: Controversial Country Ballad Narrates “John Walker’s Blues”

Not long after “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh pleaded guilty to aiding the former Afghan regime, maverick country-blues musician Steve Earle released a controversial ballad, “John Walker’s Blues,” that has infuriated the American heartland. The song attempts to put Lindh’s adventures in context: “I’m just an American boy, raised on MTV/And I’ve seen all the kids in the soda pop bands/But none of them look like me/So I started looking round, and I heard the word of God/And the first thing I heard that made sense was the word of Allah.” The song is one of many political songs from Earle’s upcoming album “Jerusalem,” which also deals with the Israel/Palestine conflict. Needless to say, this will probably not be another hit for the eight-time Grammy nominated artist. “This song just may get me f—g deported,” he quipped. “I’m going to play it just once, and then we’ll rip the shred out of it,” says Nashville talk show host Steve Gill. “This is not gonna be a big hit for Steve.”

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.