2007 was no different: Once again the Grammy Awards left me disillusioned with the music industry. Grammy voters have consistently been at odds with mainstream society, taking years to accept and adapt to new musical trends, choosing what is safe over what is cutting-edge. (Need I say, Will Smith's victories?) Sunday night's show proved this as fact. Case in point: the Dixie Chicks' sweep of the top three awards, specifically their tune "Not Ready to Make Nice," which captured record and song of the year. An apparently leftist coalition of voters chose the song, which was a response to the criticism that the group received after lead vocalist Natalie Maines made very strong anti-Bush statements during a concert in London in 2003.
Songs, like literature and film, have long been empowering vehicles for social and political change. When this fact is a reality, and a song makes an authoritative societal statement by taking on a pertinent political issue, then it should find itself the receiver of the music industry's highest award. The Chicks' song makes no stirring revelation about the Iraq war or President Bush's policy. The song was chosen by a legion of voters, not for its quality, but as a slap on the face to the president. Plus, it's cowardly, because it never directly references him.
What aggravated me the most, though, was Maines' indifferent attitude upon winning her statuettes. Her face was stoic, and she carried an "I deserve this; screw you Bush" attitude.
But, in the end, when one looks at the statistics and not at their meaningless awards, everything falls into place in a just manner. Oddly enough, the year's "biggest" song failed to crack the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. While the album sold well, the group was altogether banned from country radio. With their popularity waning, they were forced to cancel several appearances at high-profile venues on their 2006 tour.
As a graduate student expressed to me, "The Grammys are like the trashy younger sibling of the Oscars." She's right. I've lost all respect for music's biggest award show, which has now proven itself to be as immature and worthless as Maines' existence in the music scene over the past few years.
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