"An Evening With Neil Young"
(Click photo to enlarge)
As we recently remarked, no sooner we observe the
decline in comments here on Thrasher's Wheat over the years, than lo and behold a goldrush of wheat worthy commentary from our beloved community. Blessed.
Which reminds us of a question we encountered once at a Neil Young concert along the lines of "So all of those comments are really written by Neil fans?!". Naturally, we were a bit taken aback by the implication that we ourselves ghost-wrote TW comments or that the comments were the nefarious workings of the Shakey Pictures/Lookout Mgt/Warner-Reprise industrial complex.
"No, as far as we can tell, both the wheat and the chaff really seem to be genuinely organically derived," we replied and off we went into the venue, never really considering the question again.
Now since -- with our naivete totally blown wide open in
our post-9|| awakening -- we've come to realize that
there's far, far more to the picture than meets the eye when it comes to comments here at TW -- particularly those artificial, GMO-like chaff comments.
But back to those tasty, fresh organic wheat worthy comments.
What a wonderful way to help us continue to
celebrate our 20th Anniversary here Thrasher's Wheat by letting those freak flags fly.
Yes, it does sometimes seem that some of the freshest and tastiest comments are somehow a direct channelling from our little head, back out into the community and reflected right back to us here on the blog. Such is the latest example where we literally were having the exact same sentiments as the following comment, as it literally materialized on the blog.
Such is the
Surreal Synchronicity of Neil Young and
The Amazing Synchronicity of Thrasher's Wheat.
So here we go. On to the latest Comments of the Moment on
"An Evening With Neil Young" + "Neil Young Discusses New Album With Promise of the Real". First, from Alan:
After seeing Neil Young & PotR in Seattle last Oct 4th, I knew Neil was having the time of his life with these young super-fans, Promise of the Real.
The show was spectacular as they mined his deep catalogue and also played great versions of songs from The Monsanto Years. I expected that Neil would record again with PotR on his next album. I even anticipated the focus would be Earth and nature. I am not psychic. But, for once, I saw where Neil's Muse was leading him before the announcements were made.
Neil Young is a truly dedicated environmentalist and a prophet of sorts. Neil has stood bravely and effectively against injustice so many times. From Ohio to LWW, he told the Military Profiteers where they could stick it. When he said on FitR, "There's a bailout coming but its not for you" he saw right through the facade of the too-rich-for-jail Wall Street bankers. The middle class would foot the bill, since Corporations pay no tax after decades of effective lobbying.
Then our favorite Rock Star *ucked the GMA-connected, GMO-loving behemoth, Starbucks. He told truth about the poisons in our food supply, the deadly game being pushed by Monsanto, the seeds being hijacked. And he sang tragic tribute (quite appropriately) to the Earth, under the Wolf Moon, or any other. Who's Gonna Stand Up and Save the Earth, indeed?
The artist I have obsessively followed since 1988 has gained focus in his songs and his values have come to the forefront, namely saving the Earth for future generations. I was an environmental studies major in college when I first became a fan of the man. His values align with my own. Unfortunately, it is the "American way" to trash and develop every square inch of our fragile planet, to tap every resource, to cut down every tree. We humans are destroying the planet for all living creatures with our focus on profits and disregard for our fellow sentient beings, human and animal.
Every living thing on Earth is now endangered due to Global Warming, whether it walks, slithers, swims, or flies. The focus was expected, although I can't describe what it will sound like, I am tremendously excited that Neil Young has another album in the can and I will soon get to hear it. And, if I'm lucky, he will return to Seattle and I will get to see him play again (for my 17th show).
And yes, it is so strange that many of his "fans" can do nothing but make cynical predictions and deride the artist, who has rarely failed, even in the recent past, to create compelling work. Neil Young delivers. Yes, he is getting older, aren't we all? Should we not celebrate that this incredible man is still doing it?! Whether wielding Old Black, strumming an acoustic, or playing piano and harmonica, the man has something very worthwhile to say, and I am ecstatic to be here to enjoy it.
I will be wearing my Neil Young Monsanto Years shirt on May 21st as I join hundreds and hundreds of others to March Against Monsanto for the 3rd year in a row in downtown Seattle. I am excited about Bernie Sanders because he has values and he is not a corporate whore, a sell-out, or a racist sociopath.
