... which is so strange because,
his son 'George W. Bush' is the best president ever!"
Posted on 07/21/2008 11:57:24 AM PDT by Merciful_Friend
Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young was interviewed on PBS's Charlie Rose show. The show, almost a complete hour, can be watched at this link. (Thanks to Jay for the tip.)
If you can get past some of the political baggage, and you like Neil Young, it's an entertaining interview, where Young comes across funny, sincere and kind of sweetly naïve.
With regard to the politics and his Let's Impeach the President phase, Young certainly is giving the distinct impression of having second thoughts. Some of what he says when Charlie prods him on the war:
I look at it Charlie as "why"? Why are we doing this? And why is the human race doing this? I try to step back and see it. And y'know on this record I got really involved in the present, which is like turmoil, it's terrible. To be involved in, y'know, criticizing the president, and doing this and that, and talking about things in the first person and getting right in there. It's like I got sucked into it. I was part of the turmoil myself. Which I wasn't happy about. And I'm not happy about it now. But it happened.
[...]
I was sucked into it and I got angry. I was angry about things that were happening, and I thought this is just not right. This is not the way it should be. I felt like we were being lied to and things weren't true and we were getting sold a bill of goods [...] but I don't want to harp on that.
[...]
I did the album. I said all of what I had to say, and now I don't like to do it again. I don't like singing the songs. I did it. I'm not CNN. I don't play it over and over again.
Ahem. One can't help but be reminded of Bob Dylan's quote about hearing Neil Young's Let's Impeach the President and how he thought, "That's crazy, he's doing a song about Clinton?" That little dig of Bob's, as I thought at the time, put a finger on what was wrong -- just artistically speaking -- with what Neil Young was doing. He was making music that was more like (lousy) opinion journalism, with a definite expiration date.
Well, I guess Neil realizes that it's now expired. Too bad there are some fans out there who probably still listen to those tunes as anthems, manifestos and mantras.
(Continue reading here.)
I hope Neil Young will remember, a Southern man don’t need him ‘round, anyhow...
I have been saying for a long while that it’s easier for many of these types to believe that the war on terrorism is just a lie cooked up by Bush, Cheney, etc. rather than face the fact that there are savages out there trying to kill us.
Young’s statements are probably as close as we will ever get to an admission of error by the left.
Ironic, too, in that they are always the one harping on the allegation that “Bush can’t admit his mistakes.”
Stevie Nicks once stated (on Leno, I belive) that she thought Bill Clinton was “maybe a little too young” to be president. I think she also distanced herself from any sort of endorsement based on the use of the Fleetwood Mac song “Don’t Stop” by the Bill Clinton campaign. Knowing that she risked alienating her circle of friends and professional relationships, she declined to go further in public.
Some of these people are fairly good-hearted but very naive. As has been stated elsewhere, their talents, though prodigious, are very narrowly focused; outside their specialization their opinions are no more (or less) worthy than those of any other everyday person.
Is Neil Young still a citizen of Planet Earth? What’s his passport look like? Are any of his new guitar solos going to utilize more than one note this year?
“I hope Neil Young will remember, a Southern man don’t need him ‘round, anyhow...”
Turn it up.
Glad to see Neil Young is coming to his senses about that lp. I’ve been a fan since the Buffalo Springfield days and won’t let that lapse of judgement affect my appreciation for his other works.
Interesting. Apparently some BDS sufferers are developing antibodies.
I was singing that exact lyric while reading this. ha
Some things about Neil Young that many people don’t know:
“Though he made some of his finest music in the Seventies, the decade was also marked by a series of personal tragedies. In 1972 his first son, Zeke, was born, and soon after diagnosed with cerebral palsy. That same year Young lost his guitarist and close friend 27-year-old Danny Whitten, and his favourite roadie, Bruce Berry, to drug overdoses. Then, six years later, having married his current wife, Pegi, Young’s second son, Ben, was born with an even more severe form of cerebral palsy.
‘It took time to get used to the fact that it wasn’t one but two,’ Young told Time magazine in 2005, one of the few times he has publicly commented on this appalling twist of fate. ‘Eventually Pegi and I just came to the understanding that we had been chosen, and this was one of the things we were going to do with our life, turning this situation into something positive for all kinds of kids.’
To this end Young and Pegi, his wife of 28 years, founded the Bridge School in Hillsborough, California in 1986, which specialises in providing communication through technology for non-verbal, physically challenged children. Each year Young hosts and headlines a concert there and has cajoled the likes of Paul Simon, Tom Petty and Pearl Jam to appear.
Ben, now 28, quadraplegic and unable to speak often accompanies his father on tour in a coach that Young has fitted with a hydraulic lift. The singer’s obsession with model trains - he is part-owner of Lionel, the model train company - is also bound up with Ben’s condition. Young has developed a command and control system that allows his son to operate the vast model train track he has installed in the converted barn near his home. For the last 36 years Young has lived on that same sprawling ranch near San Francisco that he bought with the royalties of the first CSNY album, Deja Vu, and christened ‘Broken Arrow’ after one of his early songs. (His third child, Amber, aged 22, is studying fine art.)”
That observation by Dylan helps sum up part of his genius. He was always careful never to narrowly tailor his best lyrics so that they could be fitted to just about any context.
That said, his songs are generally best when anyone but him is singing them.
What really got me is Neil wrote a song called, "The needle and the damage done," or maybe that was just the lyrics...hypocritical lyrics if I remember correctly. I bet he could give the Rolling Stones,lead guitarist Keith Richards a run for drug addict of the years, at least back then. maybe what I saw was just a binge, can't say he was a long term friend by any stretch; just a short time aquaintence and though the drugs weren't my bag I certainly loved coming in from surfing and listening to them play.
True!
HA!
