Steve Earle :: Conspiracy Theory

Phonogram Copyright 2002 E-Squared, LLC/Sheridan Square Entertainment, LLC Lyrics and Music by Steve Earle Notice: Copyright Disclaimer MiM does not own the copyright for this video. This is a publically released not-for-profit music video permitted under the "Fair Use" doctrine. Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. MiM considers that this video is part of an on-going scholarship project which constitutes a critical commentary and which adds transformative content regarding unjust conditions and perceived causes of those injustices now existing on planet Earth. MiM also considers that any copyrighted lyrics quoted in this publically released not-for-profit music video are also part of the scholarship project and appear in context along with transformative commentary that provides analysis of the explicit and implicit content of the lyrics. Fair Use: a doctrine in United States copyright law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use In times like these, it is also important to remember the names of John Reed, Emma Goldman, Abbie Hoffman, Bobby Seale, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King ... those who defended those same principles by insisting on asking the hardest questions in our darkest hours. God bless America, indeed. -- Steve Earle This song is essential to an understanding of what has happened to America in the years since the Kennedy assassination. The general deterioration of civil liberties and the general increase in domestic spying has caused most everyone to pull back and be extra careful about the words they speak, the people they associate with, and the places they go. The Kennedy assassination lead directly to "half a million soldiers" flying "across the water." and the "one in ten" who never came back. The imagery of trying to "wrestle back the hands of time" is especially potent in illustrating those times when the wrong road was chosen by our so-called leaders. The verses in the song are all about the forkings in the road that were taken by our government that should never have been followed by its citizens. And, as counterpoint, the chorus is voiced by the reassuring temptress, that whispers in our ears that we should be good little boys and girls and not question authority. But the warnings in the verses continue to march along and tell us to remember the lies that were told, to notice the footsteps that follow us, and, especially, to pay attention to the ones who listen to everything we say because, as Mister Earle reminds us, "The walls have ears and the sky has eyes." But, even so, the verses remind us of our duty to question authority, to add the lies together, and to seek out the truth, because, in the final accounting,