Once again, I scratch my head and chuckle about the pissed off Right-wing Neil Young fans who are so upset that he is paying attention to these momentous, critically important issues. Oh, if only he would just re-record Harvest or (fill in the album title here).
That is not what our hero does. If you don't care about what he is saying, I feel sorry for you. But I feel way more sorry for your Grandkids, because they are the ones who will be living in a world far too Hot with severe shortages of food and water. You can say the feeling's gone, but Neil is not the one who has lost it. Have a look in the mirror. Wake up. Apathy kills. Smell the roses, too.
Thank you Neil Young.
-Alan in Seattle
Thanks Alan. Love the passion, no fear and never let the bastards shut you up. Paragraph breaks be damned. ;) Freedom of speech. 'Tis better to die on our feet than live as slaves on our knees, as
we sometimes remind folks...
Next up, one of our longtime favourites from Greg, a friend we've never seen who does not hide his head inside of his dreams...
Kudos, Alan.
And to you, Ian.
I can hardly believe these things still need to be said- or maybe I do believe it.
Over the years, I chimed in to this effect here and there, arguing against one dimensional views of Neil, trying to communicate that no informed fan could possibly be surprised at anything coming from Neil, let alone question where it was coming from. To repeat ad nausium, to each their own, doesn't mean you have to like this or that, but you simply cannot question the method or the motive. In my mind, it was and is the same as it ever was, unvarnished and spontaneous- with plenty of room after the fact for him to "improve" on it, and for us to appreciate in retrospect.
After a while, I got tired of "pissing in the wind", and have to admit, withdrew from the fray of all the negativity on this site, which vis a vis the dwindling of comments cited in recent posts, must be true of at least several others. For whatever reason, this reluctancy bled over to most other conversations, even though a day has never gone by without me checking in on what Thrasher has to contribute- sorry for what could be construed as a lack of support, Thrasher. People coming to a Neil Young appreciation site to trash the man because he does not conform to the prescribed standards they seem never to tire trying to shove down his throat.
Amazing.
Over the last several years, Neil has seen one cherished friend after another fade from his life, is currently on the other side of a marriage that I'm guessing he cherished, also. Across this new, unfamiliar, foreign, and I'm guessing lonelier territory, he continues to be assaulted by examples of complete and utter disdain for all that is decent and responsible, relative to man's inhumanity to man, and man's stewardship of the earth, both of which mirror a like disdain for our Creator.
After years of giving us unparalleled music and words, of giving back in the form of charity and advocacy, and earning the right not to have to apologize to anyone about his career choices, there are those among us still looking for some kind of apology for not giving them another On The Beach? The man is seventy, still rocking and producing material close to his heart, and the takeaway for so many is that the lyrical content is not some sort of repetition of the perspectives only younger versions of himself could produce? His voice ain't what it used to be? He should spend more time now polishing songs in a way he never has? He should chuck the immediacy of the moment that has always instigated his recordings? He should start getting stoned again to grease the wheels of his flagging creativity?
I know there are a lot of reasonable people raising valid questions asking to what we might attribute perceived changes in the music and the man, and people who have in-their-mind-legitimate concerns about some of Neil's view's, but come on. It can't be that he is an older man, whose changed life circumstances are now informing his music in ways that are necessarily different than what it used to be? It can't be that his music still mirrors his inner experience, and given the changed circumstances, comes across differently? It has to be that he's just gotten cravenly sloppy in his old age?
In the end, you just have to laugh, and remember the words of golfer Jack Nicklaus in response to similar criticism of the golfer Greg Norman, who hadn't met the expectations of certain of his "fans", either: "It's amazing what some people think you 'should' do." Can't say it any better. Amazing.
A Friend Of Yours
Thanks again to Ian, Alan, Greg, and so many others out there trying to bring it all back home by plowing those fields of wheat, amber waves of grain.
Call it channeling. Call it synchronicity. Or just call call it the magic of
TW Rising, The Big Shift, The Ascension or "Great Awakening", we love it and revel in the White Rabbits chasing the Men in Black back down the rabbit hole.
Seriously, go ask Alice (or Dorothy) anytime... because
it's really all an illusion in The Land of Oz... "Toto,
we have a feeling we're not in Kansas (Greendale) anymore... "
We remain your
ever vigilant citizen thrasher
Labels: neil young
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