Guest Blogged by Jim Cirile
Neil Young wants to keep on rockin’ the free world.
His new record, Living With War, makes very clear that if the Bush regime is allowed to continue, there may not be a free world to rock for much longer.
At 7:30 PM on Friday, April 21, 2006, Reprise Records’ Dan Rose ushered a small cadre of us into a Reprise’s Burbank headquarters for an exclusive listen to Young’s new CD. For the next 50 minutes, listen we did.
Let’s get one thing out of the way right now: this album rocks. It’s post ’80s electric Neil Young at his grunge best, and of the 10 cuts on Living With War, the first eight are mostly uptempo rockers. In fact, this may be the 60-year-old Young’s most crossover-worthy album yet, since many of the songs should appeal to fans of bands as diverse as Green Day and Pearl Jam and will likely be embraced on campuses across America.
But there’s one other tiny thing that makes this record stand out: it is one mother%^&*#% of a protest album. In fact, Living With War may just be the Fahrenheit 9/11 of rock.
The album kicks off with the tight wistful rocker, “After the Garden.” Its strong hook sets the tone by hearkening back to Woodstock—remember what we were fighting for in the ’60s, folks? It’s all been dashed. Next up: “Living With War,” a good cut that had toes tapping. But the room really came alive with the third cut, “Restless Consumer,” a headbanging indictment of both American consumerism and the manipulation of the public by the corporate media. Young breaks into an almost rap-style rant in the choruses, with the refrain, “We don’t need no more lies!” No, we do not.
The fourth cut, “Shock and Awe,” skewers our botched “liberation” of Iraq due to hubris and deliberately falsified intel. By this point it is clear Young is not pulling any punches. The lyrics are sometimes heart-wrenching, sometimes humorous, sometimes laden with uncomfortable truth.
Cuts 5 and 6, “Families” and “Flags of Freedom” examine the effect of war on us all, and “Flags” stops you dead with this thought-provoking lyric, “Do you think that you believe in yours more than they do theirs somehow?”
But Young kicks out the proverbial jams with the album’s centerpiece, “Let’s Impeach the President.” This song is a blistering, barnstorming indictment of our Commander-in-Thief, and Young borrows a page from Michael Moore here by letting Bush destroy himself with his own words. In the song’s midsection, Bush’s own recorded contradictory statements are juxtaposed against one another to create an incontrovertible pastiche of lies and contradictions while the background singers chant, “Flip…Flop…Flip…Flop…” Incendiary. The CD is worth buying for this one song alone.
The tone grows wistful again (but with a ray of hope) in “Looking for a Leader,” in which Young hopes someone, anyone, will step up to clean out the corruption—”Maybe it’s Obama, but he thinks that he’s too young… Maybe it’s a woman, or a black man after all…” The CD finally downshifts with the tender, slower “Roger and Out,” a look back on the “old hippie highway” and the fresh and perhaps naà¯ve ideals of youth. Finally, Young closes with a showstopper—a full choral version of “America the Beautiful,” featuring a 100-person choir. No gimmicks here—it is simply a traditional and deeply moving rendition of the song which, after the rest of Living With War, makes it quite clear that Young not only loves America, but wants to see it returned to its former glory. Soon.
The really remarkable thing is that the CD captures a live sound like few others do. It really sounds like you’re in the room with Young and his 3-piece band as they blaze through the tunes. The album was recorded in a week with minimal overdubs, and this contributes an amazing vitality and urgency to the whole package. The choir and occasional trumpet add zing to an otherwise hard-rockin’ bass-guitar-drum assault.
Says Reprise’s Dan Rose, “We prefer to let the music speak for itself,” and that it does—in volumes. If you’re a fan of Young’s, buy this. If you’re not, consider buying it anyway. Young is saying out loud what most of America is feeling right now and what the corporate media refuses to allow to be said. Rock and roll at its best has always been about rebellion. And just in time, Living With War gives it to us in spades.
===
Album spokesmen say the album will be released online in the next week or so, before it reaches stores. For more info, please visit www.neilyoung.com and www.livingwithwar.blogspot.com
Thanks to Justice Through Music for helping us to coordinate this review. They have now set up a special page to cover the release of the album.
UPDATE 4/24/06: The Living With War blog reports, “Living With War will stream on NeilYoung.com beginning Fri, Apr. 28th. The album will be available at digital retailers beginning May 2nd. CDs will be available in stores early May.”
UPDATE 4/26/06: Fox “News” posts the complete lyrics to “Let’s Impeach the President”, along with their own review…
UPDATE 4/28/06: The complete album is now released online for your listening pleasure…
I can’t wait!!!!! Please Hurry!
Yes! Yes! Can’t wait! Thank you Neil!
This album and more like it are needed. One thing I noticed. The reviewer said that this album will likely be embraced on campuses across America.
He means ‘white’ campuses, right?
From one former hippie to another, thank you Neil Young for an outlet to our anger and dismay! He not only saying out loud what most of America is feeling right now, he is expressing how most of North America, plus most of the world, is feeling right now.
Thanks for this recommendation, I’ll check it out. Another great crossover album in this genre is Everyone Deserves Music by Michael Franti / Spearhead. Every single song is very listenable and well thought out.
