Neil Young - Living with War
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Artist: Neil YoungBrand: YOUNG,NEIL
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2006-05-08
Music Label: Reprise Records
Product features:
- YOUNG NEIL LIVING WITH WAR
- After the Garden
- Living With War
- The Restless Consumer
- Shock and Awe
- Families
- Flags of Freedom
- Let's Impeach the President
- Lookin' for a Leader
- Roger and Out
- America the Beautiful
Music reviews of Living with War
Music Review: Can music help to end a war?
Rating: 4 Stars
Can music help to end a war?
By: Keith C. Burris
From The Manchester, (CT) Journal Inquirer
Neil Young has been making records, forming bands, and touring the United States and the world for almost 40 years. Now, at age 60, and in the space of just a few months, he has made two albums that deserve to be called art. One is a sweet and meditative series of reflections on health, illness, family, friendship, and mortality. The other is a fierce and raucous anti-war record - "folk metal protest," he calls it - in which Young has wrapped the spirit of the early Bob Dylan in the sound of a very good, and loud, garage band led by ... Neil Young.
Both records are amazing - full of soul, Young's unique literary style, and great musicality. Both records are essentially concertos, with each song representing a short movement tied to the next, rather than each song existing as a free-standing entity. In popular music this is sometimes called the "concept album," and some say it was invented by Sinatra. In any case, both records have to be heard as a whole.
"Prairie Wind," which came out in September, is carefully constructed, deeply considered, and deals with timeless subjects. "Living with War," released in CD form last week (though Young had been streaming it online for free for two weeks prior and continues to do so), was quickly put together and is clearly "of the moment." Young began work on it only at the end of March. But "Living with War" is no less significant. In fact, it could help to end the U.S. war on Iraq. It could light a fire under people who already oppose the war and get them voting and organizing. It might change the minds of others.
II
Young is usually called a rock star, or an "aging rock star," in the press. But that's really not what he is. To be sure, he has always played a lot of rock 'n' roll. But Young plays all sorts of music and has recorded as much in the country/folk genre as in the rock mode. Indeed, there are ardent Young fans who love his rock side and hate his folk side. And the reverse is also true. Nobody agrees about much where Neil Young is concerned. Some people listen to records like "Ragged Glory," with Crazy Horse, which is an album perfectly named and is Young at his most free-rock distorted and exuberant sound, and say it is his best work. They consider records like "Harvest Moon" dull. The Young folkies think "Harvest," "Harvest Moon," and "Silver and Gold" are his masterpieces. Some say his record with Pearl Jam, "Mirrorball," is inspired, and others say it is somehow incomplete. Some say Young has never matched the poetry of his youth. (His songs were a sort of soundtrack for a generation and that generation will never hear the new songs in the same way.) Others, like his friend and collaborator, filmmaker Jonathan Demme, say Young is at the peak of his powers right now.
He is certainly having a good year.
If I had to label Young, I would simply call him a musician (he plays the piano, the acoustic and electric guitars, the pipe organ, the harmonica, and the banjo) and a master songwriter.
III
Young wrote and recorded "Prairie Wind" after being diagnosed with a brain aneurysm last year. He was successfully treated and has made a full recovery. But his wife, Pegi Young, has said she thinks of the record as her husband's "life passing before his eyes." (Young has said he "had something on his mind.") The songs are about Young's father, who had recently passed away when Young began the work, Young's wife, his daughter, his friends, and Elvis. The songs are about growing up and beginning to grow old. They are about a brush with death and celebrating being alive.
Demme has made a documentary about Young and "Prairie Wind," which he calls "Neil Young, Heart of Gold." (It has played in New Haven and at Cinema City in Hartford and will be shown at Cinestudeo at Trinity College May 21, 22, and 23.) A friend of mine says it is the best film of this kind he has ever seen. "Heart of Gold" mostly consists of a magical concert Young staged, for the film, at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. There was a full moon that night and Young and his forces - backup singers, strings, a brass combo, steel and bass guitar, and at times as many as 10 acoustic guitars, plus a gospel choir - were "on" that night. The performances are in country-Western costumes and there are homespun, specially painted backdrops. Young plays Hank Williams' old guitar.
The film has an amber quality and a dream-like feel, but the performances are finely crafted, just as the songs are. Young rehearsed the company for 10 days.
My three favorites from "Prairie Wind" are:
* "The Painter," which includes the quintessential Youngian line, "If you follow every dream you might get lost."
* "It's a Dream," which is an exercise in musical impressionism in which the poet combines images of a train leaving a station "that was really something in its day," an old man talking to a policeman as the wind blows the back of his overcoat away, and a boy fishing under a bridge as his bicycle leans on a post and the cars rumble over his head. It's a beautiful, beautiful tune with highly evocative lyrics.
