Jason Isbell: Classic Or Dud?

Saw that. The Saving Country guy is constantly ripping on Isbell, especially for his politics, so I don't trust his motives. But if you look at the comments, the father of Earle's widow keeps chiming in like a right wing crank, too. It's weird, the song isn't that objectionable, imo, and she only seems to have a problem with ... him not giving her a head's up? Which is weird if true; he reportedly contacted the subject of "White Beretta" to make sure it was OK. I wonder why? For all we know there's a reason Isbell didn't run it by her, and I don't necessarily trust her motives, either. At the least it's pretty manipulative to bring up her daughter's feelings, since reading through that her daughter is *six*. There's no way that kid would have heard this song, or even known it existed, had mom not played it (and/or played it up) for her.

At the least it's pretty manipulative to bring up her daughter's feelings, since reading through that her daughter is *six*.

More manipulative than Isbell mentioning the daughter in the song?

Well, it's a song, and most songs are in a sense manipulative. But it doesn't mention anyone by name, and it's not mean or unsympathetic, imo. Setting aside the Streisand Effect of her statement, I'm a little unclear what her problem is. That the song was written at all? That he performs the song? That she wasn't warned that the song was coming? That he is "profiting" off of it? That it makes her daughter upset? That he hasn't apologized to her? (For what?) All of the above? Her story is heartbreaking, but I don't think the subject is at all off limits or in poor taste.

ok

I saw a picture of you laughing with your child
And I hope she will remember how you smiled
But she probably wasn't old enough, the night somebody sold your stuff
That left you on the bathroom tiles

idk seems a little tone-deaf, and presumptive of a kid's thoughts and memories. probably should have just written about the man himself and left the daughter out of it. her motives seem strictly parental.

Before I read many other people's take on this - which have largely aligned with Josh's - my gut reaction was that this was shittily handled by Jason. Yes, he is entitled to his own grief and processing, but I guess I feel like he comes after JTE's wife and daughter on the priority list (which I admit is not a fair way of looking at it). At the very least, he should've reached out to her and let her know about the song.

His quote "the song has to exist" doesn't sit well with me. Maybe it has to exist, but it doesn't necessarily have to exist on a Jason Isbell album.

But I see the other sides of this, too.

Def don't see it as manipulative of the widow to bring up her kid's feelings, though, no matter the kid's age.

i try to imagine if i was in her position, him writing about how she probably won't remember her dad's smile...i mean, that would certainly hurt and not in the "what a moving song" way.

I absolutely understand where she is coming from, both as a person and as a parent. I can only imagine the pain they have gone and will continue to go through. But I'm not sure anyone should be in a position to tell anyone else what or who they can or can't write about, and none of it can change the tragic end of JTE's life.

All true!

I don't think the widow said that Isbell was not allowed to write about JTE. But keep having arguments with straw people.

I'm not arguing with anyone. It's a hard song to listen to, but I'm not sure it's worse than, say, the Drive-By Truckers song about the same subject. I guess their song doesn't mention his kid, which is for sure pretty low hanging fruit, as far a songwriting goes. It sounds like she wanted or wants him to reach out, I don't know why he didn't (assuming he didn't).

That's the tough part of this for me. The fact that he didn't reach out - perhaps because of his falling out with her husband? - doesn't square with a lot of the things he says publicly that sound really good.

Like, I read somewhere that he ran it by Steve Earle. If he ran it by Steve Earle, then *not* running it by the widow feels like a purposeful slight, doesn't it?

Purposeful slight is a bad choice of words. Could be "feels egregious" ... idk, I just don't know why you run it by the dad and not the widow, who is mentioned (along with her child) in the lyrics.

That's one of the more restrained posts I've read at SCM.

It may very well have been a purposeful slight. I don't think any of us know the nature of their relationship, Jason and Jenn, but there is definitely a lot of bad blood and dirty laundry out there. The alleged impetus for the dissolution of Jason and Justin's friendship for sure was pretty weird.

“the trauma it has forced on our daughter” seems like a questionably heavy onus to put on the song and Isbell.

"the song has to exist"

jesus christ what an insufferable blowhard this guy is

All the twitter comments on this are basically:

a) It's a good song. Why she mad?
b) She must be a shitty mom if she lets her kid know about this song
c) You can't tell an artist what they can or can't write about

Justin and Jason were estranged (after a difficult falling out) for years before he died.

Does anyone know anything about this? I didn't know they had a falling out and was sorry to see that.

But if you look at the comments, the father of Earle's widow keeps chiming in like a right wing crank, too.

― Josh in Chicago, Monday, April 15, 2024 11:00 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

That comment about how Jason "rode Justin's coat tails" was awfully weird and...wrong. I saw them play together in ~2010 and JT opened for JI and the 400 Unit. They seemed like buds back then, which again, disappointing to hear it's come to this.

According to Isbell they fell out after JTE broke up with a girlfriend, who was working as part of Isbell's road crew. JTE asked Isbell to fire her and he refused.

BTW, noticed that Amanda is playing a few shows with Jason in a couple of weeks. That seems amicable, unless they start kicking each other like Richard and Linda.

