Steve Earle and Taliban John

Reuters via Yahoo! ^ | July 22, 2002 | Aly Sujo

[Gurn]

I met Steve for the second time at a book-signing last month. I asked him what the next record would be like (it's due out in November). "It'll be a rock record, and my most overtly political album to date," he said.

I joked that that was saying a lot, for him. He made no mention of his Taliban John song.

Steve is dead-wrong about everything, politically, as far as I'm concerned. But he's the greatest songwriter in America.

And it doesn't suprise me one wit that some weeney, "lamestream" Nashville radio guy is condemning Steve in advance.

Better he should shut up and spin the next Tim McGraw record, which I'm sure will say absolutley nothing of substance.

[bok]

The guy turned his back on America a long long time ago it seems. Screw islam and America haters. RIP Mike Spann.

[Gurn]

Ever listen to any of his music?

[Steve_Seattle]

"Never mind whether the cause makes any sense."

And it DOESN'T make any sense. It boggles my mind how American leftists are so in love with Arab culture; it is a threat to everything they believe in - freedom in general, freedom of religion, free speech, freedom of artistic expression, freedom of lifestyle, the rights of women, democratic government, and sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. Earle is a moron if he thinks there is any serious right-wing threat to free speech in America. It is partly because our speech is so free that the Moslem world hates us. And liberals are every bit as guilty as conservatives - perhaps more so - in demonizing those who disagree with them. In her recent book, Ann Coulter made a great point - liberals have been warning for years about the dangers of Christian "fundamentalism," but now that we are in a war with ISLAMIC fundamentalism, they are sympathetic to the other side.

[Gurn]

I haven't heard the song yet, so I'll withhold judgment until then. Still, being as familiar as I am with his music and his politics, I seriously doubt he's "in love with Arab culture."

He's always been political, and he's always been leftist, that is, wrong.

But he's still the greatest songwriter in America.

[tsomer]

"Never mind whether the cause makes any sense -- the point is to march in the streets and get on TV. It sounds as if Earle is singing to this crowd,"

Martha Bayles says it all.

They ought to title this story:
Found, a Smart Media Specialist

[poet]

"Steve is dead-wrong about everything, politically, as far as I'm concerned. "But he's the greatest songwriter in America."

Are you serious, the greatest songwriter in America? Do you enjoy Anti-American lyrics? Your statement above is an oxymoron.

I, for one, never pay to see anything a liberal hollowoonie
actor/actress (sometimes one and the same) does. They will not get money from me to furthur their left wing causes.

[jla]

Sounds like ol' Steve's relapsed back on the heroin.

I hope he bumps into Toby Keith out on the road somewhere.

[Steve_Seattle]

"the greatest songwriter in America"

I have one Earle CD (Transcendental Blues)and it has a few good songs, but "greatest" is a word I rarely use, and so I disagree, but I wouldn't venture another name as an alternative. As for mainstream country, I lost interest several years ago; it generally seems pretty boring. I like Dwight Yoakam, but he lost his popularity when he started losing his hair; that's how shallow Nashville has become. It's all about big hair and being hunky and having a nice butt and a pretty face.

[SerpentDove]

>>Earle has joked that he's thinking about leaving the country once the CD is released in September, and he told an audience at the Mariposa Folk Festival in Ontario earlier this month: ...

"This song just may get me ... deported." <<

Sounds like an admission that the song is anti-american, pro "Johnny Taliban."

To hell with him.

[Illbay]

You have to understand that Leftists aren't really FOR all those things you mention. They are defined far better by the things they're AGAINST.

And they're against one overriding thing that you didn't mention, and that the radical Islamic movement is also dead set against: Capitalism.

[Space Wrangler]

I met Mr. Earle in 1992 when he produced a CD for my college roomates who had a band, and were cutting their first CD. He was talented, but totally doped out of his head, and totally out of touch with reality. I see things haven't changed too much since then. It is a shame, and I agree that he is very talented, but he's a drugged out lib/hippie type, and as far as I'm concerned he has ZERO credibility. 'Who cares what he thinks?'

[Illbay]

Isn't Earle an Austin, TX product? He's sure over here in this neck of the woods an awful lot.

[FatherTorque]

I, for one, never pay to see anything a liberal hollowoonie actor/actress (sometimes one and the same) does. They will not get money from me to furthur their left wing causes.

I said it in the other thread about this, and I'll say it again here; If I only listened to people who were right of the political spectrum, I'd have a very small music library.

Say what you want about Steve's politics, but his music has more heart, soul, and conviction in it than all the rest of Nashville put together.

[Illbay]

Not all this guy's songs are blatantly political.

[Steve_Seattle]

I should have said that Islamic society is a threat to everything liberals SAY they are for. Maybe deep down liberals have a secret desire to be spanked and disciplined by some ayatollah. It wouldn't surprise me.

[Illbay]

It's all about big hair and being hunky and having a nice butt and a pretty face.

Well, I'm not a country fan; never have been. Growing up in the South in the 70s, the "cool kids" were rock/no country, and the "redneck kids" were country/no rock.

However, how does your description square with the fact that Garth Brooks is on most peoples' Top 10 list of greatest country artists ever?

[Disgruntled_Voter]

You got that right Gurn!
Earle is one of the greatest singer-songwriters practicing today. His album "I Feel Alright" is amazing. He's a true voice in a world of candy-colored boy bands and pop princesses (both pop and mainstream country).
Down with New Country, the real threat to our way of life.

[Moby Grape]

I just love it when no-talent HEROIN addicts, (whose songs contain no more than four chords), begin telling the world what is right and what is wrong. (The dipstick can't sing either)....I wish he would try to take his "show" to a MUSLIM country and see how fast he would be be-headed!!!!