Check out Spearhead / Michael Franti
website for Michael Franti / Spearhead is http://www.spearheadvibrations.com HTML above didn’t work.
Jim,
Thanks for your report on your experience last night.
I think the world needs to hear what you heard…. I am not a Neil Young fan… but something tells me that I will be after I buy this CD!
Once again, I ask these same questions of Mr. Young that I’ve been asking of everyone of our movement…
Where the SHEOL was he in 1994 when the neo-cons took over Congress? Where was this album in 1998 when the neo-con House impeached Clinton? Where was this protest in 2000 when Bush usurped the Presidency? Where was it in 2001 when Americans were losing their jobs en masse to India, China, Russia and Brazil? Where was it in 2002-2003 when Bush and the neo-cons lied to us to get us ready for Illegal War? Where was it two years ago when Karl Rove stole the re-"election" of Bush?
It’s easier to fight it now that the country is moving back to our view of things… but I was fighting this coup-de-etat (did I spell that right???) fron day one.
The one good point of this is that this CD may help stop Illegal War Part II in Iran.
I’m gonna buy it.
These damn 300 outlet neo-con radio stations won’t play it though.
We can create buzz so demand for it rises up from the bottom grass roots to the top, instead of the usual way–from the bank account of one top record executive to all the 300 outlet stations he pays to play it.
Mr. Blue Sky, remember when Michael Moore got booed at the Academy Awards 4 years ago for daring to speak the truth? Only a few of us ‘got it’ then. It took many many many years of the rape and pillage of America for the truth to really be obvious to folks. People in general simply don’t WANT to believe that America could be taken over by a criminal syndicate, and because they will it to be not so, it is not so. That’s just human nature.
–Jim C.
You know, it is another shameful situation that we have not had other artists protest the war & Bush way before now.
Artists are supposed to be on the cutting edge–not the trailing edge..
It’s because of the way the neo-cons saw to it that negative consequences came to artists who spoke out.
People like the Dixie chicks. When one of them made a disparaging remark about Bush when she was in a foreign country–I think she said she was ashamed that our Pres was from Texas or something like that when asked about it in England—the 300 outlet strong radio stations owned by neo-con conglomerates, banned their records.
The so-called "artists" caved to the almighty dollar, instead of ‘representing’.
That’s a shame.
We’re back on the subject of the FCC & media consolidation wreaking havoc in our country.
Back in the days of Nam, we had all kinds of protest songs, about soldiers singin yeehoo! we’re all gonna die, coming back in body bags, peace trains, war is good for nothing etc. Even Peter Paul & Mary days had them: Where have all the flowers gone? If I had a hammer. The answer is blowin in the wind. We rallied & protested. Death to the pigs!
Aaaahhhh memories…(sigh) I loved those days–we were in their face—we felt like we were saving the world…
I’m homesick for the sixties too. I’ve never listened to Neil Young, but I certainly will buy this album. Hope it’s out SOON!
Once Again. . . Neil Young sheds a thousand points of light for America . . . . .
Nixon – "Ohio" 1970. . . bush 41 – "rockin’ in the free world year" 1989 . . . . .
"Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We’re finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio" (link here, Neil Young).
"Well, John the [Bolton] Baptist after torturing a thief
Looks up at his hero the Commander-in-Chief
Saying, "Tell me great hero, but please make it brief
Is there a hole for me to get sick in?"
The Commander-in-Chief answers him while chasing a fly
Saying, "Death to all those who would whimper and cry"
And dropping a bar bell he points to the sky
Saving, ‘The sun’s not yellow it’s chicken’" (link here, Dylan).
Whenever these kinds of albums come out I breathe a sigh of relief and I simultaneously cringe.
Lots of artists have protested what Bush is doing. Unfortunately, they are ignored. They are ignored because they are the same Latino and Black artists that were protesting what Clinton and Bush1 and Reagan were doing as well. Not to diminish what N. Young has done, I will buy 2 copies myself, but what this conversation highlights for me is the racialized nature of the Left where politics and indeed, the world, is viewed through the prism of whiteness.
A few comments from this thread,
People in general simply don’t WANT to believe that America could be taken over by a criminal syndicate….
It’s easier to fight it now that the country is moving back to our view of things… but I was fighting this coup-de-etat (did I spell that right???) fron day one.
It took many many many years of the rape and pillage of America for the truth to really be obvious to folks
In these instances ‘people’ is really meant to say ‘white people’. Because anyone that knows politics knows that black folks have been in opposition to and fighting these policies for many decades, not many months.
I am aware that these types of comments make a lot of white folks, and some black folks, anxious and uncomfortable to hear. But our reluctance to discuss things with complete honesty only hurts our common cause. The racist framework set up by the establishment that we have internalized is the reason honest discussions that include racial components are so damn uncomfortable.
We must break out of that.
I applaud Neil Young and all of the artists that will never be acknowledged that have been fighting the political and social fight for decades. We’ve got to tell the truth to each other and music can be a great way to do that. Perhaps, the only way.
I went & looked.