All the twitter comments on this are basically:

a) It's a good song. Why she mad?
b) She must be a shitty mom if she lets her kid know about this song
c) You can't tell an artist what they can or can't write about

Jason's fans are largely 35 to 65-year-old white dudes (and definitely some women) who (a) are 100% convinced they finally discovered someone who is making "real" music when they discovered him (or Sturgill, depending on who their portal was), (b) have zero problem talking down to anyone who disagrees with them and (c) will defend him to the death, regardless of what he's doing or saying.

This whole genre has injected a dose of music snobbery into an entire generation of people who would otherwise be listening to, idk, bro country or OneRepublic.

I get why Isbell might rub some people the wrong way, but the people I see get most mad at him are the "shut up and sing" types that bristle at his politics online (which incudes the Saving Country dude). I'm honestly not sure he's done much in the past several years that's otherwise warranted defending.

damn it is HELLA insensitive of him to bring the kid into this and to do so in a song he has centered commercially? I find it absolutely criticism-worthy but not censorship-worthy. Makes me super sad for the kid :( Like things aren't hard enough for her.

She will be dealing with people projecting things on her and talking about her dad for the rest of her life as it is, even without a song.

The kid is six, there is no way she was asking to hear the new Jason Isbell album cut about her dad, one of several (including that one from the Truckers). Her mom, for some reason, played it for her, and I guess likely explained it to her as well. Like you said, she will be dealing with a lot of things for the rest of her life, and this song may be one of them, but the reason she is dealing with it *now* is apparently because it was brought to her attention by her mom.

I'm sorry, but have you ever tried keeping a six year old from knowing about something that your entire family is talking about? It's impossible unless you are the only person they're in contact with. Stop shaming this mother. Jesus.

I don't think it's so far-fetched that a child from a musical family could be aware that there's a song about her (departed) father, and she would want to her it. Yes, her mother could have simply said "No, not now, maybe when you're older..." but at the same time it's harder to avoid exposure to something like that, particularly since Isbell and his people are spotlighting the track, it's getting airplay (on SiriusXM anyway), he's playing it on TV etc. so maybe she thought she had to get it over with.

why would you shield your child from this, it just makes it more enticing. Whether or not the child asked about it, the child will know about it eventually. may as well be hearing it from the mom directly

As a parent myself, I feel like you just don't bring someone else's kid into something (i.e., mention them in a song in a context like that). Just feels like common sense to me – it's not your place. I see Isbell has a daughter himself, so I guess his instincts are different... it surprises me though.

As a parent myself, there are plenty of things I did not share with my kids when they were young. Conversations, decisions, conflicts, opinions. We all make these choices. There is often no right or wrong choice. This song, other songs, many of them will be hard for his daughter to hear, and none of them will likely be as hard as losing her dad. I can't even imagine, so you're right, I shouldn't say anything about the mom's choices.

morrisp otm
I still think objecting to him writing about someone else's six year old (especially in a song about her father's untimely death) is a valid criticism -- whether her mom handled it poorly is another issue. (She did, but that is not my objection)

And listen, you know that if there is an issue with someone's daughter being exploited, I will suddenly appear and start objecting. That's my DNA for better or worse.

Curious, the song/album has been out for almost a year, did any reviews suggest that song was problematic? I'd not thought about it until this week, had any of you?

Lol tbh I don't listen to Jason Isbell, so no.
If I had known the song existed, I would say the same thing I said.

I clicked on this thread initially because of his teeth and stayed bc ?? My friend is really into him and I wanted to know more? IDK

xp Same here…

So ... yeah, Streisand effect!

what is your point?

No point, just observing that afaict no one was criticizing this song, afaict, until that Saving Country article blew up a year after it came out. Not saying the song is above criticism! The criticism is *totally* valid, which is why I'm surprised to only see this much discussion now.

Better late than never. Your posts felt dismissive and I appreciate you agreeing the criticism is valid.

Jenn Marie Earle didn't speak out until now because (as she pointed out in her initial statement) the song is having a moment now (opening his shows, airplay, high-profile TV appearance that garnered a lot of press) which she felt she needed to address.

I can totally see her being out with her daughter at CVS or Starbucks or some place and feeling a little ambushed because the song came on the muzak.

xpost No, I get that. I'm just saying the content of the song was there all along, before she publicly addressed it. If it's problematic now, it was problematic a year ago, but I don't remember any reviews or anything having any issues with it, despite this being a songwriter that puts lyrics first and foremost. It's at the least a discussion worth having (clearly), so it's surprising no one had it.

Yeah, but why would a reviewer mention it without knowing the situation the widow described?

I have never paid any attention to JTE so the details in the song slipped by me and I had no idea it was about him until this week.

you would be surprised at how ok people are with exploiting children. it's usually not recognized as a problem until someone (in this case the mom) speaks up about it. i wouldn't expect a person reviewing the album to be very sensitive to it, as most people aren't. if no one speaks up, eventually people like me with daughter-exploitation radar are going to show up and say hello this is not ok.

i feel pretty strongly these days about this sort of thing, even to the point of using your own kids as a prop for anything public. they have a right to grow up anonymously enjoying life without being deployed in that manner. i'm agnostic on child acting these days, i think reality tv involving kids is pretty abhorrent, writing books specifically about their lives and upbringing is pretty uncool, etc. Isbell is perfectly capably of writing much more impressionistically, he could write about JTE in a manner that is even deeper and more profound without bleak observations about how his daughter will probably forget him because he ODed in a bathroom.