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IT IS A REALITY

Shocking news out of Germany:

Canadian folk rock legend Neil Young said he has lost all hope that music can change the world, as he presented a documentary about his 2006 anti-war concert tour at the Berlin film festival on Friday.

“Canadian” ... “folk rock” ... “change” ... “anti-war” ... “Berlin” ... someone is trying to break a first-paragraph pejoratives record here.

“I know that the time when music could change the world is past. I really doubt that a single song can make a difference. It is a reality,” Young told reporters.

Has music ever changed the world, at least in Young’s lifetime? Who does he think was elected in 1968 and 1972?

“I don’t think the tour had any impact on voters.”

Any dissenters on that point? No? Carried.

(Via Black)

Posted by Tim B. on 02/11/2008 at 12:28 PM
  1. Dude. I don’t care what your message is, you aren’t going to change the world with a voice that sounds like a possum trapped in a garbage can.

    Posted by paco on 2008 02 11 at 12:41 PM • permalink

  2. Oh, I don’t know.

    Neil’s music changed me the first time I heard it.

    There I was just minding my own business when Neil’s scratchy voice came wafting across the ether through my Hi-Fi. 

    I became enraged to the point that I actually
    set down my beer and walked over to the radio and turned the dial to another station.

    And that is how I became a fan of the Allman Brothers.

    Posted by joe bagadonuts on 2008 02 11 at 12:43 PM • permalink

  3. #2: Great point, Joe. The law of unanticipated consequences.

    Posted by paco on 2008 02 11 at 12:45 PM • permalink

  4. Well, heap scorn on Neil Young if you must, but I’m sure that “three cats in the yard, life used to be so hard” song changed the world.  There are a lot more cats in my neighborhood now.

    Posted by JimV on 2008 02 11 at 12:50 PM • permalink

  5. Young should have seen it coming from about 1974 onwards. That’s when Lynyrd Skynyrd completely monstered him for his sanctimony in “Alabama”.

    It’s better to burn out
    Than to fade away
    My my, hey hey

    Out of the blue and into the black
    You pay for this, but they give you that
    And once you’re gone, you can never come back
    When you’re out of the blue and into the black.

    Still, I love Harvest. Bought it anew on CD recently.

    Posted by C.L. on 2008 02 11 at 12:51 PM • permalink

  6. “I don’t think the tour had any impact on voters.”

    Translation:  “It hurts, it really hurts me right here, man, that people don’t think I’m as important as I do.”

    Posted by RebeccaH on 2008 02 11 at 12:52 PM • permalink

  7. Well, to each his own. I’ve always been out of sync with trends in popular music, so I’ll leave it to the aficionados to debate the merits of Neil’s oeuvre (if that’s the word I want). But I have to say, the first time I ever heard that whiny voice, I was put in mind of someone being disemboweled with a tent peg.

    Posted by paco on 2008 02 11 at 12:59 PM • permalink

  8. The con man doesn’t believe his own con anymore.  That’s a step in the right direction.

    Posted by Mystery Meat on 2008 02 11 at 01:12 PM • permalink

  9. Imagine that…

    Posted by crash on 2008 02 11 at 01:13 PM • permalink

  10. Now, now, Paco.

    Let’s not give disembowlment with a tent peg a bad name by comparing it with Neil’s music.

    Posted by joe bagadonuts on 2008 02 11 at 01:16 PM • permalink

  11. Our Toni did a good job with West of the Wall…it worked didn’t it?

    Posted by crash on 2008 02 11 at 01:19 PM • permalink

  12. This is the prick who came out with a song “Let’s Roll” post 9-11, and has been bitching ever since because we are doing something about it.
    That said, how naive that he thinks his or any music can change anything.

    Posted by Latino on 2008 02 11 at 01:36 PM • permalink

  13. As Lynyrd Skynyrd put it so succinctly ,“southern man don’t need him around anyhow”.
    You said it joe bagodonuts. The Allman Brothers was my favorite band from that era. No light show , no makeup, no hype. Just some southern boys playing the blues.

    Posted by greene on 2008 02 11 at 02:03 PM • permalink

  14. #12 Latino -

    That said, how naive that he thinks his or any music can change anything.

    The words I would use are “arrogant” and “conceited”.

    Posted by wronwright on 2008 02 11 at 02:25 PM • permalink

  15. You left out “film festival”.

    I disagree with the dismissal of all of Young’s output, however.

    Weld was an excellent double album - but the real credit there goes to Crazy Horse, not Young. Young without crazy distortion and volume, not so good.