I still have Jerry Rubin’s book "Do It!" (scenarios of the Revolution) sitting on my library shelf! It’s all falling apart–because I could only afford the paperback back then.
Look, here’s a quote from page 109.
"A dying culture destroys everything it touches.
Language is the first thing to go."
(George Bush is living proof of THAT!)
Then Jerry goes on to advocate writing the word "F*ck on all your protest signs. Such as, "F*CK WAR". He says it will get you arrested & get your protest in the newspaper in 5 minutes rather than stand around all day trying to get your message to the public.
He said all the Senators have to do to get in the paper is make a statement–but we have to write F___ unless we get violent so we can get arrested.
The "Chicago 7" was great. The more the older people said ain’t it awful, the more we loved it. Jerry Rubin would come into federal court with his shirt off & his mammary glands painted day glo orange. It was so funny that Jerry’s painted boobs got them mad as hell!
Of course, the war & killing didn’t.
He said, "The respectable middle class must begin wholesale & collective civil disobedience to clog the courtrooms & the jails. If we are united we cannot be defeated. As Eldridge (Cleaver) said, ‘There are more people than pigs’."
I guess that’s why Bush is having Halliburton build huge concrete "containment centers" for us.
To handle the overflow that will surely ( but too late) come.
Another thing Jerry said, "The purpose of wiretapping is to make us afraid to talk to each other on the phone." He meant so you can’t organize. How appropriate now.
Jerry said, "Babies are zen masters, curious about everything. Adults are serious & bored. What happened? Brain surgery by the schools."
Today we have No child left behind & dumbing down the schools.
"Steal this book!"
It may have been distasteful & even lewd at times, but it was great all the same.
Time to dust off the boombox and share the sounds as I stroll around campus. Some times the latest technology really will not work like the old. The Ipod just can not replace the boombox for sharing protest songs.
Right on Charlene!
Brain surgery by the schools is right!!
HOW GREAT…UNFORTUNATELY….THIS IS GOING NOWHERE, UNLESS: YOU people STOP blogging and commenting on blogs and START protesting. Look. Blogs are a safety valve institution and BushCo is loving it. As long as you people go on the internet and find other like-minds to release your angst with (instead of actually going out to stand up for yourselves), BushCo knows you’re harmless, because you’re just preaching to the choir!!!
DO SOME HARM! GET OFF YOUR ASSES AND START DEMONSTRATING!!!
In Nepal, the King was demonstrated against for weeks, and he’s resigned himself to democracy.
In Thailand, the Prime Minister (Thaksin) was demonstrated against for two months straight, and he’s fled from Thailand.
There are several other examples in the past year alone, but I’m too tired to list them all.
The problem with you people is that you think that BLOGGING is tantamount to some sort of protest. IT’S NOT! You need to get off your ASSES and protest. Not one day. Not one week. Not one month. But for as long as it takes to get these PNAC MoFo’s out of office. You need to "stay the course" (to take a Neocon phrase).
If you don’t do this, nothing’s gonna change.
(I’d join you in the fight, but I’m on the other side of the world.)
That was all 36 years ago.
Jerry Rubin became a stockbroker in the eighties, did a speaking tour with Abbie Hoffman about their protest days together & ended up selling vitamins before he died.
Eldridge Cleaver returned to America from his exile in Algeria which he undertook to avoid further jail time because of his involvement in the police shooting in Oakland, California. He got religion, became "born again" & now embraces America.
Abbie Hoffman committed suicide.
That’s what biography.com said.
You know what else Jerry Rubin said?
He said, "They want you to be cynical, because it takes optimism & energy to revolt."
I hear ya Jerry.
Smitty
What songs have minority artists made in protest?
New neil lyrics:
Dear Mr. President
Come take a walk with me
Let’s pretend we’re just two people and you’re not better than me.
I’d like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly
What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street ?
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror?
Are you proud?
How do you sleep while the rest of us cry ?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye and tell me why?
Dear Mr. President
Were you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
How can you say "No child is left behind"?
We’re not dumb and we’re not blind.
They’re all sitting in your cells,
While you pay the road to hell.
What kind of father would take his own daughter’s rights away?
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say.
You’ve come a long way from whiskey and cocaine.
How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye?
Dear Mr. President
You’d never take a walk with me….
Would you.
-Neil Young
Charlene – The Isley Brothers – 1975
Fight the Power
Time is truly wastin’
There’s no guarantee
Smile’s in the makin’
You gotta fight the powers that be
Got so many forces
Stayin’ on the scene
Givin’ up all around me
Faces full a’ pain
I try to play my music
They say my music’s too loud
I kept talkin’ about it
I got the big run around
When I rolled with the punches
I got knocked on the ground
With all this bullshit going down
Time is truly wastin’
There’s no guarantee
Smile’s in the makin’
We gotta fight the powers that be
I don’t understand it
People wanna see, ya
Those that got the answers
Red tape in the way
I could take you in easy
That’s just half the fun, oh boy
Seeking my satisfaction
Keeps me on the run
I try to play my music
They say my music’s too loud
I try talkin’ about it
I got the big run around
And when I rolled with the punches
I got knocked on the ground
With all this bullshit going down
Time is truly wastin’
There’s no guarantee
Smile’s in the makin’
You gotta fight the powers that be
If you and I can…we got the power
Fight it, got the power fight it…baby, baby
Fight it, fight the power
He said that he grew tired of waiting for the current generation to speak out against Bush and the war, concluding that it may still be up to his generation.
