"Open Back Up" | Times-Contrarian | LTE | NYA
Our letter to NYA was published this week on "Open Back Up" | Times-Contrarian | LTE | Neil Young Archives.
So thanks for the reply neil!
Neil Young wrote the song ‘Shut it Down’ roughly about two years ago for recording on the album Colorado and making the documentary film MOUNTAINTOP (recording sessions held in April 2019) -- all well before 2020 and SARS/CV-19.
As noted previously here in March 2020, our selecting "Shut It Down" as the Neil Young Song of the Moment on Thrashers Wheat was way too prescient, eerie, right on cue and ahead of its time for even our level of comfort and mercy.
So, as we previously blogged, those prophecies by Neil Young just keep piling up. (There are no coincidences, recall?)
"(Have to shut the whole system down)
That’s the only way we can all be free
(Have to shut the whole system down)
Start again and build it for eternity
***When I look at the future I see hope for you and me***
(Have to shut the whole system down)
Working, working for eternity, working now, working now
Have to shut the whole system down, working now"
Billy, Neil, Nils, & Ralph - April 2019
Also, see:
- FIRST IMPRESSIONS: 'Colorado' by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
- MEGA-REVIEW: COLORADO by Neil Young & Crazy Horse | Alan's Album Archives
- META-REVIEW: COLORADO by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
. Thank you!!!)#CrazyHorse4HoF
In the meantime, Keep Calm and Keep on Rockin'!
How could we not after today?
OPEN IT UP!
1-26-21Hi Neil,
Happy New Year ... such that it is.
Saw your film COLORADO when it opened back in 2019 with a bunch of rusties. After the film, we talked a bit about the song "Shut It Down".
Well, when 2020 rolled around, sure enough, the whole system got shut down.
Since you seem in the midst of writing and recording, might we request a song titled "Open Back Up"?
mahalo,
thrasherThrasher
We have to sing that one ourselves. it will happen
love
be well
neil
priceless. "Thrasher, We have to sing that one ourselves. it will happen
love, be well, neil"
haven't been this high since Wednesday, August 25, 2010 @ 08:41:00 PM, back when we were down on a frown when the messenger brought us a letter ...
peace
Neil Young IS a prophet! He knows what song I want to hear before I do!
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, the world was overdue for a bad Pandemic, statistically, and it was predicted to happen by science. The population of humans on Earth has grown exponentially in modern times, making it more likely to cause a massive pandemic.
But the song is about mitigating Environmental Catastrophe (Global Warming), the suffering of livestock, and what would be necessary to Save Earth and her creatures. "Save the Humans" would be a good bumper sticker. Mother Earth's creatures are headed for the 6th Mass Extinction Event, and its bloody sad to see. American taxpayers have been subsidizing oil for so many decades, its a shock to see our new President finally taking steps to end it. Green power, imagine that! Trump pushing fossil fuels made them look even uglier.
I am so proud of Neil Young's passionate efforts to draw attention to the Environmental calamities of our time, and those in the making, such as the DAPL Pipeline. And Monsanto poison is in all of our bodies! Less for those that eat organic food. Meat hastens the demise of our Home Planet. And the silver seed spaceship can only carry a few Billionaires and their crew off into space, an extreme environment with Radiation blasting in every direction. They still haven't figure out how to protect living organisms from radiation in space. Its all just a fairy tale that humans will populate any destination other than Earth itself. This is one way they justify doing nothing to save mankind from the havoc Global Warming will reap, with superstorms disrupting agriculture and Trillions of dollars in losses to rising seas.
Shutting It Down did slow planetary destruction, so it hasn't been a total loss. But its not so fun for those who can't get by without an income, which is a lot of people. Kids and people today are horribly depressed. Suicide rates are rising big time among school age kids (18 in one Nevada district). So, we must open up the schools again, they decided in NV. And they will.
With Vaccinations beginning to take off with a more serious national effort, we can begin to be hopeful and optimistic that we will open it back up. Hang in there, people.
And Neil, if you could just not write a new song about an Asteroid, that would be great.
I thought Colorado was a very good album. Alan in Seattle
Just a thought, and only half-way serious, but very 2.0. With all the knowledgeable fans on this site one could imagine that a "Neil Soung" could be created and respectfully submitted to Neil Young to create his genuine take on the submitted material? Neil Young (and every other serious artist) took lines, ideas, images, metaphors and used them to write a song, "Rust Never Sleeps" or "After the Goldrush" being famous examples for titles and song verses. With NYA's focus on artist-audience interaction it's maybe not that outlandish to dream up things like that.
