The 13 best burns off the new Chicks album Gaslighter

"I hope you die peacefully in your sleep. Just kidding, I hope it hurts like you hurt me."

Dixie Chicks
Photo: Robin Harper

The Chicks, formerly known as the Dixie Chicks, have never shied away from making bold statements.

In their music, they've done everything from pen an ode to the murder of an abusive spouse ("Goodbye Earl") to satirize a white trash wedding (in the song named — what else? — "White Trash Wedding") to calling out and facing down the venomous vitriol heaped upon them for saying they were ashamed President George W. Bush was from Texas (see: almost all of Not Ready to Make Nice).

It should come as no surprise then that their first album in over a decade is alight with the fire and steely bite that has always defined their songwriting. It's a break-up album with a capital "B," made all the more pointed by lead singer Natalie Maines' recent divorce that added fuel to tabloid fires. Like the best break-up albums or put-down songs, Gaslighter is bursting with absolute zingers and scorching burns. It's blazing with a righteous fury that explodes in lyrical mic drops.

Here are the 13 best burns off Gaslighter.

"Gaslighter"

The Chick's first single off the album has a guns-blazing chorus, calling out its titular subject for his lies and then hitting him where it hurts by calling out his father.

  1. "Gaslighter, denier, doing anything to get your ass farther. Gaslighter, big-timer, repeating all the mistakes of your father."

"Sleep at Night"

2. "My husband’s girlfriend’s husband just called me up, how messed up is that? It’s so insane that I have to laugh." This is soap opera-level horrific.

3. "Remember you brought her to our show at the Hollywood Bowl, she said, 'I love you, I’m such a fan.' I joked that 'You can love me as long as you don’t love my man.' There’s nothing funny about that." This one stings for just how well it repurposes what should've been an innocuous memory (and for the record, the Chicks played a one-night-only show at the Hollywood Bowl in Oct. 2016).

4. "How do you sleep at night? How do you tell those lies? Looking me in the eye, living a double life, tell me how do you sleep at night?" How indeed?

"Everybody Loves You"

5."Why does everybody love you? They don’t know enough about you. Why does everybody love you? They don’t know the things that I do. Why does everybody love you? They don’t know enough about you. Do they know that I regret you? Do they know I shouldn’t have to?" Don't we all have a person like this in our lives?

"My Best Friend's Wedding"

6. "I realized that I prefer my own company to yours any time. In 20 years, in 20 years, in 20 years, I’ll still be younger than you." Sometimes, it's really the petty victories that make us feel better.

"Tights on My Boat"

In case you were wondering what he did on her boat in "Gaslighter," we get a whole barn-burner of a song explaining it.

7. "I hope you die peacefully in your sleep. Just kidding, I hope it hurts like you hurt me." If you don't choke a little in a mix of horror and glee upon hearing this, then I suspect you might not be human.

8. "Hey, will your dad pay your taxes now that I’m done?" I believe the only response to this is ohhhhh, damnnnnnn.

9. "You can tell the girl who left her tights on my boat that she can have you now. You’re going to get what you got coming to you." We always hope that they get what they've got coming to them.

"Hope It's Something Good"

10. "When did you know? Why’d you pretend to try? If you call her, I hope it’s really worth it. Twenty years of hanging on, now it all adds up to nothing." There's nothing more infuriating than feeling like you've been wasting your time.

11. "I’d have called you out, but I knew you’d deny it. After so long, I learned to hold my tongue. Now that you’re gone, I’ll get to write this song." Or I don't know, like 12 songs?

"Set Me Free"

12. "Decency would be for you to sign and release me." Just let her go, sir.

13. "To have and to hold, all the weight of this hate was exhausting." It might've been exhausting, but it sure produced a great album.

Now if you'll excuse us, we're going to sing along to these at the top of our lungs.

Related content:

Related Articles