I don’t think he’s been paying much attention to the indie rock scene.
Just keep this website (www.gordonneumann.com) in your "Favorites" – this guy (Neumann) has much to say from his poetry to his short stories and the little extras in between.
Neumann is a Vietnam Veteran and is now a prolific spokesman for Veterans for Peace, Dept of Peace etc – his writings highly complement albums such as Young’s!
What We Carried
We carried the things of war,
heavy burdens on our backs,
devices of death in our arms
aimed at a demonized enemy.
We carried memories of home,
of those we loved,
or wanted to love,
and ideals of a future
if ever we were to leave
this extension of hell.
We carried a license to kill
and be killed,
to be murderers and martyrs
in the same breath,
men and boys
with weakness and strength
doing dirty deeds
condoned by society.
We carried the intimacy
of little things
that only meant
what personal superstition
would have them mean,
and yet,
those were totems most precious,
tied to a psyche trying to survive
in a land where death stalked
like a tiger.
Gordon Neumann
12/13/2005
Hey, some of the grunge crowd had it down:
"He’s not a leader, he’s a texas leaguer" (Pearl Jam, Bushleager).
The way I see it, our entire society is based around antagonizing the sixties youth movement. They couldn’t even stand Clinton turning his cheek time after time. They’ve been defining us for far too long (Hippies, Yippies, Yuppies, Baby Boomers (Don’t you hate those titles?)) Next they’ll be calling us Baby Boobies! Don’t get any ideas Rush! (Why hasn’t THIS guy been arrested for public intoxication yet)!
To the 21st century youth movement:
We never wanted your piece of the pie, they just made it look that way. We always wanted clean air, water, energy etc… We were never allowed to have the leadership to accomplish it after Carter. Reagan treated Carter like he had committed treason for wanting alternate forms of energy (We’re Americans. We can use as much damn oil as we want)! Everybody remember that attitude running up to his election! Anybody out there benefit from the Reagan tax cuts or policy (yeah right). I’m not saying it wasn’t our fault, because it was. It’s sooo easy to go with the flow, and all we can do is ask for your forgiveness, but DAMN IT, IT’S OUR TURN NOW!
THANK YOU MR. YOUNG
The peacenicks are PISSED!
imbo…Ithink those are Pink’s lyrics
I lost all respect for Neil Young years ago when he began shilling for Ronald Reagan……….now that it’s fashionable again to adopt the mantra of liberalism, he – surprise – makes an anti-war album. The best that can be said about him is that – like so many artists – the soundness of his political intincts may not be commensurate with his musical abilities. But I fear I’m being too kind……..
Y’all remember this, from a couple years ago (I think?) BrightEyes performed it on the Jay Leno show – and we were AMAZED that a FEW people cheered it.
That was then, this is now.
*****
"When The President Talks To God"
When the president talks to God
Are the conversations brief or long?
Does he ask to rape our women’s’ rights
And send poor farm kids off to die?
Does God suggest an oil hike
When the president talks to God?
When the president talks to God
Are the consonants all hard or soft?
Is he resolute all down the line?
Is every issue black or white?
Does what God say ever change his mind
When the president talks to God?
When the president talks to God
Does he fake that drawl or merely nod?
Agree which convicts should be killed?
Where prisons should be built and filled?
Which voter fraud must be concealed
When the president talks to God?
When the president talks to God
I wonder which one plays the better cop
We should find some jobs. the ghetto’s broke
No, they’re lazy, George, I say we don’t
Just give ’em more liquor stores and dirty coke
That’s what God recommends
When the president talks to God
Do they drink near beer and go play golf
While they pick which countries to invade
Which Muslim souls still can be saved?
I guess god just calls a spade a spade
When the president talks to God
When the president talks to God
Does he ever think that maybe he’s not?
That that voice is just inside his head
When he kneels next to the presidential bed
Does he ever smell his own bullshit
When the president talks to God?
I doubt it
I doubt it
~BrightEyes
He’s a complicated guy. The Reagan thing bothered me, too, but maybe, as one article states, he’s back in the groove. (This is the guy who wrote "Ohio".) I know some other old friends who inexplicably, to me, backed Reagan and who are now Greens. Go figure.
Neil Young spends a lot of time in my area. Our theory is that he heard our radio spiels for impeachment and he saw the light and was inspired….Nah.
Vicky – Thanx for the link to Neumann’s site – very nicely done and the guy is a fantastic writer.
Charlene,
I enjoyed your posts, but just want to update on one thing. I met and photographed Eldridge Cleaver in Portland, OR (for a local paper), and a week later, he died of (I believe) a heart attack. He was a wonderful person and was talking about moving to Portland soon. Also, didn’t Marvin Gaye do a whole album (or at least a couple of songs) in the 60s that were protesting the war?
