“Johnny Appleseed” - Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros
(Words/music: Pablo Cook, Tymon Dogg, Scott Shields, Martin Stattery, and Joe Strummer, available on Global a Go-Go, Epitaph 2001)

In many ways, it makes sense for Joe Strummer to reference Johnny Appleseed in a song.  Like Appleseed, Strummer is a sort of folk hero whose legend expanded over time.  With the Clash, Strummer started with punk rock and wandered through different musical styles, including reggae, soul, and arguably hip hop (specifically with the vocal inflection on “The Magnificent Seven.”  Even if the Clash didn’t originate any of these styles, they served as master curators who excelled at all of these different styles.  Even though his bandmates deserve more credit than they might normally garner (Mick Jones specifically), Strummer seemed like the one with musical wanderlust.  I’m too young to have experienced the Clash during their time and I never got the chance to see Strummer perform during his lifetime, and in a way this makes him a little more mythical.  As Appleseed’s reputation grew with stories told, Strummer’s part of our own aural tradition – one that Strummer and his band helped to spurn along.

“Johnny Appleseed” continues Strummer’s musical wandering, blurring the lines between a number of different genres.  It alternates between a quietly plucked verse and a rollicking chorus section.  Strummer tells his story in a delivery that seems somewhere between a rant and a folk singer’s story.  A simple melody runs through his words and gives them an almost chant-like quality; the melody remains consistent even when Strummer’s focused on describing something else.  However, like the melody, theme remains the same – one that champions those who speak for and represent the common man.  Strummer doesn’t place himself along side these men (and both Appleseed and Martin Luther King dwarf him in any comparison), but in the musical world, Strummer served the same purpose.  He always struck me as one who made music for the bees rather than for the honey, and someone who worked hard not to lose sight of the big picture.

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