvation’s gone)
I’m on my way
To hell’s half-acre
How will I ever
How will I ever
Get to Heaven now
Get to Heaven now
[Verse 3]
International airport
A quarter after nine
Paris Texas, Athens Georgia’s
Not what I had in mind
As I’m getting out I laugh to myself
‘Cause this is the only place
Where as you’re getting on the plane
You see Buddy Holly’s face
I hear they hate me now
Just like they hated you
Maybe when I’m dead and gone
I’m gonna get a statue too
[Chorus]
Temptation’s strong
(Salvation’s gone)
I’m on my way
To hell’s half-acre
How will I ever
How will I ever
Get to Heaven now
Get to Heaven now
[Outro]
How will I ever
Get to Heaven now
Interestingly, for a song that focuses on the negative aspects of Texas, the instrumentals have a lot of conventions that could be easily associated with the state. They have a driven, country-rock feel, but still retain some elements of more traditional genres such as bluegrass and folk. The banjo and fiddle contrasted with the aggressive power chord guitar riff emphasize the country-western feel this track has – it sounds very contemporary but still retains a lot of character of the old South. As noted by Jada Watson for the Journal of the Society for American Music, “This simultaneous rejection and embrace offers a rich example of how songwriters use music as a means to define their relationship with place, and in turn, articulate their role within sociopolitical and cultural structures.” Watson is right, the contrast between the lyrics and the instrumental of this song is a great example of how songwriters grapple with the idea of ‘home’.
When thinking of how this song fits into the musical history of Texas, a quote from the Texas Handbook comes to mind: “[T]here is no singular Texas sound. Rather, there is a shared Texas musical spirit, one characterized by taking chances, trying new ideas, melding your neighbor’s music with your own, all united by an attitude of ‘Why not?’” The melding of rock and country exemplifies how Texas hosts a varied population of people, and the lyrics grapple with the idea that for being such a diverse place, Texas continues to be a place where close-mindedness and bigotry are some of the first things people associate with the state.
Works Cited:
The Chicks Gaslighter Interview. www.billboard.com/articles/columns/country/9419501/the-chicks-gaslighter-interview/.
“The Chicks – Lubbock or Leave It.” Genius, genius.com/The-chicks-lubbock-or-leave-it-lyrics.
Spong, John. “Chicks: In the Wilderness.” Texas Monthly, vol. 41, no. 4, Apr. 2013, pp. 126–218. EBSCOhost, search-ebscohost-com.unh-proxy01.newhaven.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,cpid&custid=s9437114&db=f5h&AN=86175370&site=eds-live.
Texas Music Handbook. Texas State Historical Association, www.tshaonline.org/handbook/projects/texas-music.
Watson, Jada. “The Dixie Chicks’ ‘LUBBOCK or Leave It’: Negotiating Identity and Place in Country Song: Journal of the Society for American Music.” Cambridge Core, Cambridge University Press, 12 Mar. 2014, www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-society-for-american-music/article/abs/dixie-chicks-lubbock-or-leave-it-negotiating-identity-and-place-in-country-song/6079192BB5778532937868061258E2CD.