I’ve been saying for over a year, where are all the actors, musicians, and artists speaking out against Bush? Finally, everyone’s noticing their collective lack of backing us. And the Huffington Post, where’s all their articles about e-vote fraud? In fact, where is ANYONE besides Brad & Bev, on e-vote fraud? Why doesn’t everyone just come out and say it?
Where are all the rich liberals (they’re not all poor, you know), paying for court expenses for that e-vote whistleblower? Why are they even asking for donations? He shouldn’t need any!
It just pisses me off, not that we need them to do all of our work for us…I definitely learned that a while ago. But there are many people who have the time & money, and are very silent about certain issues like e-vote fraud.
Are any of Neil’s songs about e-vote fraud? Just wondering…
But, having said that, "thanks Neil". My favorite album by Neil is still "After The Goldrush", although I haven’t heard this one yet.
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Rock on, Neil! Canada loves it’s son!!! We’re so proud of you!
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He should write a song about how the southern religious hick controlled state of South Carolina is introducing a bill to ban sex toys, to control everyone’s genitalia. Call it, "The Dildo and the Damage Done."
Oh wow. Those were all good ones.
"…..Yes and how many deaths does it take til he knows–that too many people have died?
…the answer my friend, is blowin in the wind, the answer is blowin in the wind…."
That haunting song gives me goosebumps every time I hear Peter Paul & Mary sing it.
Do you all realize how wonderful our country COULD be? (No, I’m not on anything.)
Bush has only made laws & done things that hurt & ruin. He is such a backward clod.
He thinks money is all there is–that $ means happiness & success. I think of Bush & Cheney like Scrooge & Marley.
They’ve got the power to change the WORLD for good! What a privilege! Being the President. What an opportunity!
Yet all the poor dumbasses can think of to do with this rare chance is to abuse their power & use it only to get mo’ & mo’ money for themselves & their cronies & ruin the earth & injure the people on it to get there. They will be hated all over the earth for the rest of their lives. No giving speeches for Bush like his daddy has done. Someone will surely pick him off.
They’re morally bankrupt clods. We need to get rid of them & their ilk. We deserve & we want better leadership & we’ll only get it when we demand better.
Mother Teresa said poverty is not only lack of material things but that there exists a poverty of the spirit also. She said she had never seen such dire & utter poverty of spirit until she came to the West. She meant Bush & Cheney types, who, although educated, are not wise. Who are without soul, who have nothing inside of them but a twisted & ruthless desire for dollars alone with no conception of how ugly & foolish that is–they can’t take it with them.
Quixote (above) was mostly right.
What if we had a government that actually passed legislation to improve things?
That actually DID care about all of us?
That didn’t waste everything, that helped us & helped the world? That was honest. Upright. Trustworthy.
What a tremendous force for peace THAT would be!
"Imagine whirled peas…."
#33 Joe
How interesting that you get to meet people like Eldridge in your work! Thanx for the update.
One of my all time favorite songs is John Lennon’s "Imagine".
For years, it used to puzzle me why Lennon put " ..& no religion, too.." in his song. I was Catholic & religion seemed like a good thing to me. After the sex scandal came out in the church & I saw how much they blow, I finally realized what he meant.
"…Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can..
Nothing to kill or die for…a brotherhood of man.
Imagine all the people, living life in peace.
You may call me a dreamer…but I’m not the only one..I hope someday you’ll join us & the world will live as one!"
Don’t forget that Neil played with Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young … which was the source of many a protest song … (link here) …
"Almost Cut My Hair"
"Wooden Ships"
"Teach Your Children"
"Woodstock"
And They Are NOT Thru Yet (link here) !!!!
They Want It All
words and music by David Crosby (JUNE 2003)
chorus
they want it all
the want it now
they want to get it
and they don’t care how
want that Mercedes
want that Gulfstream too
they want to get it
get it from you
want your life savings
and your mothers ring
they want to have
everything
chorus
they want a mansion
and they want it full
of wine and women
and political pull
they always own a
congressman or two
that’s how they get way
with what they do
chorus
they bleed the companies
they’re supposed to run
aint no different than takin’
money with a gun
they make it to jamaica
and the wire comes through
they sacrifice a lawyer
and they’re laughing at you
chorus
they don’t get prosecuted
don’t even get charged
they’re somewhere in the sunbelt
livin’ it large
the government says we can’t prove
they did it at all
besides they’ve got these underlings
ready to take the fall
chorus
those people that they stole from
who’s lives they laid to waste
they should have to meet them all
face to face
and explain how come their mama
didn’t teach them not to steal
if you want us to believe in justice
justice better be real
Hahahahahaahaaha . . .
Neil talks on Showbiz Tonight
I have followed Neil from the 1970s onward. He is the man and like Dylan, he has averted being pigeon holed. Do you guys know that he supported Reagan? He liked Reagan’s down home let’s-talk style (never quite got this opne, myself- Reagan was the beginning of this fascism that plagues us now, as far as I can tell).
Greendale (Neil’s 2003 braodway style raock album), inteslf, was a rage against Bush. The Greendale traveling show had background film of Rumsfeld,and a large Clear Chanel billboard that said "Support our War". The finale featured a bunch of injured vets on the stage.
