66 Replies to “Neil Young A Remnant Of The Original Big Bang Of Stupid”

  1. I wondered if you were going to post this one Kate. Its a beauty eh?
    The estimable Mr. Young has discovered that some ideas are so stupid that they can’t be sold, no matter how good the sound track is. Late in life to be sure, but he did do a lot of acid in the Old Days so perhaps we can be magnanimous.

  2. I would still guess that he is only one tiny step closer towards growing up. It will hit him only when he becomes gravely ill and he stares down mortality.
    For what possible reason would this brain-adled moonbat need to mature and become an adult? His entire life’s work is a celebration and marketing of adolescence.

  3. Rock and roll can never die.
    News to Neil: have your listened to the radio/watched Much Music these days? It’s dead

  4. Phew. I can finally stop rocking to the free world…
    Young has crafted some exquisite music but all you need to know about his maturity level is: he collects model trains.
    ALWAYS a deal breaker.

  5. Mark Mothersbaugh (of Devo fame) told a funny story about Young on a Wired interview a month back.
    Neil was on the same label as Devo, so the bands got together every once in a while for parties and such. Seems Young was really, really offended in 1976 by Devo putting items for sale on their liner notes – keychains, buttons, t-shirts, etc.
    Mothersbaugh replied that that is what merchandising is & what Devo is about – marketing a concept.
    He also noted in the interview that on Young’s last tour, it was mentioned in Rolling Stone as having the most expensive concert shirts yet seen by a major artist – starting at $70.
    Guess Neil also figured out what commerce can do for your bank account.
    But Neil….it’s about the music man….

  6. Surprisingly, I don’t believe rock musicians have any special insight on foreign policy issues. Or anything other than music.

  7. Neil Young is an amazingly talented musician.
    Yes, he has said some incredibly stupid things and has been responsible for some unbelievably bad music [hey,hey my my…4 dead in Ohio…]
    He may be an asshole, but as J Edgar Hoover said, he’s our asshole,
    He is a great Canadian – I’m far prouder of NY than I am of Pee-air Idiot Turdeau.
    “..did she wake you up to tell you that
    it was only a change in plan….”
    We are all somehow misguided and all somehow wrong
    Neil Young reminds us that we have to stay strong

  8. Young has crafted some exquisite music but all you need to know about his maturity level is: he collects model trains.
    ALWAYS a deal breaker.
    Kathy, I suspect you’ve just broken a few hearts around here.
    Graphic novels must score much higher on the maturity scale. Either that, or my wife and kids didn’t get your memo about deal breakers.

  9. personally i think he sucks…majorly…always have…..that voice…..those inane lyrics……that faux dylan harp playing….the utter lack of growth musicianshipwise….and the never failing to surface goofy public commentary that makes me want to kick something….or someone in the arse…..preferably his of course……
    does that make me a bad Canadian person ?

  11. About being a bad Canadian person… I can go you one better.
    I had to Google and read the Wikipedia entry to find out who Neil Young is.
    I’m 40. Should I have known who he is?
    Just wondering.

  12. Like so many social activists of the 1960’s and 70’s, Young has his head so far up his *** that he can’t see that the culture of the West has changed dramatically since the heady days of unrestrained appeals for cultural and political collectivism. That’s why his songs don’t have the impact they used to. Sour grapes, Neil. You lost the war for the heart and mind of the nation. Maybe it’s time to consider that your ideas might be falling on deaf ears simply because people have figured out that you were wrong all along.

  13. As I keep saying, if I only listened to musicians whose politics agreed with mine, I’d have a bunch of KISS and Megadeth records. At least most of my country collection would stay intact (but there go the Willie records …)
    Neil’s a beautiful example. Kathy does a beautiful job reminding us of the truth about Kent State every year during its anniversary, but “Ohio” is still a great song, as long as I don’t pay too much attention to the lyrics.
    There’s a theory that there are two kinds of people – lyrics people and music people. My wife is the former; I’m firmly the latter. I think that makes all of this so much easier.

  14. As someone in the past has noted, he fails to admit that there are hard men who make difficult decisions and do dangerous things, while he sleeps, so that he may have the freedom to say/sing that which he does.
    So, who will these people bash in 10 months when Bush is gone?

  15. What I don’t get is why Canadians are so proud of artists/musicians etc, who left this country years ago and rarely step foot inside the borders, only to perhaps accept a lifetime achievement award with all expenses paid at some cheesy taxpayer supported yawn fest. These people left for a number of reasons, largely taxes and weather. They are Canadians by accident and Americans by choice.