    Posted by Sigivald on 2008 02 11 at 02:30 PM • permalink

  16. Now, now, folks. You’ve got to separate the art from the artist. Guys like Young might be political asshats, but “Heart of Gold”? “Cinnamon Girl”? “Harvest Moon?” Good, classic stuff.

    And as far as music changing the world, I would submit that “Mu isamaa on minu arm” fits that bill, although none of you have heard of it.
    All it helped do was bring down the Soviet Union. Not an inconsiderable feat, shown in this new American documentary:  Singing Revolution

    Posted by Mart Laar's Beard Shaver on 2008 02 11 at 03:14 PM • permalink

  17. “I don’t think the tour had any impact on voters.”

    Why would it?  I hope people are basing their votes on a more sophisticated rationale than a concert tour by an amateur (at best) political anyalyst.

    And if there are some voters who do, it puts me in mind of Groucho Marx’s old line, “I wouldn’t want to be a member of any club that would have me as a member.”  I wouldn’t want anyone as a voter who would vote based on a concert tour.

    Posted by kcom on 2008 02 11 at 03:15 PM • permalink

  18. ``Für Eliza’’ changed the world.

    I called an obscure division of the power company a few years ago, and wound up on hold as their call director, with its single computer chip, played a single-note-at-a-time rendition of Für Eliza, slightly off an even-tempered scale, as music on hold.

    When the secretary came back on line, I asked :

    ``Did you know that you have Beethoven music on hold?’‘

    ``Yes,’’ she said.  ``There’s nothing we can do about it.’’

    Posted by rhhardin on 2008 02 11 at 03:18 PM • permalink

  19. #15/16. Gotta agree, Young with Crazy Horse were awesome. Or previous to that, Buffalo Springfield and Young. Pretty cool music for fellas just outta their teens. Ever wondered what happened to the Cinnamon Girl?

    Posted by JAFA on 2008 02 11 at 03:33 PM • permalink

  20. Neil, the word you’re looking for is ‘epiphany.’

    Posted by Achillea on 2008 02 11 at 03:37 PM • permalink

  21. Well, the Horst Wessel Song had them dancing in the aisles…and down the Champs Elysee….

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2008 02 11 at 03:46 PM • permalink

  22. I know a few people that are half deaf from listening to Crazy Horse at full volume in their youth.

    It’s certainly changed their world.

    Posted by mr creosote on 2008 02 11 at 04:01 PM • permalink

  23. Sure, Young sounded fine as long as he had Crosby, Stills and Nash to drown him out. I’m not knocking his music, per se, and not even the lyrics of some of his songs, but I still think his voice sounds like what Leo Kottke once said about his own: geese farts on a muggy day.

    Posted by paco on 2008 02 11 at 04:10 PM • permalink

  24. Y’know, I almost feel sorry for those musicians who spent their lives writing music that they felt would make a difference, but only to find out that music, in the long run, has maybe a 1 out of 100 chance of surviving past their deaths for more than a single generation.  Not everyone can be a Beethoven or Mozart.

    But it that almost what’s important; wankers like Young don’t write/perform music for the sake of the music.  They write or perform music for the fame.  For the glory.  For the attention.  They aren’t really artists, they’re just fairly talented technicians.

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 02 11 at 04:25 PM • permalink

  25. Nixon was elected to end the war, actually, so maybe the music did make a difference.

    Until the neo-cons, the GOP was an anti-war party, Robert Taft (aka Mr. Republican) didn’t even want to join NATO.

    Posted by cyclosarin on 2008 02 11 at 04:25 PM • permalink

  26. Of course, Young has a voice like Caruso compared to the latest addition to the Palestinian gallery of cartoon characters.

    Posted by paco on 2008 02 11 at 04:30 PM • permalink

  27. Old mans music!!!

    Posted by surfmaster on 2008 02 11 at 04:33 PM • permalink

  28. #26 Paco - it appears that our new overlords are seething again, by the look of this online petition!

    It appears that they don’t like the way that Wikkipedia includes (gasp!) depictions of the Big Mo.

    Go to the online petition, and make sure to comment upon how you think the murdering paedophile should be represented in Wikipedia.  As in all such polls, vote early and vote often!

    Posted by Kaboom on 2008 02 11 at 04:41 PM • permalink

  29. Neil could be the poster child for ARDS - Artist Relevance Deprivation Syndrome.
    “Creative spirits like Neil Young know that the world needs them. World, it’s time you realised it too.”

    Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2008 02 11 at 04:45 PM • permalink

  30. Sure he sounds like Michael Bolton on acid but still, he saved Lionel Trains from bankruptcy. That counts for something. Maybe.

