"Sin Wagon" is a song written by

Natalie Maines Natalie Louise Maines (born October 14, 1974) is an American musician. She is the lead vocalist for the country band the Chicks. In 1995, after leaving Berklee College of Music, Maines was recruited by the Dixie Chicks to replace their lead si ...

, Emily Erwin, and Stephony Smith and recorded by

The Chicks The Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. The band consists of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and Emily Strayer ...

for their 1999 album '' Fly''. Though never released as a single, it charted as an album cut. It has been featured in five tours: Fly, Top of the World, Accidents & Accusations, Eagles with Dixie Chicks and the

DCX MMXVI World Tour The DCX MMXVI World Tour was the fifth headlining concert tour from American country music trio Dixie Chicks. It started on April 16, 2016, in Antwerp, Belgium and finished on April 18, 2017, in London, Ontario, Canada. The tour was the first tim ...

History

The song's title was conceived by Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines. It is a reference to a scene in '' Grease''; after Danny tries to make a move on Sandy at the drive-in, and she furiously calls his car a "sin wagon". "Sin Wagon" was written "really quickly". The song's message is that "even the most good girl just has that wild side and you got to let it out occasionally," a contrast to country music's "stay-at-home" stereotype. It was released as a downloadable song in the ''

Rock Band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

'' series.

Controversy

According to Maines,

Monument Records Monument Records is an American record label co-founded in 1958 by Fred Foster. Originally founded in Washington, D.C., the label moved to Nashville in 1960, and experienced success over the next two decades with a number of artists including ...

was "scared to death" about the song's reference to " mattress dancing", and refrained from discussing the subject publicly. In 2000, the family of Albert E. Brumley filed a $500,000 lawsuit against

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

over the song's sampling of the

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

hymn "

I'll Fly Away "I'll Fly Away"( Roud 18437) is a hymn written in 1929 by Albert E. Brumley and published in 1932 by the Hartford Music company in a collection titled ''Wonderful Message''.Richard Matteson, Jr.''The Bluegrass Picker's Tune Book'' Mel Bay Publi ...

". The Dixie Chicks have made no comment on the case.

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

gave "Sin Wagon" a positive review, calling it "rip-roaring" and "wickedly clever".

Chart performance

Although the song was not an official single, it received sufficient airplay to chart as high as number 52 on

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

over a 20-week run. It was one of four songs charted by the Dixie Chicks on the chart dated for September 11, 1999, the others being "

Cowboy Take Me Away "Cowboy Take Me Away" is a song by American country music group Dixie Chicks, written by Martie Maguire and Marcus Hummon. It was released in November 1999 as the second single from their album '' Fly''. The song's title is derived from a famou ...

", " Without You", and "

Goodbye Earl "Goodbye Earl" is a country murder ballad written by Dennis Linde. Initially recorded by the band Sons of the Desert for an unreleased album in the late 1990s, the song gained fame when it was recorded by Dixie Chicks on their fifth studio album, ' ...

", all three of which were eventually released as singles in 2000.

Cover versions and parodies

* "Sin Wagon" has been performed on ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' by contestant Amy Adams and country singer

Carrie Underwood Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of ''American Idol'' in 2005, returning as a judge beginning with the twenty-third season. Underwood's f ...

. On

season 3 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

of '' The Voice'', 2Steel Girls and Gracia Harrison performed the song as part of the Battle Rounds. * American country music parody artist Cledus T. Judd released a parody of "Sin Wagon" on his album '' Just Another Day in Parodies'', titled "Wife Naggin'".

References

{{Authority control The Chicks songs Song recordings produced by Paul Worley Monument Records singles Song recordings produced by Blake Chancey Songs written by Natalie Maines Songs written by Emily Robison Songs written by Stephony Smith