  16. I’m going to go against the flow somewhat on this one…
    Awhile ago I watched a show about Paul McCartney performing in Russia for the first time, part of the show was them interviewing Russian people my age & older, I was surprised at how many of them said the Beatles music had such an impact on them, and how much it made them want to find out more about the west and how we lived. It actually was a catalyst in bringing the western influences into their world. Of course it was verboten at the time with the Soviets, but that made them all that much more to want listen to it and learn more about the west where this was coming from.
    The impression I got was that the Beatles in particular really fuelled the thirst for knowledge about things outside their world as the Soviets let them see it. I think it helped plant a seed that came to fruition when Gorbachev took over and dismantled the Soviet Union.
    Note though, that this was “music” in general, not a few corny anti-war songs, and the Beatles were much bigger than their music in their heyday.
    my .02

  17. “There’s a theory that there are two kinds of people – lyrics people and music people. ”
    Listening to Acadie by Daniel Lanois the other day and realized the song Still Water is about Caledonia and the Grand River. Ironic!

    Sad eyes, sad eyes
    Where’re you going with that confidence?
    Sad eyes, sad eyes
    Where’re you going with that confidence?

    I’m going to where the boats go by
    Caledonia river flow so wide
    I’m going to where the boats go by
    Caledonia river flow so wide

    Wild eyes in the wilderness
    Where’re you going with the devil in hand?
    Wild eyes in the wilderness
    Where’re you going with the devil in hand?

    I’m going to build the bridges high
    for working money, for working money
    I’m going to climb the bridges high
    Caledonia brother far away

    **********************************************
    Well at least some of those bridges were burned by the Mohawks. Nevertheless, what a masterpiece; the definition of unfair is getting Aaron Neville to sing the high parts of your songs.

  18. “News to Neil: have your listened to the radio/watched Much Music these days? It’s dead”
    Yes, Yes I find the whole state of Rock and Roll hilarious. When I was in Jr.High (late 80’s) I took a lot of grief from whites because I was listening to RUN DMC, and other Hip Hop bands. I believe the line was something like this: “Rap is crap”, ” It won’t be around in 10 yrs” ect…
    Today I laugh my a$$ off when I see you rockers with your out-dated hair-cuts all huddling around a tape player listening to the OLDIES STATIONS. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

  19. Jon ,
    out dated haircuts? who needs a haircut at our age.
    what are you bunch going to do when you have nothing to make spikes out of ?

  20. I think it was James Thurber who originally made the statement:
    “There are two kinds of people in the world.
    Those who divide the world into two kinds of people;
    and those who don’t.

  21. Lickmuffin: “Should I have known who he is?”
    Not really. He has not done any great music since Harvest, released in 1972, which would have been when you were four years old.

  22. Just another celebrity pushing his agenda. Nothing to see here. Move along, move along.
    It never ceases to amaze me how celebrities think they are somehow qualified to make statements on politics.
    Further to that, it never ceases to amaze me when people accept them as authorities on a subject.
    So a drug using hippy doesn’t like george bush or the war in Iraq. Who cares.
    I don’t like drug using hippies!! so there.
    I wish these celebrities would get up, do their job(entertain me), and keep their mouth shut. That way I might judge them on their body of work, not their goofy ideals and ideas.
    Rant off, Sorry
    FWIW, if you are a 40 yr old Canadian, how do you not know who neil young is?

  23. “Not really. He has not done any great music since Harvest, released in 1972, which would have been when you were four years old.”
    wood, you have a point, but I liken it to not knowing Anne Murray or Rita mcNeil. Like them or not, the CRTC forces the media to cram that stuff down our throat.

  24. There are 10 kinds of people in this world, those who understand binary, and those who don’t.

  25. Young has crafted some exquisite music but all you need to know about his maturity level is: he collects model trains.
    Sure, but he also owns one of the primary companies that make them. That counts for something, methinks!
    Awhile ago I watched a show about Paul McCartney performing in Russia for the first time, part of the show was them interviewing Russian people my age & older, I was surprised at how many of them said the Beatles music had such an impact on them, and how much it made them want to find out more about the west and how we lived. It actually was a catalyst in bringing the western influences into their world.
    Also, Valcav Havel has spoken of the importance of rock music and lyrics in inspiring Czech artists and activists to push against the Communist government. The Velvet Revolution, Czechslovakia’s transition from Communism to democracy, was so called in part as a nod to the Velvet Underground, who Havel regarded as a particular inspiration. Not many bands can say they played even a minor role in major political events like this!

  26. “out dated haircuts? who needs a haircut at our age.
    what are you bunch going to do when you have nothing to make spikes out of ?”
    lol, true enouph but we have a built in mechanism for that. Backwards Ball Caps

  27. Well Trevor, I don’t know who this Young guy is and I could care less. I take it he’s some kind of
    musician from Canada.If I’ve ever heard his music I don’t remember.
    Stephen Hawking on the other hand is a well known character. Never understood a word he said but…
    Guess I’m just another stupid bastard.