* And finally, "This Old Guitar." The acoustic guitar Young is playing is "Hank's" guitar, which Young bought and has played for 30 years, except for a brief time when he loaned it to Bob Dylan. The thought is that Young is not its owner but its trustee, and it teaches him. It's also a lovely song, saved from the hint of saccharine by the Young edge, which is always there.
That's one of the interesting things about this artist: His most gentle music always has an undercurrent of buzz, of restless anger and angst, and his loudest and most anarchic music has a kindness, order, and empathy within it. People always talk about Young's contradictions, from the allegedly musical ones to the political ones. But what strikes me, when I listen to his music, is the consistency, and unity, of his vision.
The same with his politics. Young is an artist and feels no need to be true to a party or ideology. But he has always been true to himself. Some critics ask how Young could have seen something to admire in Ronald Reagan and be anti-war and anti-Bush. But that's a dumb question and betrays an ignorance of Young's work. Millions of Americans who voted for Reagan feel sick about this war. And Young has always been a peacenik and a greenie and a guy who does his own thinking. He didn't suddenly discoverer his own values: They are embedded in all his recordings. (His "rock novel," "Greendale," of a couple years ago - he also made a film of it - is an allegory for the loss of American ideals.) Young has never liked bigness, homogenization, the TV and Hollywood culture, the corporation man, or anything sold by experts and packagers, be it fast food or war or music. This is a conservative viewpoint. Young has always wanted to conserve the best of old ways and go back to the roots of our values - a radical viewpoint.
The last part of "Heart of Gold," the movie, is a sort of extended encore in which Neil Young performs some of his old songs, such as "Heart of Gold," "Old Man," and "Harvest Moon." He picked songs from his acoustic catalogue, most of which were recorded in Nashville originally.
He sings "The Needle and the Damage Done" alone and unaccompanied on the stage, and, at the very end of the film as the credits roll, Young sings the, if possible, even more haunting "The Old Laughing Lady" the same way - only this time there is no audience either. It's just Neil Young and his guitar and his song. "Old Man" and "Heart of Gold" he now sings from the perspective of an old man. "Heart of Gold" was written out of the yearning and angst of a young man. Now it is a kind of prayer.
He sings the gorgeous "Four Strong Winds" with perhaps 25 additional musicians, whom he calls, simply, "my friends."
"Heart of Gold" is a great "family" film, if you put aside the Disney notion of a family film. It's a celebration of fraternity and community; of nuclear and extended family. And "Prairie Wind" is a record that will last. I found a quote in an old Rolling Stone interview in which Young says, "I just hope people will be able to listen to my music in the years to come and get a picture of a soul moving through time." That's just what "Prairie Wind" is.
"Living with War," like "Greendale," is about America's soul.
IV
Someone remarked after "Prairie Wind" and "Heart of Gold," "not to worry, the mellow Neil Young is usually followed by a smash and burn Neil Young"; the warm, even glow of contentment is not likely to be succeeded by more of the same. That just wouldn't be Neil Young. And Young said as much himself, telling a song-writing conference in Texas a few weeks back that he had begun to hear very high volume, distorted sounds in his head.
At the same conference, someone engaged him in a conversation on the song "Ohio" (about the shootings of four students at Kent State University in 1970 while the students were protesting the Vietnam War). Supposedly this questioner said, "We need another song, Mr. Young."
He got one.
We all got nine.
Other musicians have written songs of protest against the Iraq War. And the list is growing. Young has now written an entire album.
Though "Prairie Wind" was still fresh in the stores and Young was still promoting Demme's film, word began to leak out a few weeks ago, first as an Internet rumor or even hoax, that Young was working on a new album on the war. Turned out that he'd already done it. He'd written it, recorded it, dubbed, and mixed it all in a couple weeks of fevered inspiration. Now it's in stores.
This record is the polar opposite of "Prairie Wind." It is loud, very loud, and metallic. It is direct and economical. It is not contented but outraged. It is not a record of private reflections, but a public call to action. Its tone is not amber, but red - it is a rant against trust and ideals betrayed.
The songs are described briefly in the sidebar here. A word about the sound: Young's forces for this record are himself, a drummer, a bass-guitar player, plus a trumpet and a 100-voice choir. Young has been called the godfather of grunge. He might more properly be called the founding father of grunge. But to me Young's rock just sounds like classic 1960s rock. (At times I hear echoes of "Secret Agent Man" and "Little Red Riding Hood" but I also hear "Powderfinger" and "Cinnamon Girl" and all of "Zuma.") The key thing about this music is that it is raw and has force. Even though, in this case, the subject is solemn, Young's rock is the kind that makes you feel good to be alive.
And the medium fits the urgency of the message here. Young's eloquent indictment of George Bush's war screams and kicks within the power chords. "Living with War" has a directness, sincerity, and lack of veneer that really wallops you.
