It was bad enough when Fantasy Records sold “Fortunate Son” out from under John Fogerty for use in a Wrangler Jeans ad, but what are we to make of Steve Earle selling himself out to the man? To quote the title of Fogerty’s latest disc, it’s déjà vu all over again, as a scathing political tune is sold for use in a TV ad selling a good old American commodity. Instead of blue jeans, this time it’s a truck. Earle’s song "The Revolution Starts Now," the title track of his 2004 disc, is the soundtrack for a new Chevy ad in its “The American Revolution” campaign. You couldn’t find a better song for it, with its rumbling guitars, propulsive beat and snarling call-to-arms chorus… if only all of that wasn’t originally meant as a rallying cry for the left to unseat President Bush. The song now means nothing, but Steve’s bank account surely saw a nice boost. I’d never begrudge anyone wanting to make a living from their work, but this song from this artist actually meant something, and I don’t think it’s too much to ask for a principled stand that doesn’t involve selling it to an auto maker six months after your guy didn’t get elected to office.

In the liner notes to his disc, Earle waxes poetic about the Constitution, calling it a “revolutionary document” and saying that “as long as we are willing to put in the work required to defend and nurture this remarkable invention of our forefathers, then I believe with all my heart that it will continue to thrive for generations to come.” Oh, and we might get free trucks, too, right Steve? Talk about something ringing hollow.

Then again, what value does the song have now anyway? As I’ve said here before, listening to that disc (or Dan Bern’s superior My Country II EP) now is like watching a ballgame on video tape when you already know your team is going to lose. The specific sentiments made the songs that much more powerful at the time, but they sure shorten their shelf life. I mean, “Ohio” these ain’t.

Does Chevy even know who Earle is? Neither the artist nor the automaker has a word about this unholy alliance on their web sites, and I can’t imagine Chevy pimping this balding, pasty ex-junkie the way Ford does it’s pocket rebel Toby Keith. The most recent news Earle made was in Alaska, where residents were pissed that he was scheduled to bring his “anti-American, communistic" (their words) music to the fair. They clearly don’t get that Earle’s songs, which point out failings in our system, are more American than all the hat acts you could cram into an Eagle-clad tour bus combined. But he certainly hasn’t helped matters with this move, which, to grossly over-simplify, involved selling his song to the people who make the vehicles driven by the people who re-elected the guy his revolution was supposed to overthrow. It was never a stretch to think that Earle could be the next voice of the American revolution, I just never imaged that it would be “The American Revolution, brought to you by Chevy Trucks.”