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Neil Young: Living With War
Neil Young
Living With War
(Reprise, 2006)
This was supposed to be the record—the record that would finally rally other songwriters to stand up and speak out against the war. It was to provide a bold and immediate response to those in power, a no-apologies acknowledgment that seven out of every 10 people in this country think the president’s done a pretty crappy job, all things considered.
Living With War was supposed to sound the anti-battle cry, to wake and shake the masses into standing up for what was right. And leading the charge was one of rock’s all-time troubadours—Neil Young.
Neil Young. The man who sang about tin soldiers and Nixon coming. The man who said, “You gotta turn on evil when it’s coming after you.” The man who dared us all to keep on rockin’ in the free world.
Neil Young never lost faith in rock ‘n’ roll’s ability to influence change.
But months after Living With War had disappeared from the new release rack, Young turned back to find he was charging up the hill alone. Sure, the Dixie Chicks were ashamed that George Bush was from Texas and Springsteen was singing ditties about devils and dust, but where on Earth were anthems like “Fortunate Son” and soul jams like “What’s Goin’ On?” Where were the “Masters of War” and the “Unknown Soldier”? Where were the bomber-jet planes riding shotgun in the sky, turning into butterflies above our nation?
Where was the language of war? Where was the anger and the imagery? Where was the demand for accountability and reform? Where were our greatest songwriters when we needed them the most?
Groups like Ministry, System of a Down, and Radiohead came forward, making their feelings known. But time and again, we’d find the difference between Vietnam-era revolution and 21st century rebellion is that while one rallied against the innocent loss of life and the sheer inhumanity of it all, the other seems hinged on damning the political misdeeds of one man.
That’s precisely why Young’s record was so important. He not only painted a bleak picture of an unjust war spiraling out of control, he did so with a particular ethos for the once-great promise of American values and culture.
Living With War was an indictment of those in power, but it was also a strong reminder of the bedrock principles this country was built upon. Classic staples like spoken quotes from “The Star Spangled Banner” and the track “America the Beautiful” sprung up like sharp points of light through the fog, providing hope that the dream of dustbowl America had not perished. But those sharp points of light were buried under layers of doubt, most evident in tracks like “After the Garden” and “Shock and Awe.”
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18 Comments
I agree whole-heartedly. I remember when I first heard this album and it made me breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that someone (a musician that I revere and respect) had taken the time to put something like this out. And when I first heard, ‘Let’s Impeach the President’, for a second, I thought, maybe this will actually make a difference. Turns out, I was wrong. But it’s up to everyone, not just songwriters, to demand the accountability. It’s just that no one has any ethics or drive these days to do anything apart from the norm or the bare minimum of what’s expected. Let’s all hope that the days of mediocrity holding sway will soon be a thing of the past.
Great record by a great musician. I agree that it’s strange that an ‘old man’ from Canada have to come up with this issue. On the other hand: Young proves, once again, that his heart and his mind are still in the right place. You (americans)should built a statue for the guy…(i’m from Europe)
Who’s buying albums for politics? This album is average as John Kerry, you idiot. There’s not a song on this album that even hangs in the same room as anything off Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere. Is there even a reason for an Ex Post Facto? It’s not like this album is lost genius or that it sucked and we couldn’t see it before or that it has any historical significance. What’s all this talk of the draft? Forget the draft. We live in a country of suffocated classes of lower income individuals that keep us drinking coffee at Dolores Park Cafe. You can change the program if you’re willing to subvert your own class privileges. Chances are you still want to sit comfortably. Chances are if you read this website, not only are you only already fckd but you’re fine and dandy with doing the fckng. Shut up you Democrats, you’re still Capitalists, at least most of you. If you want any equality you need to start giving up most of the things you’re comfy with, including your punk-ass 60s record collection. All of you, including you who thinks he/she is excluded, make me sick. Me too, I’m comfy as hell with my vinyl and nice middle-class digs. Burn. I’ll see in hell. Don’t even reply: your moral credit card is already in flames.
The biggest difference between the Vietnam era and now is the absence of the draft. Until young people are forced to sacrifice with some skin in the game you can expect the apathy to continue. If the draft were reinstated the college campuses would erupt overnight. Otherwise it’s “party on” as usual.
Yeah…but were the songs any good? Not really.
Along with the absence of the draft, the biggest difference in the music, is that it is now owned by the recording industry, which also owns all of the radio stations. Neil Young is one of the few that are independent. So he can say whatever he wants and no one can tell him to shut up or change his songs. As long as artists are dependent upon a recording contract, the mediocrity will hold sway and will top the charts.
Oh whatever the fuck. I mean, a couple of things:
1. Young risked nothing with this record, and waited until 2006 to come out with it, unlike, say, the Dixie Chicks. Would Young’s audience have left him for saying he wanted to impeach Bush? Of course not. Would the Dixie Chicks’ audience do the same? Absolutely. Not only that, but the Dixie Chicks did it earlier than Young, when the country (and media) by and large was still in lockstop with the Iraq War.
2. That line you quote, about “You gotta turn on evil when it’s coming after you,” that was a song immediately post-9/11 about Flight 93, which carried the subtext that we *needed* to go fuck up some ragheads. It’s great Young came around, but it’s not like he was always a beacon of light during a dark time.
3. No younger artists engaging in the politics? How about Portland’s The Thermals? Oakland’s The Coup?
Look, we can agree that there hasn’t been a groundswell in revolutionary music since the Iraq War. But that’s due to the fact that we don’t have a draft, and therefore the war has been largely removed from our consciousness, especially among those who control the conversation at the cultural level (i.e. college-educated coastals). It’s heartbreaking, but the sneering tone in this article places the blame at all the wrong feet, while ignoring the stains against Young.
