It's one thing to annoy conservative Nashville with coffeehouse claims
of Marxism and stands against the death penalty and land mines, as Earle
has done for years. His fans can take or leave this stuff, as long as the
music's good. And it's fine to write a song about Johnny Taliban, because
who hasn't wondered what goes on inside that kid's head?
The trouble comes when you let the ruckus kill the art, when you claim
oppression before the record is even released. Unless this country
magically became Iran yesterday, performing a controversial song is still
punished by a lot of free publicity. I'm hoping Earle won't will leave the
phony martyr routine to
a tired, dull act.
* * *
Earle has used the
ried">Holy Land/
%22+lyrics+jesus">Jeebus/
arle%22+lyrics+devil">Devil/
arle%22+backwards+guitar">backwards guitar thing pretty often. Anybody
surprised by an Earle album called "Jerusalem" hasn't been paying
attention.
He's also written songs with characters endorsing
son,
ycho stalking, assault with
the consumption of
and
people for a government paycheck.
So, all of y'all want to scream and whine about the same guy writing a
song from the viewpoint of some dipshit Marin County boy who couldn't pull
off hip-hop and became one of those head-bobbing Madrassa fruits instead,
go right ahead. I'll still be poor and Steve Earle will still be rich. But
I've never been bothered by Earle having money. Crazy Chomsky-reading nut
that he is, he at least deserves some coin for 30 years of honky-tonk
labor. At least he doesn't have a university degree. Hell, he doesn't have
a
school diploma.
Article comments
1 - Bill
Anybody know if this is the same Steve Earle who plays drums in Hermano (hard rock band fronted by ex-Kyuss singer John Garcia)?
2 - M-J
You claim saying something controversial and then letting the ruckus overshadow the art is a tired act; yeah, well, so is taking one pinch controversy, a smidgen of artist reaction, and using it to spin an oh-so-clever contrarian angle. Have you heard the song, or the album?
3 - zizka
Walker is a confused kid, he screwed up some, and he's going to have a lot of time to think things over.
He did one thing which the CIA couldn't do, though, and that's infiltrate al Qaeda. He also attained fluency in Arabic, which almost no one in the CIA or the State Department has done. (Not nobody, but few).
Language study is tough. Even (American) liberal arts graduates seldom really learn even just to read one easy European language. (Yeah, French, German and Spanish are easy).
I've studied foreign languages and taught English and Chinese, and in that one respect Walker is an impressive guy.
4 - A
No, I don't believe Steve has ever played drums.
Also, the problems with the Del McCoury Band had to do mostly with money, not Steve's language.
5 - Neil
That was interesting, if kind of all over the map. I would have liked to have seen the thoughts a little more organized. I'm not sure you quite know what things you like and what things you don't. If you do, this doesnn't make it clear.
You seem way to smart to have a sloppy error like this, though --
"Earle told a Canadian crowd his latest contribution to the genre "just may get me fuckin' deported."
(On his own Web site, Earle contradicts this claim by saying, 'I'm not trying to get myself deported or something" and calls the new CD " the most pro-American record I've ever made.')"
There isn't a contradiction. Anyone should be able to see that.
I've done a lot of things in my life that I knew could or even probably would have a certain consequence. That doesn't mean it I did it for that consequence. Basically it's not different than a high school kid saying "If I break curfew to stay with my friends and drink beer, then I'll probably get grounded." That doesn't mean getting grounded was the hoped for consequence.
I'm not trying to compare Steve's comments to that level of maturity, just to a situation that demonstrates how simple and obvious the two statements flow together. They make such obvious sense that calling it a contradiction seems tantamount to a lie.
6 - dj
this is one o the greatest songs ever written-next to anything by rozz williams- i am bored by radio, mtv, vh1, led zeppelin, give me steve earle!
7 - Eric Olsen
I don't see this as one of is better songs, but I am pleased you have found Steve.
8 - Scott Butki
I have tremendous respect for Earle. He's one of the good ones, in my book.
He does not have a great singing voice but he takes on challenging topics and won't back down.
I wrote a review of two movies by Earle here.
9 - Scott Butki
Making this song was a daring movie precisely because it makes people like this reviewer angry. But I think there's nothing wrong with telling a story from another character's perspective. Look at some of Springsteen's darker songs, for example.
10 - Duck
Well put. But he's always doing something interesting with his presence and stories and the collaboration with the McCoury's was a bright spot, more than worth the trouble. I saw that particular show live in a large club with about 800? people. He started solo with a long 20 minute story song about his hometown. Totally mesmerized the crowd. I don't think anyone even moved until he was finished.