  28. Whether or not you agree with his political views (I think he is an ignoramus of the highest order), he has created some beautiful music (Vitruvius’ opinion notwithstanding).
    Case and point.
    http://tinyurl.com/2ouunu
    al

  29. Neil is a music genius.
    Dylan couldn’t hold his hat!
    I rest at ease telling myself “Neil is an idiot savant, his politics, are just those of another hollyweirdo Belaire shutin.
    It is, however, a shame Old Neil can’t recognize that times have changed.
    “Vietnam is Iraq”, WTF Neil?
    Can you really not see any difference?
    “Keep on Rockin In The Free World” and “Let’s Roll” (based on the 9/11 American Airlines flight that fought back) hold the anti-establishment, anti status quo truth, of our times, right now.
    How ironic is it that the same idiot hippies like Neil, invented this entire mess when they promoted their defeatist “peace, love, and incense man”, and, “tune in and Drop Out” relativism, that has murdered modern liberal “thought”.
    It is a shame.
    “Needle and the Damage Done”

  30. News flash.
    Pied Piper looks around and finds out nobody is following his parade.
    Too bad, so sad.
    Should have looked around sooner. Much sooner.

  31. Grok @ 3:49 said . . .
    **Surprisingly, I don’t believe rock musicians have any special insight on foreign policy issues. Or anything other than music.**
    Neil Young may have written some good lyrics but I never could stand his thinking..er sorry, singing.
    Hearts in the right place. Wishes for miracles to happen. Very emotional.
    Foreign affairs analyst? Zero!

  32. Rick Moranis’s SCTV version of The Needle and the Damage Done (forget the critics – nothing is good until SCTV spoofs it):
    I opened the door and it was Stephen Stills,
    He wanted to know if I wanted to buy some pills.
    . . .
    I opened the door and it was Graham Nash
    He wanted to know if I wanted to buy some hash.

  33. To me good music is good music and I have diverse tastes. Some music I like for the lyric and some just for the music. The bands I hold in the highest regard are the ones that have both (eg. Megadeth). What I don’t like is an artist that is contantly straining to be political, tell us how to live or try to ran guilt down out throats. (Bono)
    Incidently I was really, really disapointed in Ozzy’s latest album obviously written by some looney leftard moonbat with Black Rain (a cry against the “terrible” Iraq war) and The Almighty Dollar (about the nasty “Planet raping” buisnesses). Hurt hearing Ozzy sing that drivel.

  34. Thor: Rock and Roll celebrates above all one thing: YOUTH. I have another word for your when it comes to celebration of youth, rebellion, action over reasoned debate, etc: FASCISM.
    Do leftists sing Beethoven at so-called “Peace Rallies”? His music at times contains ideas of the “Brotherhood of Man” and other naive bull shit notions. Hitler, Mussolini, even Stalin would have manipulated Rock and Roll given the chance. The only reason the Iron Curtain suppressed it was simply because it was Western and they had no control over it.
    Now of course, there is some “Rock and Roll” that does not necessarily celebrate youth but it is the exception. Taken as a whole, it is the Western expression of statist/fascist tendencies.
    And in case you are curious, I’m a professional classical musician. I know what I’m talking about.

  37. I think Neil is being to hard on himself. I think he and his ilk convinced alot of people to parrot his viewpoint. Turns out the kinds policies and elected officials that spring from that mindset have changed the world – but not for the better. Nice work Neil.

  38. You’d have thunk Neil would have clued in by 1980, not 2008, that he was not changing anything. A delayed reaction perhaps to some of those 60’s and 70’s drugs? I never give much credance to musicians political posturing either. Bono talks, what i hear is blah, blah, blah (kind of like the teacher on Charlie Brown). And yes, I would expect a 40 year old should have known who Neil is.

  39. A guy told me if you thought a lot about the personal views of actors you would never attend another movie.
    Same with musicians.
    Have always loved Young’s music. My only (weak) defence of him is in this quote from the article:
    Young said he deliberately included interviews with unimpressed critics and soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan in the documentary of his band’s “Freedom of Speech” reunion tour, which earned them both praise and death threats. “Otherwise I thought it would just feel like a bunch of old hippies. And nobody would care. I would not, I would have left,” said Young, . . .
    “I wanted to serve the people who came to see the shows, to serve the soldiers who fought in the war and to serve the people who started the war. It sounds naive but everybody has to make a decision in their hearts about how they want to live.”