    Posted by Gary from Jersey on 2008 02 11 at 04:46 PM • permalink

  31. Why yes, I understand Neil did do a lot of drugs in the 60’s. Why do you ask?

    Posted by mojo on 2008 02 11 at 04:55 PM • permalink

  32. Neil Young; This ‘balladere’ is so depressing and full of self importance, his music still grates on me. Now Ted Nugent; This guy rocks. ‘Cat Scratch Fever’ etc, awesome stuff.
    #28. Kaboom.
    I see ‘cult of peace’ want to impose there censorship on us once again. If the old git was alive today, there would photos of him all over the place, with ‘WANTED’ and ‘REWARD OFFERED’ or my favourite ‘WANTED, DEAD or ALIVE’.

    Posted by BJM on 2008 02 11 at 05:00 PM • permalink

  33. The anti-war-Canadian-folk-singer market is too saturated. Who could forget Bruce Cockburn’s “If I Had a Rocket Launcher”?

    <shudder>

    Posted by surly on 2008 02 11 at 05:00 PM • permalink

  34. The best that can be said for Neil Young’s singing is that he makes Bob Dylan sound good.

    Posted by Director on 2008 02 11 at 05:00 PM • permalink

  35. #27: Haw, Haw! That’s right, Surf!

    #28 Kaboom: Well, how about if they superimpose Michael Moore’s head? Or maybe the Archbishop of Canterbury’s? Or even Rosie O’Donnell’s? I’m ok with any of those.

    Posted by paco on 2008 02 11 at 05:06 PM • permalink

  36. As I grew up in the 60s/70s protest music was all the rage: The Times They are a-Changing, Give Peace A Chance, The Ballad of the Green Berets,  Janis Joplin (output 100% awful), &c. It was self-indulgent hippy stuff back then. It’s aged badly and is now a historical footnote. Modern protest music is doomed in the same way.

    Posted by walterplinge on 2008 02 11 at 05:25 PM • permalink

  37. neil who?

    Posted by eeniemeenie on 2008 02 11 at 05:32 PM • permalink

  38. a Canadian folk singer you say?. well- each to their own, still- neil’s a funny name for a lesbian.

    Posted by eeniemeenie on 2008 02 11 at 05:36 PM • permalink

  39. Neil Young’s views have about as much use as Barbra Streisand’s.  Which reminds me, since I can’t tell them apart by looking, has anyone *ever* seen them together?  Jes’ wonderin’ is all.

    Posted by JorgXMcKie on 2008 02 11 at 06:21 PM • permalink

  40. And somewhere in the back of Neils mind is a voice saying “Those groupies didnt tell me I was their best ever just because Im famous….did they?”...

    Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2008 02 11 at 06:40 PM • permalink

  41. Do we have to have an Islam Petition? I mean really? What’s so wrong with them?

    Posted by Mike H. on 2008 02 11 at 06:40 PM • permalink

  42. The remastered ‘best of..’ and ‘on the beach’ get a thrashing in this place. So I’ll just slip over there discreetly into that shadow in the corner.

    Posted by mehaul on 2008 02 11 at 07:11 PM • permalink

  43. The Democratic Party: truth in Advertising (check out the flag).

    Posted by paco on 2008 02 11 at 07:26 PM • permalink

  44. Music never changed the world? What about the Old Spice jingle?

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 02 11 at 07:28 PM • permalink

  45. I like Neil Young’s music, but I’m not likely to form or change my opinions to conform with Neil’s.

    You’re an entertainer, dude.  Not my guru.

    Posted by Dave Surls on 2008 02 11 at 07:37 PM • permalink

  46. Music that changed the way Oz stankd, not thankd

    Posted by Pickles on 2008 02 11 at 07:37 PM • permalink

  47. #43. paco.
    Says it all really. No originality, but loads of stupidity. Then again, it at least gives the American voter an insight to the ideology and hidden agenda of some, who are working for the Democrats. Has the MSM media in the US, apart from Fox picked this little ditty up. I bet if something similar in a Republican campaign office occurred, with a different figure of course, it would nearly make page one everywhere. Or am I being cynical . . . again.

    Posted by BJM on 2008 02 11 at 07:44 PM • permalink

  48. Hasn’t Phatty got his pee in a froth in today’s Australian? This is his angriest tome from his highest pulpit. It makes him sound vindicated for his holierthanthou perspectives on the ‘stolen’ generation and he’s letting rip.

    But like most lefties majoring in intellectualism he offers no help for the wee babies who are having their innocence plundered by their drunk relatives. And that’s inexcusable from the one of the leaders of the caring generation.

