MTV boy

"I'm just an American boy raised on MTV/and I've seen all those kids in the soda pop ads/but none of them look like me ..." On July 24, 2002 a singer/songwriter by the name of Steve Earle composed the song, "John Walker's Blues," which initiated a controversy over the devastating events of Sept. 11. The song was scheduled for release in September but has since been postponed. The lyrics tell the story of John Walker Lindh, a 21-year-old from California who aided the Taliban. Some say he turned his back on our way of life to pursue a culture that he believed was more tolerant of him. Ironic that the culture he chose had the desire to torture the culture he came from. \nEarle is chastised as being unpatriotic, writing the song from Walker's point of view. In a commentary by Jim Patterson from The Associated Press, he quotes Charles Wolfe, a music scholar at Middle Tennessee State University, saying, "Earle is doing what any good songwriter would do … he is trying to get inside and understand the motivations of people who may not be particularly popular right now."\nUp until this point in our culture most popular music dealing with 9/11 has been to rally our country to a positive state of patriotism. "It would be a pretty shallow culture if songwriters only wrote about the nice people," Earle stated. As Patterson concludes, "John Walker's Blues [deviates] from this typical response on terrorism." However the real issue is not whether the song is viable. Walker's actions only can be disputed and ruminated over if we hear the song. Unfortunately, we are unable to take part in that debate since radio stations and music stores are refusing to air and sell it. Why does it seem that our media feels the need to filter information and only publish events or issues that praise our country? Why is it that just because a songwriter tackles the unpopular he is condemned? \nWhether or not the song should have been written is inconsequential. It is the media's obligation to relay the information, both positive and negative. They do not have to filter it. They should not be so empowered. Give the public the information. Explain what that information means. Describe your opinion, if necessary, but ultimately, let the public formulate their own theories.\nPolitical song writers from Ochs to Dylan -- and now Earle, have always "pressed the envelope." They should. That they can legally do this in our society speaks volumes about our way of life. It is our job as Americans to not only examine the positives of our country and how our country is going to put its best foot forward in an attempt to regain its strength, but to also look at what motivates people to attack the basic ideologies of our culture. That was the main point of Earle's song. Earle took a deeper look inside the soul of a man who got lost in the shuffle of pop-culture, and apparently thought that his only way out was to destroy it. Earle or Walker may be wrong but we'll never know if we don't get to hear the song, read about it and debate it.