Neil Young is a true musical genius. He was with Buffalo Springfield & also with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Some of their pieces are pretty amazing. We were fortunate enough to see him live & he was with his band, Crazy Horse. His live performances are rather incredible. Thank you for sharing!
He does. Like John Lennon, he can be preachy and a huge hypocrite sometimes, but you can't question the man's musical abilty, his songwriting skills and his huge catalogue of great music.
"Rockin' In The Free World" helps to punctuate the differences in Neil Young's music. From "Harvest Moon", "Sugar Mountain" and "Heart Of Gold" to "Powderfinger", "Cortez The Killer" and "Rockin' ", Neil has a lot to say about the world around him. Neil moved to a ranch in California in the 1970's, after rooming and performing with Rick "Superfeak" James near Buffalo, N.Y. in the early 60's. As a native born Canadian, Neil Young is a GREAT American. He is also The MAN.
When Neil Young released Freedom in late 1989 he pointed the way to the grunge era that would emerge two years later. The album opens with a live acoustic version of "Rockin' in the Free World" and ends with this electric version. Young did something similar on his 1979 album Rust Never Sleeps, which he opens with the acoustic "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)" and closes with the electric "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)", the same song spun two radically different ways. Two other stand out tracks from Freedom are "Crime in the City" and "Wrecking Ball". As for the lyrics of "Rockin' in the Free World", Young is calling out the societal failures of the United States and imagines he will be denounced as Satan for doing so. There is very little foreign policy angle to the song. It's all domestic politics and the often harsh and cruel ways the poor are treated in the United States. The line in the third verse, "Got a man of the people says keep hope alive", refers to 1988 presidential candidate Jesse Jackson with his "keep hope alive" catch phrase. Neil Young became a naturalized US citizen in 2020 after living in the country since 1966. One of my cousins used to clean the bunk houses on his Broken Arrow Ranch in Half Moon Bay south of San Francisco. Young moved to Colorado some years ago and his son lives on the ranch now from what I understand.
Neil's "Kinder Gentler" way of saying WAKE THE F#%K UP! Freedom was Neil's review of the 80's decade. It's amazing that some people still don't recognize the raging sarcasm. My favorite from this album is Neil's cover of the Drifters classic "On Broadway". Oh, The Irony. :)
What makes Neil so great is his ability to reinvent himself at various points of his career. This song and album secured his place as Godfather of Grunge.
Spot on with your commentary. Young is a living legend who's not afraid to tackle controversial subjects at his own expense. His solos are so funky, but a good way! My favorite artist of all time. Neil Young is definitely one of a kind. They broke the mold!
He played this song on SNL in 1989. He was going to play with Eddie Vedder and his band. Eddie talks about how Neil showed up only 15 minutes before they went on. No rehearsals. They went on and nailed it. It was a great live performance. The music was harsh and brutal, just like the lyrics.
This was Neil's comeback after he spent most of the 80s uninspired and writing songs that were pretty bad. This song and the collaboration with Pearl Jam on this album introduced him to a new generation, as did his epic MTV unplugged set. Great song and as usual a great breakdown of his meaningful lyrics and songwriting.
Another of the ticket stubs I found not long ago. October 8, 1978 NASCAR race at Charlotte Motor Speedway that afternoon, Neil & Crazy Horse on the "Rust Never Sleeps" tour that evening. Long, but great day. "chemicals and sacred roots" got us home...
This was written about social conditions during the first G.Bush presidency. T***P had it played at some of his "rally" - I imagine what Neil really said - he issued a legal injunction that it not be used by that campaign. This is Neil's song! Listen to the lyrics - we should all understand the reality of the lyrics and message!
Check out his performance with Lucas Nelson and Promise of the Real at FarmAid 2018 in Hartford Connecticut. You can find their set on You Tube. He was 77 or so and the set was pure 🔥.
Young’s always been a great rocker in addition to being a great balladeer. Hearing this reminds “Oh, yeah … he was the first famous musician of his generation to welcome the Punks!” ✊🏽
I think a lot of people are misinterpreting the phrase "don't feel like Satan but I am to them." At the time of this song (and some people still today) were saying that rock n roll was Satanic. It was a very popular sentiment amongst many conservatives and religious fanatics.
I’ve noticed a bit of a phenomenon where Canadian musicians slip into the US mainstream and take on the mantle of critiquing the USA and western society in general. This song, American Woman by the Guess Who and Joni Mitchell come to mind (putting a parking lot on Paradise). Just a thought .
"I don't feel like Satan but I am to them", that line refers to Rock N Roll being the devils music by politicians, evangelicals, etc. all the way back to the 1950s.
