Ballad Honors Taliban John

www.foxnews.com ^ | 07/21/02

[gilor]

NASHVILLE

[Mudboy Slim]

"This puts [Earle] in the same category as Jane Fonda and John Walker and all those people who hate America," said Nashville talk-show host Steve Gill. Phil Valentine, another Nashville DJ, said Earle had lost his way in trying to rebuild his faltering career as an alternative country performer. "He's off the charts on this one," Valentine said. "It's politically insane."

Yep...moral of this story is "Don't become a heroin addict!!"

SHEEEESH...MUD

[Flashlight]

Remember this hit song from the Kinks from 1966? All the lyrics praise conservatism, but obviously, the intended meaning is the exact opposite...

"A Well Respected Man"

'Cause he gets up in the morning,
And he goes to work at nine,
And he comes back home at five-thirty,
Gets the same train every time.
...
And he's oh, so good,
And he's oh, so fine,
And he's oh, so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He's a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively...

What I'm trying to say is that I'm with you - I'm gonna hear the song or read the lyrics before making a judgement. For all I know, the song completely ridicules Walker. There's not enough information in the article to tell one way or another.

[Conservative Chicagoan]

BUMP!

[Conservative Chicagoan]

Thank you for your reply!

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Earle is currently in Europe and could not be reached for comment. But he told an audience at the Mariposa Folk Festival in Ontario, Canada, this month: "This song just may get me f---ing deported."

Good! The sooner the better!

What I can't fathom is how stupid the producers of this recording are to have included this song.

[Conservative Chicagoan]

BUMP!

[Behind Liberal Lines]

I'd say the inverse is true as well and a lot of people around here who are slinging mud at Steve are probably big Beatles fans, and their anti-american diatribes are well documented.

I don't want to be seen as a Beatle defender, but not even John Lennon wrote a song lauding some traitor.

The Beatles at least sang about peace and that all violence was bad. Earle seems to be saying violence is A-OK as long as its against the US (which is a far cry from his "Devil's Right Hand" days).

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

You get the Gold Star for the best Comeback One-Liner! (I'm still laughing!)

[weegee]

However, I have another suggestion - we all buy copies, so this Earle guy has more money to buy heroin... then, one day we can find him dead with a needle in his arm... ;0)

Don't buy a copy... the rich and the poor both have ways of getting herion. Let him prostitute himself as a homeless man to get his lethal fix...

I'm sure that this will make the "alt-country" play list of Pacifica stations across the nation (on the extreme left end of your radio dial).

[weegee]

I wonder what Peter Jennings (ABC's inhouse music critic with the power to get artists rejected from Independence Day concerts) thinks of this song.

[weegee]

While I suspect your average country music fan doesn't care squat about the palestinian/israel conflict (they probably just call them all arabs and couldn't care less) they are probably bright enough to catch him making snide remarks about America.

Judging from the number of Kinky Friedman (and the Texas Jew Boys) albums recorded since the 1970s, I'd say that there were more country artists on the side of Israel in that conflict...

[Terriergal]

Earle ...told an audience at the Mariposa Folk Festival in Ontario, Canada, this month: "This song just may get me f---ing deported.

Sounds like a plan.

[Terriergal]

I wonder what Peter Jennings... thinks of this song.

Good question.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

Judging from the number of Kinky Friedman (and the Texas Jew Boys) albums recorded since the 1970s, I'd say that there were more country artists on the side of Israel in that conflict...

They ought to put Kinky on a double bill with Kabul Stevie here and let Kinky re-enact his great "They aint makin' Jews like Jesus" smackdown on Steve's flabby @$$.

That'd I'd pay to see.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

Sadly, this will probably get Earle airplay on ABC and a recording contract with Disney records. They'll probably hire him to write a new theme song for ABC nightly news.

[wku man]

For once I find myself in agreement with you. I wouldn't be so quick to burn my Steve Earle CDs (if I had any). Folks, he's a songwriter, in other words, something of a storyteller. It's quite common for storytellers to take the first person in their songs (and I point out Junior Brown's "Highway Patrol" just as one example...he's not really a highway patrolman, and he's not claiming to be one outside the realm of the song!)...it doesn't necessarily mean they agree with that person.

I'm not a Steve Earle fan per se, although I do like "Copperhead Road", but from what I've heard of his music, he's not anti-American. He's not happy with what our government's turned into, but what Freeper is? Until I hear more evidence, it sounds to me like Earle is simply making his point that Johnny Bin Walker turned his back on his country in order to embrace a religion of hate, by telling the story from Bin Walker's point of view. Granted, the only lyrics I've seen are the ones FNC has been showing for the last couple of days, but come on folks, lighten up. I don't think Steve Earle is bashing the US in this song.

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

[Copperhead61]

We should sic Toby Keith and Lee Greenwood on him !!!

[jwalsh07]

You possess an excellent sense of humor. :-}

[Behind Liberal Lines]

The problem I have here is that previous Earle songs that were told from the point of view of a killer or other unsavory type generally carried a distinct air of regret over what the narrator had done.

For example, the death row inmate"Billy Austin" may have been the victim of a incompetent court appointed lawyer but he still sang "I aint about to tell you I don't deserve to die" and recognized that he was going to hell for what he did.

I don't see that with the Walker song. I see Earle portraying him as having a heart "pure and strong."
and someone who will "rise up to the sky like Jesus."

[Behind Liberal Lines]

Since Earle is apparently a socialist here's what I am going to do to support his goals.

I am going to download every Steve Earle CD I own (and I own them all, even a few imports and special edition singles) on to WinMx and Limewire so that he can share his music with the masses without making an evil profit.

I'm sure he'll thank me for it.