My favorite y2k peace album to date is Son Volt’s "Okemah and the Melody of Riot".
So, as a working musician/songwriter in Nashville, I’ll have y’all know that there is plenty of anti-war, anti-Bush stuff out there, you just gotta go find it. The Americana Music movement is full of artists (many based here in TN) who speak truth to power. Of course, the major labels don’t want anything to do with these types of artists. They won’t promote such artists. I will say that if the artist get a grass-roots thing happening, and begins to sell records, the labels will then pay attention. Bottom line is money, of course… The labels just will not invest in anything "risky" on their own. They still think that the radio listeners are pro-war conservatives. Or, more likely, the 5 or 6 corporations that own the labels and the radio are trying to promote only songs (if political at all) that go one way…
Anyway, that said, this is my humble bluesman’s contribution. I have performed this tune a number of times at songwriter venues, including at "the World Famous" Bluebird Cafe, and have gotten good response. Not once have I gotten a negative response.
Maybe I should play it at a Republican picnic… : – 0
I intend to send a demo disc to Brad, so maybe he’ll play it…
ELECTION REFORM
By Shannon Williford
I don’t believe that every vote counts
It’s a problem, gotta do something ‘bout it
Got to help the folks we’re down but not out
Election reform it sure ain’t pretty
Election reform Every state every city
Election reform Like Iraq or Ukraine
Election reform In the USA
We don’t believe our votes are concrete
no paper ballots, we can’t compete
gotta wonder if somebody cheats
Election reform It’s not a sexy thing
Election reform The media swings
Election reform Do they steal do they rob?
Election reform Gotta look to the blogs
The Founding Fathers they’d be heartbroken
If they thought the people had not spoken
Crime of the – centuries system is broken
Election reform before your vote disappears Election reform or fear bombardier
Election reform it ain’t about winning
Election reform – a brand new beginning
Y’all won’t hear us yellin’ bout a voter fraud fix
If people listen and work in twenty-oh-six
Goin’ back to fair politics (is that an oxymoran)
With election reform
Election reform Oh yeah
Election reform
(spoken over groove) check out Bradblog.com, and I recommend Blackboxvoting and maybe try Voters Unite or Votetrust USA for
Election reform Oh yeah
Election reform
{ED NOTE: Shannon’s song has now been posted online here. It rocks! Give it a listen!}
Hey Shannon – Please email me an MP3 version if you happen to have one!
I’m not sure what year Dylan wrote this song but it sure fits this administration.
Masters Of War -Bob Dylan
GWN
The first release was on his album Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan in 1963. It was one of the things that made me begin to question the Vietnam War. I was a freshman in High School at the time and was a gung-ho Barry Goldwater supporter, but all of that was soon to change.
SHANNON WILLIFORD – I live a couple hours south of Nashville, and tend to make it to the city to check out the street musicians every now and then.
PLEASE CONTACT ME if you’re ever performing in a local club, etc (and ESPECIALLY if you ever perform in Huntsville Alabama, since I actually live closer to there.)
I can’t promise I’ll make it (gas prices have cut into our entertainment budget somethin fierce), but I can promise I’ll try!
America is the worst country in the world !!…….except for all the rest.
Get over it Neil. The Nazi flag is not equal to the American Flag, even though the German people believed it better.
I will not be bying you trash, go smoke another joint and have a nice day at Trembling Hill Rest Home.
O, ….. and some original lyrics for a possible Niel Young song in the future:
Don’t want no War!
Don’t want no War!
Don’t want no War
DON’T WANT NO JOB NIETHER !!!
# 47 Bluebear2 , thanks. I found that song on a site with some other great protest songs
Protest songs
The Burning Bush (a tribute to father and son)
Prepare to meet thy maker
Troublesome Christian faker
You don’t seem to understand respect for your fellow man
Don’t think that you can disguise the hate that’s burning from your eyes
Your evil actions we despise, too late to hide from all your lies
We’ve come together across this land, to take back our future from your hands
From first to last word, you lying bastard
Grand wizard of deceit and disaster
A tainted victor, carbon based hell raiser
The empire falls on this comical Kaiser
You stole the election, now you spread your infection
You show no affection, you’re a lethal injection
You can’t stand rejection, and you have no reflection
A distorted collection of negative projections
Do you get an erection projecting dysfunction?
Need a circumcision from your manly projections?
Taste apprehension, feel mass rebellion
There’ll be no resurrection, just your crucifixion!
(And do I need to mention your total corruption?)
Are you paying attention, or do you lack intellection?
Fear’s your protection; hate’s your prescription
So what are our options, but to perform a dissection?
To your confused conceptions, and your evil perceptions.
You should be safe in your mansion, as they flatten Manhattan
While you fatten your pension with your war tax collection.
If you were Tibetan, you’d be less than a heathen
May your karma be true, to the power of centillion (10 600)
You will rot in eternity for the murder of millions
Stole the world’s prosperity, to profit a billion
One thing is certain, as we pull back the curtains
The truth has been written, you will not be forgotten!
We will soon enlighten, this ship’s course will righten
The seas will soon settle, the skies will soon lighten
And the people will love, and stop all this fighting
A gift from above, it will be so delighting!
