One of the funny/weird/terrifying things about the internet is the way it presents everything, and in doing so makes it possible to strip anything of its history. But as Kamala Harris put it, you didn’t fall from a coconut tree. “You exist in the context of everything you’ve lived through and everything that came before you” — wise words worth heeding, especially for all the Trump voters and conservatives making TikTok videos with the Chicks’ “Not Ready to Make Nice.”
Over the past month or so, “Not Ready to Act Good” has become an unlikely anthem of sorts for the Make America Great Again movement, meant to express a certain anger toward liberals who supposedly tell conservatives what to do all the time (despite the past few Supreme Court terms, it seems). Young women in particular have taken to the song as a way to respond to the possibility of Harris becoming the first female president.
“I used this song because this is how the Libertarian Party treats conservatives,” one commenter wrote. “Female outrage is seeing women say they are voting for Kamala because she is a woman and for my daughter’s future,” another commented. But what about women who are voting for Kamala because she is a woman and for my daughter’s future? [sic] “Have the lives and futures of illegal immigrants been ruined because of Kamala’s failure to be border czar?” (This is a recurring point of discussion in many “Not Ready to Act Nice” videos on TikTok.)
It’s true that “Not Ready to Act Nice” is one of the great pop music formulas for expressing female anger. But as many have pointed out, the Chicks wrote “Not Ready to Act Nice” after speaking out against George W. Bush and the Iraq War. It was a brave gesture, and it got them systematically banned (dare we say that’s why?). It has been cancelled.) by the country music world while coming under fierce attack from the far right.
The Chicks, who performed at the Democratic National Convention this week, may have responded to the trend, posting a “not ready to act” video on TikTok with the offhanded caption, “Bless her heart.” A representative for the band did not immediately respond. Rolling StoneRequest comment.
Now, the thing about art is that no matter the artist’s intentions, once their work is out in the world, it’s no longer entirely theirs. People can do whatever they want with it. One MAGA-loving country artist on TikTok, Austin Foreman, has spent the past two days doing just that, shedding liberal tears as he explains why it’s actually perfectly acceptable for conservatives to sympathize with the lyrics despite why they were written. (He even covered the song in his own vocals, in an ostensible attempt to provide a version for conservative labels that they can use without putting money in the Chicks’ pockets, though that’s not exactly how copyrights work.)
And you know what? Sure. Conservatives can use the song however they want—but that doesn’t stop it from being incredibly funny. The dissonance is as blatantly absurd as Paul Ryan loving Rage Against the Machine, or Ronald Reagan trying to appropriate “Born in the USA,” or even the decidedly apolitical trend of TikTok users using a Charlie Manson rendition to capture the cozy fall vibes. If Natalie Maines’ righteous lyrics and voice speak to conservatives, it’s a testament to her artistry—and perhaps a reason for them to reflect on why their grievances haven’t produced much good art.
