NP? story V. storyteller

[Doug Millison]

[...] The to-do says more about Earle's detractors than his song. The
track, which is part of Earle's forthcoming album, Jerusalem, hardly
glorifies Lindh. Nor does Earle compare him to Jesus. The tune is
"sympathetic" only in the sense it seeks to understand how Lindh viewed
himself. It praises neither Lindh nor his choices. It does not recommend
that others emulate him. The anti-Earle criticism shows that those eager to
root out traitors often don't have time to think. Here are the complete
lyrics to "John Walker's Blues":

I'm just an American boy--raised on MTV/ And I've seen all those kids in
the soda pop ads/ But none of 'em looked like me/ So I started lookin'
around for a light out of the dim/ And the first thing I heard that made
sense was the word/ Of Mohammed, peace be upon him

A shadu la ilaha illa Allah/ There is no God but God

If my daddy could see me now--chains around my feet/ He don't understand
that sometimes a man/ Just has to fight for what he believes/ And I believe
God is great/ All praise due to him/ And if I should die I'll rise up to
the sky/ Just like Jesus, peace be upon him

We came to fight the Jihad/ And our hearts were pure and strong/ As death
filled the air we all offered up prayers/ And prepared for our martyrdom/
But Allah had some other plan/ Some secret not revealed/ Now they're
draggin' me back with my head in a sack/ To the land of the infidel.

Earle's song--which features his growling voice over sparse, guitar-driven
instrumentation--explores what Lindh was thinking. Earle speculates Lindh
believed he would receive Jesus-like treatment if he sacrificed his life
for jihad. It is Lindh who is praising Allah, not Earle--not that there
would be anything wrong with Earle doing so. And the ending--mullahs
reciting a Koran passage--is eerie, not an endorsement. This is
storytelling. In fact, Lindh ends up screwed in the song. He expects holy
reward but finds himself shit-out-of-luck in chains and a sack. If you had
to squeeze a morale out of the song--and I doubt Earle set out to
preach--the lesson could well be, kids, don't try this at home. But since
the song does not blast Lindh--what rhymes with scum-sucking maggot?--it's
deemed a pro-Taliban anthem. Apparently, 9/11 killed nuance, as well as
irony. [...]

from:
Cultural Treason?--The Right Targets Musician Steve Earle
07/24/2002 @ 1:40pm
http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=84