So be prepared to meet thy maker
In the clear light, we all ascend
We will learn to forgive, and not to forget
And attain our collective enlightenment!
Michael Michael December 21st, 2002
Labeling it Farrenheit 9/11 my be a dis-service to the album if it actually has meat. Moore’s documentary was great in that is suggested that there is something funny with the whole day’s events, but he leaves out the most damaging of evidence & so it seems to be a whitewash in sheeps clothing.
IHMO
I agree with Quixote,until we hit the streets in the millions,shut the cities down,nothing is going to get any better in this country,I believe people are afraid of getting shot,and we all know gw would do it,but unless we do,blogs are all there is gonna be.
This war its created by the US goberment to sell all the weapons and arms that THEY PRODUCE..
they create a war to kill the american people , that´s garbage for them….
I think that George W. Bush
ITS THE MAJOR MURDER IN AMERICA….
with more deaths in his shoulders, than most of the serial killers arround the globe…..
IF SOME ONE HAD TO GO TO TRIAL IT SHOULD BE HIM….
YOUR PRESIDENT…..
I am from mexico
But I cry for the humanity… and the Inocents
You all should know that even in Europe (Belgium), Neil Young still has a lot of fans waiting for this new album.
Hope we will see him soon in Europe too.
see WHAT’S GOING ON by Marvin Gaye.
THE WHOLE ALBUM
Rock stars and Hollywood stars hurt more than they help.
As Jon Stewart said at the Oscars – "Tonight, you actually get to vote for someone who wins!"
This will be one CD that I will not buy, along with the majority of the country.
There will be wars and rumors of wars long after Neil Young is dead.
Before we all get too excited, remember that Farenheit 9/11 didn’t stop his minders from boosting the imbecile Bush to victory in 2004, despite a record breaking box office. It was a wonderful movie/doco, but required considerable concentration to weave the threads together, even for a hard nosed political junky like me. It was over 2 hours and quite complex.
What’s practical about Neil Young’s album is that the song choruses are short and sweet. We can sing them while we’re takin’ it to the streets. We are not going to win this one sitting on our dates and cruising the political blogosphere. Joan Baez was right, Joe Hill never died, but if we don’t ORGANISE and ACT, we will be finessed as rubes, once again human confetti, shredded by the Bush machine, packaged by Halliburton, and cast aside like turds in the ocean of realpolitikal life.
For the record, Neil Young did not "support" Reagan in the 80s. He pretty well summed his opinion of the Reagan era with ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’.
The story is that he got so tired of journalists pigeon-holing him as a 60s hippie who must hate everything Reagan was for, that one time when such an interviewer began trashing Reagan, Neil said, hey, Reagan wasn’t ALL bad, that he agreed with Reagan’s idea of communities working together to solve problems. Next thing you know, it’s become an urban legend that Neil Young "supported" Reagan in the 80s. As Neil said in his recent CNN interview, "red and blue is not black and white".
"Well, I hope Neil Young will remember.
A southern man don’t need him around anyhow."
Sweet home Alabami
Why is the whitehouse so blue
Sweet home Alabami
lord lucifer our prides in you
Blowin In The Wind
How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, ‘n’ how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, ‘n’ how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they’re forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.
How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, ‘n’ how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, ‘n’ how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.
How many years can a mountain exist
Before it’s washed to the sea?
Yes, ‘n’ how many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?
Yes, ‘n’ how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn’t see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.
(Bob Dylan, 1963)
I am all for Neil Young’s album. I am a huge fan and it sounds terrific. I am also thrilled to see some of the artists of my youth (Pearl Jam, Ministry, Green Day) voicing similar dissent. The question remains, however, where do teh artists of today stand on the issues of the time? Are any of the artists who are relevant to the youth willing to speak out? Sure us 30 something grungies and the hippies before us are outr4aged and terrified by this country, but we, by definition, will not be an effective instrument of change. The real question (to paraphrase Pete Townsend) is "Are the Kids Alright? That remains to be seen, and is most cedrtainly not reflected in the disposable pop fluff that they are all to willing to consume.
EVERYONE needs to get informed:
READ:
http://www.democracynow.org, http://www.mediamatters.org, etc…
LISTEN:
http://www.therandirhodesshow.com/live
http://www.airamericaradio.com
EVERYONE needs to spread the word. You need to talk to your relatives, your friends and your neighbors.
GET OUT AND VOTE THIS NOV. 2ND AND KICK the republican senators and representatives out of office. And vote in your state elections. Governors are important too.
BUSH and the REPUBLICAN CONGRESS have ruined our country and hurt our future.
We need to TAKE AMERICA BACK and then we can start to HEAL.
=>Jobs, Education, Peace, Freedom, Environment, Health
Peace…
Thanks Dredd! #63
As I said, I love that song.
It’s haunting images & it’s message stir my soul every time.
I’m way fond of Peter Paul & Mary’s version over Dylan’s though.
Dylan’s voice & style just didn’t do justice to the melody.
Although I like Dylan too–on other songs.
#30 KestrelBrightEyes
I was watching Leno that night & I heard them too!
The lead kind of talked it more than singing.