ReplyDelete@ Alan - lots of good points here on whether the cure is worse than the disease. Always a tricky balance in life. But it does seem that on a lot of fronts, this is a tossup.
ReplyDeleteErr on the side of caution/emotion? Err on the side of normalcy/logic?
we think we've been clear here on our position in the debate.
regarding "Neil Young IS a prophet!" we're not going to disagree with you. But we try not to be so bold b/c of how it really isn't fair to him while on this plane. It's sets false expectations and is always a cause for alarm amongst those who are threatened.
we think you catch our drift here. if not, check out some of the reactions to the stories contained in the best selling book of all time ...
@ Dionys - excellent concept. Crowd sourcing the song writing.
that said, we think that neil wouldn't be to keen on having the muse channeled via rusties.
that said, go for it.
"(Have to open the whole system back up)
That’s the only way we can all be free
(Have to open the whole system back up)
Start again and build it for eternity
When I look at the future I see hope for you and me
(Have to open the whole system back up)
Working, working for eternity, working now, working now
Have to open the whole system back up, working now"
ReplyDeleteI frankly don't believe opening the whole system back up makes any sense at all. The system has been severely corrupt on virtually every level, so why on earth would we want to open up that ugly can of worms again. What we need to do is start a whole new system up. One that simply wouldn't allow people to go hungry every day, especially children. One that would provide every person with good health insurance so people wouldn't have to suffer and die because they can't afford it. One that demands government to make the people the priority, not huge corporations who only care about profit over humanity. What we need is a new system, not the old one. The old system has had hundreds of years to do the right thing, and it has failed miserably year after year. There is enough knowledge, science, and money in this world to create a system that serves everyone equally, without prejudice. The old system was never set up to accomplish anything other than keeping the rich richer and the poor poorer. Why would bringing that back up ever move us forward as a species.
I'm clearly in the minority here, but I firmly believe humans can do better, not only for themselves but for everyone else too. We only have one world, and if we don't start sharing it, we are all doomed to fail. Regardless of political or religious or cultural differences. It's time we start thinking and acting differently toward each other, and this fragile home we call EARTH.
peace
@ Dan - thanks. actually,we agree and think we're in the majority on EARTH on this with you.
ReplyDeletebut you crystallize a very important point here.
You're right. Why re-open a bad system? why not re-open w/ a new system? or a non-system, even better.
Frankly, all this chatter about Big Reset is another humanity trap.( we'll try not to go there just yet.)
One of the more bizarre aspects of all this has been the lack of discussion in 2020 about a new normal that far exceeds the bad old normal.
The problem is that the New Normal being promoted is that it is way worse than old normal.
This VAX ID Global Passport is a BAD idea in the direction of more global control of the masses. It is not about health & safety. trust us.
We need to move to full disclosure, transparency and TRUTH in order to break into what we've tagged here @ TW as The Big Shift.
However, 2020 was another step backwards year for so many. That said, we do see now all sorts of discussions taking place on forbidden topics. This is promising, but still a long way to go for truth and reconciliation.
Only with the TRUTH known widely, can we all move together into freedom. While many can not handle the truth and refuse to open their eyes, it still remains the only viable path to freedom. so, walk with us.
"Nobody's free until everybody's free."
~~ Fannie Lou Hamer
ps - here is one of the original 2020 conversations about old normal vs new normal vs better normal.
ReplyDeleteSee "I don't know who wrote this, but it's beautiful."
we started the conversation last year, but it was quickly overshadowed by those who think a VX solves all problems or prefers to wait until a VX before discussing life after VX.
... and the winds begin to howl ...
"Have to turn the whole system 'round" maybe would do? For a refrain, not for a solution of the systemic global problems, of course.
ReplyDeleteHoax virus, Anti-vax, Q follower...thrasher, please stop "doing your own research." YouTube videos are not good sources of information
ReplyDeleteDear Matt & Jess wedding,
DeleteQ followers are being fed a huge amount of BS by Q. They are not doing any of their own research. On the other hand, the media is owned by 6 Corporations which DO NOT want a guy like Bernie Sanders to ever get elected president. So they initially blacklisted him in 2016. Much later, when they finally acknowledged his existence, he was attacked in the press endlessly. The Washington Post, owned by Jeff Bezos, ran over a dozen hit pieces on him within 24 hours to counter his popularity. Bernie had 100,000 fans in the streets in Oakland in 2016 but the media ignored it and suppressed the video and images. When the DNC rigged its own Primary election in 2016 and 2020 against Bernie, mainstream media NEVER said a WORD about it. The fact is, the DNC nominated who they want to be the Presidential Candidate and is not legally required to hold a fair election. This is what the lawyer from the DNC, Bruce Spiva, argued in defense of a fraud lawsuit brought by Bernie’s fans who donated money to him in 2016. I read the Wikileaks emails and they are damning. I was doing my own research and being rewarded with a broken heart.