Also, the album is boring as hell.
I like the album but I think there’s a distinction: It’s one thing to say the response hasn’t been bigger because there’s no draft, but it’s another to act like it’s OK to twiddle your thumbs while people are dying because there is no draft. And Ted, your comments come off as angry and immature. It’s impossible to name every band that have taken a stance but I think it’s safe to say Neil Young has a bigger audience than the Thermals or The Coup. And the Dixie Chicks made one inadvertent statement that turend into a firestrom. They didn’t go out and campaign behind it until after it received international attention. That was never their intent. You act like Neil Young did something wrong.
I almost ran out and bought the album, wore hippie clothes, and wanted to rage against the man…then the Simpsons came on, ordered some pizza, and ate the same chemical which apparently is keeping the rest of the country in a fog of apathy. One I awoke from my nap, I forgot all about any willingness to dissent. This is the modern age, dissent is for people with lots money and time. The only people with money and time is old people and celebrities. Neil happens to be both…in comes “Neil Young: Living with War”. Apathy and self indulgence is the new hip thing, so eat a Big Mac, diet coke, an ice cream sundae with extra fudge, and rock out with Brittany Spears.
“Impeach” got a standing ovation at the last CSNY show I saw. Great song! Problem is, impeach Bush and you’re left with Cheney… boy, talk about an insurance policy! :/
The Heathers are angry. The Heathers are volatile. Please don’t feed the Heathers. Better yet, read both sides of the argument here and determine which party sounds absolutely unhinged.
come to crawdaddy, and you’re fucked. i thought we were doing something else entirely here, but know that we certainly work hard to provide such a service.
ps. mostly i just replied to say that it’s okay to spell out the word FUCK. go ‘head… it feels good. fuckity fuck fuck!
“Don’t even reply: your moral credit card is already in flames.”
I know I’m not supposed to reply, but moral credit card may be the most awesomely convoluted metaphor I’ve read since college.
While I applaud the sentiments expressed in Living with War, the songs are just not very good. As has been the case with Young for over 25 years, most of the songs on LwW are utterly forgettable. While I loved most of his work from Buffalo Springfield to Rust Never Sleeps, Young simply does not write very many good songs anymore. The most memorable song on LwW is “Flags of Freedom,” the melody of which was lifted straight from Dylan’s “Chimes of Freedom.” By continuing to churn out one mediocre release after another, I’m afraid Young has seriously diminished his once well-deserved status as a songwriter of a high caliber. When I caught him on the Greendale tour he was booed for the self-indulgent mess of a concert, and rightly so.
As a person who agrees with the Iraq war for many, many reasons that I won’t bore ya’ll with here (let’s just say for me the question of weapons of mass destruction was irrelevant from the start), I don’t have a problem with the album or the artists’ politics in so much as I didn’t like the songs. Maybe it’s the simple-minded two chord “Let’s Impeach The President” song just bored me on a musical level so much so it tainted the rest of the album. Also, there’s something to be said for subtlety.
My other problem with the album on a semi-political front is I find it hard to take Neil Young’s politics seriously – and I say that as a big fan of Neil’s. When I heard about the album I just thought, “Well, Neil’s lost his mind again.” This is a guy who went from the Left in the sixties to political apathy in the seventies to becoming as right wing as they come in the eighties during his International Harvesters period. Now he’s back on the left after a short stop on Vengeanace Street when it seemed to me he agreed with Bush’s “You’re either with us or against us,” sentiments in “Let’s Roll”. This is a guy afterall who wrote “Mideast Vacation” and “Rocking in the Free World” which is both critical of the US but points out quite clearly that the Middle East sees us as the enemy no matter what.
His shifting in views may reflect that of the nation. As you point out polls say 7 out of 10 Americans think Iraq is going badly, but in March of 2003 8 out of 10 wanted to go into Iraq.
This whole thing here illustrates my biggest problem with what is going on in America and that is that people – Americans – can’t seem to have a civilized dialogue about issues any more. Someone says something you disagree with and it’s “attack, attack, attack.” That’s not the way problems get solved. Also, the world is not black and white (or red and blue) the way politicans and news outlets like to portray it as. There’s a lot of grey out there. This is a much more interesting place.
As for the person who wants to exhult the Dixie Chicks, they made that statement in England – not in America – and when it hit the press over here she tried to make nice with her fans…then they waited until public opinion shifted into their favor before returning from the hole in which they were hiding. So, whereas I have no ill feelings about Young’s views on the war, Natalie can go screw. But that may also be because I can’t stand her band’s music or the shrill, piercing yodel she considers a singing voice.
Thanks for the laughs! There are some hilarious people out there… to read one person’s well-constructed opinion and write an angry tirade, as if this whole article had been specifically about Heathers and Teds.
I personally like music combined with politics. Obviously no artist is going to change the tide entirely, but it’s a good piece of the puzzle for setting the agenda and moving to the next playing level. It may take years or decades, but eventually politicians will hear what all the rabble rouse is about.
Generally the big trouble is that there are a lot of people pointing out the problems, yet there are no solutions to replace them. You’d have to be more than a musician – perhaps an economist or historian – to figure out viable answers.
I went to a 23 yr old soldier’s funeral this week. It doesn’t take a Neil Young album to make one realize how much is being sacrificed here, but I’m still glad Neil’s out there doing it.
Good article. I agree, though, that the songs are just subpar. Yet I love the sentiment. Let’s Impeach the MotherF. . I concur, Neil. and the record made me smile.
I remember sitting in my dad’s tiny back yard, sunning myself and listening over and over again to “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere”and thinking “Now this is the kind of rock n roller I wanna be when I grow up!”…whatever became of THAT Neil Young guy, hmmm?