hope neil young will remember
So Neil Young’s new album is an old-school protest album. Good for him — but too bad he was so damn into the Patriot Act a couple years ago:
People for the American Way… gave Neil Young its Spirit of Liberty award at a December 11 Beverly Hills banquet. Young used the occasion to proclaim his support of the USA/Patriot Act, which became law on October 26. “To protect our freedoms,” Young said, “it seems we’re going to have to relinquish some of our freedoms for a short period of time.”
…which pains me to point out, because I’ve always really liked Neil Young. The first “big concert” I ever went to was a Social Distortion/Sonic Youth/Neil Young triple bill at the now-rubble Hartford Civic Center in scenic Hartford, CT. They all rocked.
~jeff
April 19th, 2006 at 9:08 pm
Too bad that the Bush administration thinks that “a short period of time” is “the foreseeable future.”
Then again, the Bush administration doesn’t seem to foresee into the future very far, really.
April 20th, 2006 at 1:01 pm
The same attention should be paid to Neil Young as is paid to that senile old grandfather or great uncle that most everybody has, who fought in one of the great wars and holds on to his over-developed sense of entitlement with a death grip. You can either nod and smile or just ignore him and let him be, with his colorful opinions on everything from race relations to who’s ultimately responsible for the cost of a loaf of bread, to the suspect bloodlines of his foot doctor or the local weatherman. And similar treatment should be given when talking about the good times of the past. Just like the grandfather or uncle or whoever, who would always give us a dollar or spin us around like a helicopter or take his teeth out and make funny faces, Neil Young used to challenge the politics of oppressive administrations and write great music. And, just like the helicopter rides, it’s all a distant memory to be revisited only through whatever media originally captured it. These are not the men they used to be.
In Neil’s case, his recordings of the 60’s and 70’s are the fossils that tell us he existed at all. Since then, he has been completely distracted by the parody of himself that he has become (“This Note’s for You”, “Rockin In the Free World”). And while I believe he may still be more sincere than the current incarnation of the Rolling Stones or an average Elvis impersonator, his level of effectuality and the quality of his work are right on par.
Jesus, this country has known bad times, but there was a time when there was outrage, and the response to two of our historical atrocities gave us “For What it’s Worth” and “Ohio”. As we have become so lazy and complacent with our position in this new world, perhaps we deserve freedom fighters the quality of Neil Young– just another Brand name going through the motions. Forget the Patriot Act, does anybody remember his immortalization of Flight 93? The song was called “Let’s Roll”, titled for the alleged battle cry of a Mr. Todd Beamer before leading the other passengers on a mission to thwart their hijackers. Neil Young not only presents this song as a very literal portrayal of the popular theory surrounding this flight, but also manages to continue the lyric and echo the sentiments of the current administration by using the statement as the slogan to accompany our actions in Afghanistan before Iraq. The word propaganda just doesn’t seem to do it justice.
So please, forget him. Forget him like you’ve forgotten Sting, Rod Stewart, Paul McCartney and the rest. Just let him do his thing and go away. I mean, unless some hot young band decides to glom on to him for street cred (see mid 90’s Pearl Jam), the only folks who might buy into his shit for even a moment are the same folks you might see at one of his shows: spent hippies, toothless bikers and a bunch of kids who won tickets on the radio and are just waiting to catch “Cinnamon Girl”.
April 20th, 2006 at 1:31 pm
I think it’s hilarious (and by hilarious I mean unfathomably sad) that in the 1990’s, pop music occasionally featured ostensibly “politically active” bands in the mainstream like Public Enemy and Rage Against the Machine, bands who, in hindsight, were Raging Against… the Clinton Administration?
And now that there’s actually a real live right-wing People’s Republic of ExxonMobil evil empire in charge, pop music is dominated by automated complacency mechanisms like “American Idol”.
April 20th, 2006 at 3:43 pm
Fuck all that shit. The soundtrack to “Dead Man” roxXxors your soxXxors…
April 20th, 2006 at 4:33 pm
well, you got me and my soxXxors there, but i think it’s due- at least in part- to the fact that Jarmusch told ol’ neil to put down the fuckin crayons and keep his fuckin trap shut. and then he took him deep and hard. that’s how Neil got the aneurism. the episode later became the inspiration for “Broken Flowers”,.. the title anyway, ’cause Young’s bung took the shape of an ass tulip. Yeaahhh Boyyeee!
true story, i read it in People.