It takes the right kind of man to cut through the bullshit and stand up for what’s right. On Wednesday afternoon, living legend and mentor to heroes Neil Young dropped two quick pre-lunch paragraphs on Facebook which serve a better testimony to the man’s artistic righteousness and principles than any meticulously crafted press release or marketing campaign.
After painting a lovely picture of life on the road passing through Ontario on a cold winter morning, Mr. Young set about his purpose. Taking issue with the notion that musicians should “just shut up and entertain,” Young reminded the attentive that “music launches revolution” before posing perhaps the most important question of all.
Read the full text below:
Stew
15/01/14
The Chief’s making stew in the crock pot on the bus. Smells fantastic. We’re rolling west after a night of cold clean air and good sleep in Thunder Bay. Nobody’s tired, nobody’s complaining, no downers on this ride – there is a lot of love in the camp. That’s what happens when music and cause come together.
It confuses me to hear people shouting at us that musicians should just shut up and entertain. Where the hell did that lame-ass idea come from? Music was, is and always will be about social condition and cause and change. Music speaks for the oppressed and downtrodden. Music launches revolution. Woody Guthrie and Hank Williams and Bob Dylan and Joan Baez and Johnny Cash and Joni Mitchell and Willie Nelson and John Lennon and Eddie Vedder and Neil Young and all the giants of the art know this. What the fuck kind of music and musicians are these boneheads actually listening to?
Just wonderin’.
Onward
The Passenger
Young’s no stranger to the lightning rod, and it’s precisely that righteous indignation that makes us love him – aside from the soul-blazing rock, of course. True to form, earlier today he made comments in strong opposition to Canada’s oil sands energy projects.
