Steve Earle |
Tue. September 24.2002 6:30 PM EDT |
Steve Earle: My Country Right and WrongCountry-rock maverick makes waves with political tunes, but "chick songs" are still close to his heart. by C. Bottomley & Jim Macnie |
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If you know Steve Earle, you know he’s no stranger to trouble. Back in 1994, after several years of tearing around Nashville in a drug-induced stupor, the revered and talented country-rocker was arrested for heroin possession. When the dust settled
With Jerusalem, his 11th album, Earle’s back in the doghouse. The press has pounced upon its "John Walker’s Blues," Earle’s thoughtful portrait of "American Taliban" soldier John Walker Lindh. A less-than-thoughtful Nashville radio host sneered that the song "puts [Earle] in the same category as … all those people who hate America," while The New York Post erupted just as quickly in one of its patented headlines: “Twisted ballad honors Tali-Rat." Earle isn’t particularly interested in toeing the line of consensus views. The gray matter of his mind is in cahoots with the red blood pumping through his heart - he burrows to the center of a tune, whether it’s political or romantic. Jerusalem offers a warm Emmylou Harris duet, "I’ll Remember You," as well as barnstormers like "America 6.0 (The Best That We Can Do)" - a song that chastises baby boomers for becoming too busy to act their youthful convictions. And in case you think him full of sneers, the hopeful title track crosses its fingers for an end to the mayhem in the Middle East. The eternal maverick talked to VH1 about his new disc, his love of loud rock, and the songs that make him cry. VH1: When you were making your last album, Transcendental Blues, you left a copy of Revolver on top of a monitor during the entire recording session. Was there a set text for Jerusalem? Steve Earle: I wasn’t even planning on making a record. A couple of songs got written on sound-checks during the last tour, including "America 6.0 (The Best That We Can Do)," which was going to be on the John Q soundtrack. Then September 11 happened and the song got chucked out of the movie, because it allegedly "criticizes our president in a time of war." After September 11, [Artemis label boss] Danny Goldberg suggested I write a political record. I was happy that he said that, but thought, "Nah, I’ll write more chick songs, because it prevents my audience from getting exponentially hairier and uglier as time goes on." VH1: I wouldn’t have taken you to be the type who would need a nudge from your boss to make such a forthright album. What was the first song you wrote directly inspired by 9-11? Earle: The first thing I wrote after September 11th was "Ashes to Ashes." My take on it is a little different than most people. The question that I didn’t hear being asked was "Could we possibly have done something to make somebody hate us enough to fly an airplane into a hundred-story building?" When I saw what everybody else saw [on 9-11], there was about 45 minutes when the entire country was united. Then, within an hour we started looking to our own agendas. My agenda was, "How is this going to affect the death penalty?" I thought people were going to be in the mood for retribution and all [my campaigning against it] was going to go out the window. As soon as I heard the word "war" used, I got on the phone and found my son. People talk like the draft doesn’t exist, but it does, and 20-year-olds are all registered. The attorney general went before the Senate committee and suggested to Senators that if they questioned the government, they were being unpatriotic. In a democracy it’s never unpatriotic to question anything. More than anything else, that’s what this record is about. [Watch Clip] VH1: Have you heard Bruce Springsteen’s The Rising? What do you think about his approach to the catastrophe? Earle: He’s doing something that he does real well. He’s empathizing with most people. He’s got that covered. VH1: When you wrote "John Walker’s Blues" did you anticipate it was going to kick up such a fuss? Earle: Yeah. It was obvious. Some people suggested that the problem with "John Walker’s Blues" is not the content but the timing. But what other time would you write this song? "John Walker’s Blues" was written the day they brought John Walker back to the U. S. I’d done four shows with my son. Seeing him everyday probably figured into it. He’s six months younger than John Walker. Twenty year olds aren’t done yet. I mean, I held a lot of things to be true when I was 20 years old that I don’t hold to be true now! I think John Walker Lindh needed and deserved a voice because everyone needs and deserves a voice. [Watch Clip] VH1: Are you glad you wrote the song? Earle: Absolutely. Most people who buy my records expect this of me. When I’m out playing a show they’ve paid money to see, I don’t beat them over the head with my politics. All songs are political. Pete Seeger said, "To a baby, lullabies are political." Writing an entire album of overtly political material gives me pause. I’m not a politician, I’m an artist. Artists’ place in society can become corrupted if they overuse the bully pulpit outside their art. But there’s a responsibility to put something back because we live better than most people do. VH1: I was going to ask you if political songs had more value than love songs, but do you think they’re in fact the same thing? Earle: Exactly. Art lets people know they’re not alone, that somebody has hurt like they’ve hurt, that somebody gets excited about the same things that they get excited about. To quote Mumia Abu-Jamal, sometimes it can be used to lend a voice to the voiceless. VH1: You sing about that art in "The Kind," saying the kind of song you like is the kind that breaks your heart. Which songs can really put you in a blue mood? Earle: Emmylou Harris says "Goodbye" [from Earle’s Train a Comin’] is the saddest song in the world. I disagree. I think it’s "Sweet Old World" by Lucinda Williams. Or Hank Williams’ "I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry." Or Bruce Springsteen’s "Used Cars." Guy Clark’s "Desperados Waiting for a Train." Nirvana’s "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - there’s a few. VH1: Does the music on an album like this become less important than the message? There’s a tendency to rock out on Jerusalem rather than wrap everything in a nice little melody. Earle: It’s a band record. Playing really loud is what we do best. The Transcendental tour had a huge effect on the way this record sounds. There really wasn’t time to do anything but to go back to the last touchstone. By the end of that tour, the encores were all covers and we were playing a lot of Stones and ZZ Top and Nirvana songs. We wanted to go out and scare Mary Chapin Carpenter fans. We went right back to the last thing we remembered doing together, playing live with two guitars and bass and drums. VH1: There’s always a big focus on your songwriting skills, but people forget you’ve also led at least three great bands in your career. Earle: My girlfriend met me right after I finished recording The Mountain (1999), so she’d only seen me playing solo and with a bluegrass band. Then she got on a bus with me and went to Farm Aid. The band had been laid off while I was out playing bluegrass, and here we were on a big stage with a system that was ridiculously loud even for me. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. She was shocked - thought maybe she had made a mistake. But it’s cathartic. Two years before that, Jay Farrar and I were standing on the side watching Neil Young and Crazy Horse at Farm Aid. When they got it hooked up and rolling we turned to each other at exactly the same time and went, “Whoo!” That’s all we said the whole night. It’s rock ‘n’ roll and god, I hope it’s not dead! [Watch Clip] |
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