  41. Greg
    I don’t and most people I know don’t hate rock, lots of good rock songs and groups. I was merely pointing out how ridiculous people like you look and sound when you make blanket statements about something you obviously know nothing about.
    Rock may have survived the 90’s if any of the artists actually said something. As many have pointed out on this blog, rockers and their “political” messages have always been B.S.
    Give love a chance, or peace blah blah blah.
    Guys like Lennon and Dylan may have made great music and been crafty writers, but the “political” content has always left much to be desired. The tradition carries on with groups like Green Day who like to act like their songs have substance, but in reality its is just a bunch of complaining with NO constructive insight to the ACTUAL problems we face.
    Don’t hate me, or Hip Hop for ruining rocks little reign at the top. Hate the thoughtless crap that came from the 80’s like “pour some sugar on me” which no GUY in his right mind could actually relate to. Your whole genre was punked by guys who had nothing but two turntables and some CREATIVITY.

  42. Greg
    I don’t and most people I know don’t hate rock, lots of good rock songs and groups. I was merely pointing out how ridiculous people like you look and sound when you make blanket statements about something you obviously know nothing about.
    Rock may have survived the 90’s if any of the artists actually said something. As many have pointed out on this blog, rockers and their “political” messages have always been B.S.
    Give love a chance, or peace blah blah blah.
    Guys like Lennon and Dylan may have made great music and been crafty writers, but the “political” content has always left much to be desired. The tradition carries on with groups like Green Day who like to act like their songs have substance, but in reality its is just a bunch of complaining with NO constructive insight to the ACTUAL problems we face.
    Don’t hate me, or Hip Hop for ruining rocks little reign at the top. Hate the thoughtless crap that came from the 80’s like “pour some sugar on me” which no GUY in his right mind could actually relate to. Your whole genre was punked by guys who had nothing but two turntables and some CREATIVITY.

  43. As I recall, it was American-based actors and musicians who were absolutely PETRIFIED — TERRIFIED — about flying in the days immediately following 9-11.
    Now that the US government has restored a degree of safety and security, they feel brave enough again to come out and diss GWB.

  45. Big Rap fan here, Jon.
    Fixed up your last sentence.
    “Your whole genre was punked by guys who had nothing but two turntables (a shitload of rock albums) and some CREATIVITY.”
    Rappers who can’t sing, nor play an instrument have pretty much plateaued already.
    Really, how long could that last?
    I have a music teacher friend who’s worried that none of the rappers who fancy themselves (new musicians) can read, play, or sing any music.
    Creativity and ripping off led zepplin will only get you so far.

  46. If you’re going to slam NY’s music at least have the common decency to know what he’s done for over 40 years. He may be OTFL when it comes to some of his political views but to slam his musical resume is ignorance of the highest order.
    He also gives more time and effort to charity than 99% of us but because he doesn’t have the same political views as some (including me) many of you take gratutious shots at his music. Ignorance. Sheer ignorance on a grand scale.
    Kate – NY had a close brush with death a couple years ago (and had to cancel performing at the junos in the ‘peg) and released an album pretty much dedicated to growing up on the prairies. Kinda a life flashing before his eyes thing. It’s the best CD I’ve heard in years. Prairie Wind.
    Now if he would just shut-up with all this anti Bush shite he’d be much better for it methinks.

  47. I don’t think Neil is being stupid here. He disagrees with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Fine – every war should be critiqued, and I don’t think someone is stupid just cause they do so. He wants to use his music to do that? Fine too. Use whatever you got. Free expression and all that.
    Bout the only dumb thing is perhaps his attitude towards Bush. Neil doesn’t have to like or agree with him, but America is littered with the sad remnants of people who underestimated George.

  48. Since I’ve been a musician for about as long as Neil … I think I can safely say that ….
    He’s a frickin musician…NOT a damned guru or sage.
    If Niel Young starts making sense to you there are only two explanations:
    1 – You are stoned.
    2 – Neil has managed to reconnect a couple of synapses that disappeared in 1969.
    Sheesh

  49. NY is a great songwriter as long as he keeps the lyrical message non-political. His voice is not terrific and his technical instrumental skills are somewhat lacking but he does have a large catalogue of decent to excellent songs. Vocal srtists llike Nana Muskouri (sp?) covered songs such as ‘After The Gold Rush’ because they were truly wonderful.
    He is an old hippie for sure. A hippocryte as well. Many years ago he won a ‘Lifetime Achievment Award’ at the Junos and I specifically remember him saying that he had to leave Canada in order to become successful.
    So he left, got famous and made a boatload of money and then starting telling everyone that they shouldn’t be war-mongering capitalist pigs.
    Never had much respect for him (the person) after that.

  50. I think both Neil Young and Bob Dylan have done enough to distinguish that they are far more than whatever silly political opinion can taint them. Bob Dylan, for the record, is apolitical, but Young was always about the philosophy side as well. Regardless, he won’t lose any popularity bashing George Bush.

Proudly powered by WordPress & Skyrocket Themes

MENU

Navigation