I couldn’t believe it that someone was dissing Bush on the air.
It was great.
It was slightly ahead of its time, because the audience should have stood up & screamed, instead of the mostly polite response they gave.
I hate Bush and desire true freedom and truth to prevail as much as anyone but for god’s sake….
Neil Young is not American!
This fight needs to be fought and won by Americans.
"Lefty Patriot"…if it takes a Canadian (living in the states for ages) to get you guys out of your caves, is it SHAME you feel?? That you haven’t led the march or so?
With a government like yours and a country in dire straits like yours, grab hold of ANY straw that can help to make a change for the better man! Don’t be so pigheaded and blind and have some misguided ‘pride’ diss what’s handed to you on a silver platter.
And take that from a dutchman!
HA!
🙂 Way to go Neil. We love you and we love our country. It is time for these neocon fools to pay for their arogance.
Spent last night listening to the "living at war" album. Spent this morning listening to it too. Have to say its an awesome album.
This country suffered a serious blow when it elected, then reelected a convicted drunk driver, a thief, and a liar: Bush.
LETS ALL SING ALONG…. "LETS IMPEACH THE PRESIDENT!"
This is awesome. Neil, along with so many other artists, is using his creativity to help us both come to terms with and to articulate our outrage. I need this therapy.
As I mentioned, there is more. Here are links to two videos for songs which just happen to have the same title, "Dear Mr. President" — the "Pink" folk anthem, and the hip hop collaboration. I’m sure there are dozens of others. Enjoy.
after the Garden is gone:
From
[link]
poster: "The comet will save the planet by cleansing it of service to self humans."
ET Prophet: Don’t bet on that.
God never used comets before to clean the house
poster: "So what another flood would be boring he is just mixing it up a bit."
ET Prophet: I don’t know about boring.
I know that a flood isn’t enough.
This will give you an idea of how God might rearrange the house:
after the Garden is gone:
From
[link]
poster: "The comet will save the planet by cleansing it of service to self humans."
ET Prophet: Don’t bet on that.
God never used comets before to clean the house
poster: "So what another flood would be boring he is just mixing it up a bit."
ET Prophet: I don’t know about boring.
I know that a flood isn’t enough.
This will give you an idea of how God might rearrange the house:
We don’t need to look any further… Neil Young for president! I realize he’s "foreign born" but is it still a requirement to be born in America to be president? If so, this is a requirement that should be changed. I must say, he is more "American" than many of our disengaged citizens.
Thanks, Neil, for the powerful statements you have made. You would have my vote!
Support our troops. Bring them home.
We don’t need to look any further… Neil Young for president! I realize he’s "foreign born" but is it still a requirement to be born in America to be president? If so, this is a requirement that should be changed. I must say, he is more "American" than many of our disengaged citizens.
Thanks, Neil, for the powerful statements you have made. You would have my vote!
Support our troops. Bring them home.
Kudo to Neil. We need people who have a stage to speak up. It takes alot of courage. We just put out an antiwar CD called America in Denial. We don’t get the exposure that Neil does but you can listen to it at http://www.elmercreek.com Check it out and Neil, keep up the good work.
Yes, I was born in the 50’s, I grew up in the 60’s and I was there.
This discussion is exactly what it was destined to be. It is all a bunch of meaningless crap that solves nothing, prevents nothing, answers nothing, empowers nothing, changes nothing, and represents nothing.
Why? Well…Neil Young, that’s why.
A 60-something year-old Canadian anti-American worn-out has-been pseudo-rocker that makes talentless noise and garbage poetry. refuses to grow up, and now gets boatloads of money by cashing in on the fad that is bashing America and the government.
Neil did this before, and again, and again, and again. People grew tired of him and his peers and their pretend, marketing agent-created rebel status.
In time, he will again fade into even deeper mediocrity.
But he doesn’t have to worry–he won’t go broke because he has all you losers with your head so far up his backside, it’s impossible to tell him from you.
Yes, I was born in the 50’s, I grew up in the 60’s and I was there.
This discussion is exactly what it was destined to be. It is all a bunch of meaningless crap that solves nothing, prevents nothing, answers nothing, empowers nothing, changes nothing, and represents nothing.
Why? Well…Neil Young, that’s why.
A 60-something year-old Canadian anti-American worn-out has-been pseudo-rocker that makes talentless noise and garbage poetry. He refuses to grow up, and once again gets boatloads of money from by cashing in on the endlessly recycled fad that is, bashing America, the man, and the government.
This is tiring stuff that has been done before, and again, and again, and again. People grew tired of Neil and his peers and were eventually able to see through the pretend, marketing agent-created "rebel" status. In time, he–like all the rest–will again fade into even deeper mediocrity.
But Neil doesn’t have to worry–he won’t go broke because he has all you losers with your head so far up his backside, it’s impossible to tell where you end and he begins.
Apparently that’s just the way he, and you, like it. It makes all of you happy and we all know that happy is what matters.
Google Eugene Chadbourne’s name and look for his site: He wrote a song back in 1991 by name of “Don’t Burn the Flag, Let’s Burn the Bush”
He was really writing about the elected Bush, but it still pretty much applies today.