At DAPL, independent media by Water Protectors / Standing Rock Sioux on the ground and using drones painted a revealing picture of Militarized cops allowed by Obama and finished up by Trump to brutally attack the water protectors, mainstream media ignored it.
And now we get a message from you that we should be sheep and watch the mainstream media for our fact gathering efforts? Not a very smart message. I think it is crucial for the people to try to do some of their own research due to the dumbed down spin in the evening news. But that doesn’t mean believing whatever ridiculous claims they encounter. Your message is: Be sheep.
Alan in seattle
Alan in Seattle: I admire your passion and your research. We both share a realization that our system of Government and the news media are more corrupt than ever before. These are the billionaires who are fully responsible for the polarization of our country. The more divided we are, the easier it is to control us. The real conspiracy is there is no conspiracy, it’s just being played out in clear view. They’ve become so powerful that they don’t even care how obvious it is to anyone who can still think for themselves.
DeleteWe need to reconsider the whole system, but we can’t succeed through violence. We need to find a way to send a powerful message collectively that we need to reset the whole system so everyone can truly be free. I wish I knew the most effective way to do it, but I know Bernie Sanders was on the right path.
I think we’re all more or less on the same page. How can a Nation say it has ANY values if it won’t feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, provide health care for ALL people with the tax money we already pay. More Wars won’t help. The military is overfunded. Why send fools to Mars as we trash Earth? We must be better than this as a species. Tax the Billionaires and reinvent the system.
ReplyDeleteThrasher, I was totally joking about Neil being a prophet, hence the line after the claim “He knows what song I want to hear before I do!” I would not want to burden the man with nutty idolatry or worship or ever accuse him of being a prophet.
Intelligent, with open eyes, with an uncanny knack for mirroring the times and reminding humanity of its better self. He is an Environmental Activist and so is his sweet wife. I wish them all the success and that we save Earth for future lives and nature.
As for the idea about telling Neil or suggesting to Neil what topic to write a song about, good luck with that! 😂🤣. There is a much higher probability of Jeff Bezos becoming the Biggest Charity Donor in the world. It could happen. Not likely. I was also kind of joking when I said “Just please Neil, don’t write a song about an Asteroid.”
My hold my fellow Neil Young fans in high regard. I have respect for your values and I feel we share a common bond in our values. I believe that Neil fans share some qualities in our moral compasses. Empathy is a trait we share. Not screaming at Neil which song we want him to play is another. We just want Neil do what the Muse tells him to do. It’s working out quite well this far!
Peace be upon you. Alan in Seattle ”
“I” hold my fellow....
DeleteThus far.... Must edit self! Curse you, spell check!
ReplyDeleteAs with decent people everywhere "the tone makes the music" (German proverb, don't know if one can translate that literally) Screaming song titles at a concert ("Play Southern Man!") resulted in Neil Young reactions such as the famous philosophy hour "the sun rises ..." during the Greendale Tour. But there are quite a few songs that showed a reaction in the other direction, like "Singing a Song", a song that, at least to me, is a reaction to an actual person with expectations mentioned in the song. So with the increasing (digital) interaction between Neil Young and his fan base and the current limitations of live interaction I can see elsewhere that artistic experimentation is not off thought-limits. Who would have thought that one day we would be sitting beside a fireplace in NY's or dhlovelife's Colorado home listening to cherished songs. At this time I'am sitting here day by day streaming teaching in class to my students online, from my private home. It is no little thing "to have your home invaded like that". That's what Grandpa said. I believe that times like these are re-defining art and the role of artists.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWords are a limited form of communication, as they must be carefully chosen in order for others to understand the intentions of the writer. The spoken word is far more powerful as it includes a musicality that has the ability to change the meaning of words. It’s quite easy to be misinterpreted without the tone and inflection musicality provides when we speak our thoughts and ideas.
ReplyDeleteSarcasm for instance can be very difficult to interpret without the musicality of speech, and feelings can sometimes be hurt even though that may not have been the intention. A good example of this is in this thread above. The post from “Matt & Jess Wedding”. I have no idea what the point is with just a list of words that may or may not be relevant to this particular thread. Whatever the point was, it was completely lost on me.
Words are powerful, please choose them carefully.
Peace 🙏