SEPTEMBER 14, 1994 – Steve Earle was sentenced to 1 year in jail after being found guilty of possession of crack cocaine and weapons possession. Due to his prior 1993 arrest for possession of heroin, a judge sentenced him to a year in jail after he admitted possession but failed to appear in court. Earle was released from jail after serving 60 days of his sentence, then completed an outpatient drug treatment program at the Cedarwood Center in Hendersonville, Tennessee. As a recovering heroin addict, Earle has used his experience in his songwriting.
Earle has befriended men on Texas’ Death Row and witnessed the execution of Jonathan Nobles, for whom he wrote the song “Over Yonder (Jonathan’s Song)” on the album “Transcendental Blues.” As in many of his songs, Earle writes from the perspective of the main character, in this case Nobles:
The warden said he’d mail my letter
The chaplain’s waitin’ by the door
Tonight we’ll cross the yard together
Then they can’t hurt me anymore. . . .
Give my radio to Johnson
Thibodeaux can have my fan
Send my Bible home to Mama
Call her every now and then.
