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{"id":1544,"date":"2002-07-22T10:19:50","date_gmt":"2002-07-22T15:19:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?p=1544"},"modified":"2002-07-22T10:19:50","modified_gmt":"2002-07-22T15:19:50","slug":"controversial_country_ballad_narrates_john_walkers_blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2002\/07\/controversial_country_ballad_narrates_john_walkers_blues\/","title":{"rendered":": Controversial Country Ballad Narrates “John Walker’s Blues”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Not long after \u201cAmerican Taliban\u201d John Walker Lindh<\/a> pleaded guilty to aiding the former Afghan regime, maverick country-blues musician Steve Earle<\/a> released a controversial ballad, \u201c John Walker\u2019s Blues<\/a>,\u201d that has infuriated the American heartland. The song attempts to put Lindh\u2019s adventures in context: \u201cI\u2019m just an American boy, raised on MTV\/And I\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/i> The song is one of many political songs from Earle\u2019s upcoming album \u201cJerusalem<\/a>,\u201d 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<\/a>. \u201cThis song just may get me f\u2014g deported,\u201d he quipped. \u201cI\u2019m going to play it just once, and then we\u2019ll rip the shred out of it,\u201d says Nashville talk show host Steve Gill<\/a>. \u201cThis is not gonna be a big hit for Steve.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"