    Posted by mehaul on 2008 02 11 at 07:54 PM • permalink

  49. This bit of music certainly changed the world

    Posted by Pickles on 2008 02 11 at 07:54 PM • permalink

  50. Oh, Neil, sorry for your luck a$$hole

    Posted by Old Tanker on 2008 02 11 at 08:01 PM • permalink

  51. #‘s 15, 16, 19, agreed.
    Like any leftard, Young’s a walking clusterfuck when he concerns himself with like, the big picture, man, but when he’s good he’s awesome. 
    His main drawback, and it’s not insignificant, is that you have to wade through a lot of shit to get to the good stuff; half of his work is utter crap, the other half is sublime.

    Posted by Mr Simmon on 2008 02 11 at 08:03 PM • permalink

  52. #48. mehaul.
    For irony - Andrew Bolt’s “Sorry farce #3”.

    Posted by BJM on 2008 02 11 at 08:07 PM • permalink

  53. Green on green hostilities! WWAGD?

    #47 BJM: It’s an amazing sneak-peak into the heart of Democrat darkness. Imagine if the press were to encounter a McCain campaign worker sitting at his desk, smiling away in front of a life-size portrait of Mussolini. Those commies sure know how to market their executives (if not their product).

    Posted by paco on 2008 02 11 at 08:10 PM • permalink

  54. paco, did you spend time in the midwest? I like Kottke, but doubt I would have ever heard him if I hadn’t spent time in Illinois.

    Posted by David A on 2008 02 11 at 08:11 PM • permalink

  55. “As I grew up in the 60s/70s protest music was all the rage: The Times They are a-Changing, Give Peace A Chance, The Ballad of the Green Berets…”

    The Ballad of the Green Berets is a protest song?????

    Not hardly.

    Posted by Dave Surls on 2008 02 11 at 08:19 PM • permalink

  56. I really doubt that a single song can make a difference. It is a reality.

    Oh, man, Lenny Kravitz is going to be shattered when he hears this.

    Seriously, Neil, most people come to this realization in their early twenties.

    Posted by Dave S. on 2008 02 11 at 08:29 PM • permalink

  57. The Ballad of the Green Berets is a protest song?

    Hell, if I had a daughter, I’d want to hear that coming out of the car stereo of the guy who’s taking her on a date.

    Posted by Dave S. on 2008 02 11 at 08:31 PM • permalink

  58. I’m not a Canadian, so this really isn’t my business, but I am an American, so I can stick my nose in where ever. It’s one of the perks of being the superior culture. :)

    Anyhoo, I would like to submit, for consideration, that Canada be taken off the pejorative list. Canadian soldiers have been doing a hella hard job and proven themselves to be as good as any ever to wear a uniform.

    I think it’s time those men and women be given their due. Canada can produce such stalwarts as those, so it can’t be all bad.

    Besides, we’ve all got our wacko leftards and sometimes the numbnuts stumble into power all over the place.

    Posted by Grimmy on 2008 02 11 at 08:39 PM • permalink

  59. Every year the South Koreans celebrate a Harvest Moon festival,
    so they’ve obviously been deeply affected by one of Neil Young’s classic albums.

    Posted by scooper on 2008 02 11 at 08:45 PM • permalink

  60. “The Ballad Of the Green Berets” was sung by a Green Beret.  In fact, it was the theme song of a unabashedly pro-Vietnam war, starring The Duke

    Lyrics here.

    A live performance by SGT Barry Sadler here.

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 02 11 at 08:45 PM • permalink

  61. Re #36, but I wholeheartedly agree with the rest of the list, walter!

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 02 11 at 08:48 PM • permalink

  62. “In fact, it was the theme song of a unabashedly pro-Vietnam war, starring The Duke.”

    I’m going to watch that movie today (even if it is totally hokey).  It’s just my way of protesting against the commies.

    Posted by Dave Surls on 2008 02 11 at 09:00 PM • permalink

  63. Yeah, it’s not a good military flick (as you say, Dave, it is hokey), but it’s a great hippie punching movie, what with the wholesale slaughter of Communists and all.

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 02 11 at 09:05 PM • permalink

  64. #58 Grimmy, I couldn’t agree more. The former “force of peacekeepers” has shouldered a burden in Khandahar worthy of their military past and happily shrugged off the liberal malaise that has held them back.

    Here’s to our brave cousins!

