American Idol is on now, long after the rest of the 50 states have watched it. I just heard Carrie Underwood sing the Dixie Chicks' "Sin Wagon". When she started, I was filled with dread - somebody else had sung this on a previous season of American Idol and the lyrics were changed in a significant way. Here's the original couplet:

Do a little mattress dancin'
That's right I said mattress dancin'

So the last time it was sung on AI, "mattress dancin'" was changed to something innocuous, "dirty dancin'" or "fancy dancin'" - and this change was, per the lyrics, repeated. Effectively making a shocking declaration of sexual independence into something a whole lot less... shocking. Or brave. Or interesting. Or sexy. Or fun.

[Hey, Hawaii's own Jasmine Trias is in tonight's audience! Cool.]

This time, thankfully, the song's been kept intact. It is indeed mattress dancin' - perhaps the closest to "fucking" you'll hear on this show, and good for them.

[Hey, Bo Bice is a better singer than Travis Tritt! Cool. Expected, but cool.]

So what was I getting at? Anyway, it's good that American Idol had the balls to stick with the original version instead of watering it down to crap. Not that I'm interested in seeing the show maintain its integrity - it's more that I love the Dixie Chicks and this song deserves respect if it's going to be sung on national TV.

And for the record, Carrie Underwood is no Natalie Maines. She made a clear effort to enjoy the song and make it fun, but there's more to "Sin Wagon" than that. Natalie's singing about a woman scorned who gets some revenge by sleeping around. There's as much anger and vengeance in this song as there is reckless abandon and glee. I didn't get that from Carrie's version at all - but I doubt Carrie can do anger.

Holy shit! It's been two years since the Dixie Chicks have had a new album. I remember listening to their live album while driving back from Key West to Cape Coral with Barbara and Harumi...

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