Yet "Living with War" also steps back from the rave to reflect. The whole record is written from the standpoint of a fellow citizen, a friend, or a family member. It is an exercise in empathy. Young is actually a Canadian citizen but has lived in the United States since the 1960s. His wife and kids are U.S. citizens and he has paid a lot of taxes here. It's clear he loves this country, for he writes with great love and not a trace of condescension. He told Rolling Stone he began the album in earnest, with the song "Families," after he saw a newspaper photo of a military cargo plane converted to a flying hospital. The caption said that the injuries of U.S. soldiers in Iraq were leading to new medical breakthroughs. (That song, written from the viewpoint of families who have someone in Iraq brought a thank-you note to Young, posted online, from a lady whose husband has twice had his tour extended.)
In "Living with War" Young assails but still feels; he manages to combine compassion with his passion. So, though his voice is raised, it is with the voice of one who still has faith.
Young, at this point in his life, is utterly without pretense or mask. That's one reason why the album is so powerful. Anyone who has paid attention to his writing over the years, especially "Greendale," which most people hated and I think will be seen one day as a kind of masterpiece, will not be surprised at what he is saying in "War." Like George Orwell, Young has always believed the simple decencies have a better chance of saving us than the big ideas. On "Greendale," one of his characters says, "The only good thing about TV is shows like 'Leave It To Beaver,'" and he adds that "a little Mayberry living will go a long way."
He is celebrating the same values in all three of his most recent albums - the America of Frank Capra. The America Young thought Ronald Reagan believed in (Reagan thought so too). The America Young feels George Bush has manipulated, exploited, and betrayed.
V
Musical taste is so personal. It is as personal as romance. Who can say why something touches the heart of one person, and not another? I once had lunch with a fat English professor who announced that Mozart was "overrated." There are great classical musicians who cannot comprehend jazz. And there are people who prefer disco to Bob Dylan. Go figure.
Music uses both sides of the brain. Part of our response is mechanical, physical, and perhaps even rational. (Music, after all, divides time.) But it also has to do with that soundtrack in all our heads - sounds associated with our past or sounds that feel as if they were. They speak to us in ways we cannot fully explain. (Music also erases time.)
I can't fully explain why Neil Young's music touches me. I am even more mystified by those who are not touched. Johnny Cash said something like the same thing about Young. Cash made beautiful recordings of Young's songs "Pocahontas" and "Heart of Gold" in his last years. And if what Johnny Cash said and sang doesn't move you - or you listen to the song "Helpless," and hear nothing - I don't know what to say. Maybe you think Mozart is overrated.
My favorite quote about Neil Young comes from his late father, the eminent Canadian sports writer and author, Scott Young: "He sings in a way that twists my heart."
Anyone who listens to "Prairie Wind" will feel that. And most people who listen to "Living with War" will be struck with the notion that something has gone terribly wrong with our government and public life. Some will just feel sad, but others will feel the need to reaffirm the right to free speech, thought, and action. Art can sometimes have this power - it can galvanize our collective will. Young has always believed that music can change lives. (If that makes him a goofy hippie, J.S. Bach was a goofy hippie too.) "Living with War" might help save lives.
Some artists build their art cumulatively. Both of these albums have the feel of a life that has found its center and its purpose.
Keith C. Burris is editorial page editor of the Journal Inquirer.
Description of Living with War
Last summer Neil recorded what will likely be remembered as one of his best albums in Prairie Wind and then eight months later delivers a new protest album that will make even the most conservative thinkers rethink the state of the world. Maybe it takes wisdom and experience to get to the heart of issues these days, instead of the open mindedness of youth as in the past. Unlike some of the newer bands on the scene which focus on selling five million records so that they can buy that house in the Hills, it's the old man of Rock and Roll that delivers the familiar one two punch that makes people question the course we are on. Regardless of your politics, Living With War will rock your world and hit a chord that needs to be struck.Even if you don't agree with Neil Young's politics, you can't help but be daunted by the intersection of his genius and ire on his second album in less than seven months. It is the very rare artist who is able to channel indignation and moral disgust in such a coherent and forceful way--without sacrificing any of the vivid imagery, passion, or the high level of musicality that we have come to expect from him over the past four decades. But that's not what elevates this album: it's his pure, naked, visceral reaction to the Bush administration's foreign policy, building on a canon of outrage that he began with 1970's "Ohio," penned in the wake of the Kent State student deaths. But here he goes one better, filling in the lines that he began to draw on 2003's Greendale about a family caught in changing times. But Young's done with musing about lost ideals. On Living with War, he demands much more from his audience, and himself. This is nothing less than a call for fearless action in extraordinarily fearful times. --Jaan Uhelszki
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