    Posted by Penguin on 2008 02 11 at 09:11 PM • permalink

  65. Neil Young?  Didn’t my Dad listen to him?

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2008 02 11 at 09:12 PM • permalink

  66. Neil Young? Didn’t he win a Grammy for “Best Political Leader” one year?

    Posted by Penguin on 2008 02 11 at 09:15 PM • permalink

  67. Penguin, I thought Neil Young won a Grammy for not singing for one whole year.

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 02 11 at 09:20 PM • permalink

  68. #2 a rambling man and not a heart of gold.

    Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 02 11 at 09:21 PM • permalink

  69. #58. Grimmy. First paragraph. Terrific opening statement. LOL.

    Posted by BJM on 2008 02 11 at 09:24 PM • permalink

  70. #54 David A: Aside from a semester at the University of Detroit, I haven’t spent much time in the midwest. I can’t remember where I first heard Kottke, but I really enjoyed his twelve-string guitar playing. I think I’ve got a CD of his stuff somewhere, in fact.

    Posted by paco on 2008 02 11 at 09:35 PM • permalink

  71. What else do you expect? Protest music is aimed at teenagers and young adults, and attacks the values of their parents. Parents, who still have mortgages and 9 to 5 jobs and make up the majority of the population, react by electing conservative governments, like Nixon in 1968.

    British punk rock, IMHO one of the scarier manifestations of musical protest, started under the Labour Government, in one of the scarier periods of British history. The Sex Pistols ‘Anarchy in the UK’ is from 1976. Margaret Thatcher was elected PM in 1979.

    Posted by dipole on 2008 02 11 at 10:19 PM • permalink

  72. “...what with the wholesale slaughter of Communists and all.”

    Yeah, that’s the best part of the movie.

    Posted by Dave Surls on 2008 02 11 at 10:29 PM • permalink

  73. #70 As the youngsters of today would say what is a CD?

    Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 02 11 at 10:42 PM • permalink

  74. #73: Ok, smarty. That reminds me of something funny that happened when I voted in the Virginia elections last year. I went into the voting station, and there were these two poll workers sitting at the table, each one in his mid to late sixties, at least. Having come from work, I was wearing one of my trademark Murder, Incorporated suits, and a spiffy gray fedora with a black hat band. One of these fellows waxes practically rhapsodic about the hat - because it reminded him of the hat his grandfather wore.

    Posted by paco on 2008 02 11 at 11:09 PM • permalink

  75. Haha hippie!

    That’s all I’ve got.

    Posted by blogagog on 2008 02 11 at 11:16 PM • permalink

  76. #74. paco.
    Damn those cheeky youngsters. What is the world coming too. LOL.

    Posted by BJM on 2008 02 11 at 11:33 PM • permalink

  77. Anyhoo, I would like to submit, for consideration, that Canada be taken off the pejorative list. Canadian soldiers have been doing a hella hard job and proven themselves to be as good as any ever to wear a uniform.

    Agree with the second, disagree with the first.  The reason Canadian soldiers are so kick-ass is that the Trudeaupians keep their military at such a ridiculously tiny level (owing to their big brother - you’re very fucking welcome, Gordie). So, they can basically fill their entire ranks with guys who could be Marines, Seals, etc in the U.S. military.

    So Canadian is still a pejorative, insofar as they enjoy the fruits of living next to Uncle Sucker while smugly slamming us at every opportunity. They’re lampreys with attitudes.

    (This, of course, does not apply to our Old Dominion cousins on this board, who I suspect fly that grand old flag instead of that pussy Maple Leaf.)

    Posted by Dave S. on 2008 02 11 at 11:54 PM • permalink

  78. #48 Today E.N.T. surgeon commented on Indigenous communities N.W of W.A…
    Kids need immediate surgical team - E.N.T to go up there and work on widespread problems of deafness (glue ear?) -which is making education extremely difficult.
    Kids also have endemic problems with intestinal worms and scabies, many are without teeth -problems with chewing food - and many have heart problems (rheumatic).

    Posted by crash on 2008 02 12 at 09:59 AM • permalink

  79. Interesting that Neil Young concluded that music cannot change the world. All that his own experience really says is that Neil Young’s music cannot change the world.

    Posted by Kent on 2008 02 12 at 08:11 PM • permalink

  80. Young Neil obviously knows nothing of Allan Morris’s margarine commercials.

    Posted by Henry boy on 2008 02 12 at 09:44 PM • permalink

  81. A song that actually changed history:

    “Lillibulero” - the popular ditty of the Glorious Revolution against James II.

    The composer claimed later to have sung a king out of three kingdoms.

    Posted by RRostrom on 2008 02 13 at 07:15 AM • permalink

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