Today a musician who has continued making relevant music longer than any other from the 1960s, Neil Young, is turning 79. I have read many reviews and bios on Neil and not one of them truly gets why he has remained so popular among every generation. The hippies loved him, the folk crowd loved him, the stoners loved him, the rockers loved him, the grunge bands loved him, and the alphabet generations have loved him.
My theory: Neil has kept writing great protest songs. And protest songwriters are often some of the best storytellers. Has there ever been a more powerful protest song than Ohio? Listen to some of the versions from CSN&Y’s tours during the early 2000s, with their martial drumming and Crosby’s passionate cries, and you’ll hear a song that would fit in any Game of Thrones or The Last Kingdom bloody battle scene.
But, Neil didn’t just rail against Nixon. Neil railed against colonization in Cortez the Killer. Neil railed against drug abuse in Tonight’s the Night. Neil railed against disco and the dumbing down of music in Hey Hey, My My. Neil railed against celebrity ego in American Dream. Neil railed against terrorism in Let’s Roll. Neil railed against those destroying our environment in Vampire Blues and, more recently, Monsanto Years. And, of course, Neil has railed against greed masquerading as fake patriotism and war on the poor in multiple songs including Rocking in the Free World.
Neil could also break your heart with his ballads. Heart of Gold, The Needle and the Damage Done, Birds, Don’t Let It Bring You Down, and Lotta Love. Hell, he even wrote a great love song to his car, Long May You Run. And he wrote the paean to youth, Sugar Mountain, that inspired Joni to write The Circle Game.
Happy birthday, Neil. Keep on raging against the machine.