That’s interesting. Confirmation that there’s a good side to him.
It never ceases to amaze me that some people get their political direction or validation thereof from entertainers. With few if any exceptions they are the most vacuous individuals.
... wait for it . . .
Just entertainers!
It amazes me that quite a few of those people post here.
“I hope Neil Young will remember, a Southern man don’t need him ‘round, anyhow...”
...you got that right!
I’ll second that.
I’m not really sure why this guy sold any records at all.
Poor voice. Lousy guitar work. Dated liberal lyrics.
He sings like a whiny fat girl.
&&&
Exactly. Never could stand him.
As for his political statements, why would I value the opinion of someone whose brain has been riddled by drugs like many of the Hollywood types?
I lived in Santa Cruz during that period and also surfed. Wasn't he living somewhere on Pleasure Point and didn't he get a bunch of guitars stolen? And didn't the name "Ducks" come from a incident of some guy hitting a bunch of ducks along twin lakes?
No time for indecision we got to make a move I hope that were forgiven for what we got to do How this all got started I’ll never understand Hope someone can fly this thing and get us back to land
Time is runnin out. lets roll Time is runnin out. lets roll
No one has the answer but one thing is true You got to turn on evil when it’s coming after you You gotta face it down and when it tries to hide We gotta go in after it and never be denied
Time is runnin out. lets roll
Lets roll for freedom Lets roll for love Going after satan on the wings of a dove Lets roll for justice Lets roll for truth Lets not let our children grow up fearful in their youth
This song was written about Flight 93. This was the highjacked flight that crashed in rural Pennsylvania when the passengers attempted to retake control. Their sacrifice quite possibly prevented hundreds of other deaths and the destruction of the Capitol building.
Neil Young’s tribute was not only moving, but was the most clear-headed statement I’ve ever heard from a rock musician. It was a shame that he still lent his music to Michael Moore’s steaming pile of crap, Farenheit 9-11. Well, I like his music anyway, politics notwithstanding.
Those are some good lyrics, and I must say he has some other music I’ve enjoyed over the years. I have gotten quite weary of how liberal and preachy he’s become, though.
Oh Neil, you're still in a "phase" I guess.
Neil is Canadian, btw.
Not long after the attacks of 9/11/01, Young came out with this song. The lead in was the eerie sound of cell phones ‘ringing’...
I know I said I love you,
I know you know it’s true,
I got to put the phone down,
And do what we gotta do.
One’s standing in the aisle way,
Two more at the door,
We got to get inside there,
Before they kill some more.
Time is runnin’ out, let’s roll.
Time is runnin’ out, let’s roll.
No time for indecision,
We got to make a move,
I hope that we’re forgiven,
For what we gotta do.
How this all got started,
I’ll never understand,
I hope someone can fly this thing,
Get us back to land.
Time is runnin’ out, let’s roll.
Time is runnin’ out, let’s roll.
No one has the answers,
But one thing is true,
You got to turn on evil,
When it’s comin’ after you.
You got to face it down,
And when it tries to hide,
You got to go in after it,
And never be denied.
Time is runnin’ out, let’s roll.
Let’s roll for freedom,
Let’s roll for love,
Goin’ after Satan,
On the wings of a dove.
Let’s roll for justice,
Let’s roll for truth,
Let’s not let our children,
Grow up fearful in their youth.
Time is runnin’ out, let’s roll.
Time is runnin’ out, let’s roll.
Time is runnin’ out, let’s roll.
Hello. I can play a guitar passably well, therefore my political and social opinions matter a great deal. Well, certainly more than yours as you are not a celebrity like me.
I liked Neil Young when I was 18 — then I grew up.
He claims his 59 Lincoln will get 100 MPG. Some kind of hybrid with a watchmacalit generator (that's about as technical as I can do). Worked with a Canadian. American, Australian scientist and mechanic.
Said, if I can do it why can't GM or Ford.
Showed a picture of the car. That's all.
About three years ago Toyota said the 2009 Prius would get 95+ MPG. Anyone heard anything on that little gem in the last year or so?
Rust on!
If so, Young don't you have more important things to worry about like counting your money, preparing to harvest some maple syrup in the fall, and playing with your Lionel trains?
This is the man who sang about Nixon causing the student deaths at Kent State, then in a later song sang "Even Richard Nixon has got soul."
If I remember correctly, I think he also had good things to say about President Reagan and caught heat for that.
He's a human being that says what's on his mind. He's honest. He's not an @$$ kisser, that's for sure.
Keep rockin' in the free world Neil!
Amazing! Thanks.
Now that things on the ground have changed drastically, it's kind of funny to see how many people are trying to backtrack.
Allegedly Neil did lose some guitars and the was an article written about Neil and such regarding this by and old college friend( and before) by the name of Ben Marcus....of course he omitted the needle and the spoon junk I witnessed. Neil used to drive around town in his old Rolls Royce and would frequent the health food store( no longer there either) on the corner of Portola Dr/ 41st Avenue.
Cheers to old Pleasure Point surfers back in the day when life was slower and homes cost less than a million a piece!!
I also like these little reported musician quotes from recent years:
“Why is everybody trying to stop the war? George Bush ain't been saying, 'You all, make shitty records.' Politicians and music don't mix. It's like whisky and wine. Musicians ought to stay out of it.”
-Kid Rock
"“I do not believe that artists or actors and people should be out there like voicing their full-blown opinions on politics because, let's face it, at the end of the day, I'm not that smart of a guy. I play Rock 'n' Roll, that's what I do. Who would you trust to make your decisions, Donald Rumsfeld or the Dixie Chicks?”
-Kid Rock
“If you're listening to a rock star in order to get your information on who to vote for, you're a bigger moron than they are.”
Alice Cooper
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