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"Lubbock or Leave It" is a country–rock song written and performed by the American all-woman trio Dixie Chicks for their seventh studio album, Taking the Long Way (2006).
[edit] Song information
The title of the song is a clear reference to the birthplace of lead vocalist Natalie Maines and it satarizes the lifestyle of people who live there. It also draws a parallel of the band's career with that of Buddy Holly - the creator of the Lubbock sound - in the following lines:
- "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"
It roused the answer song "Trouble in the Henhouse", in which Lubbockite Billy Briggs defends the city.
[edit] Comments about the song by band members
Band members Emily and Natalie commented the following about the writing process of the song [1]:
- Emily: "We'd seen 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."
- Natalie: "It's not just about Lubbock, but about any small, hypocritical town. Mike was asking me for all the details - the stores, streets and I came up with this long list of names. We talked about the irony of having a big painting of Buddy Holly at the airport - that his face is the last thing you see before getting on a plane! I do feel bad for my family who's still there and has to defend me - after everything they already went through, to have to do it again."
[edit] References
- ^ Comments on the writing process of the Taking the Long Way songs at Frontpagepublicity.com
[edit] External links
