REACTION: Neil Young's New Song & Video "Lets Roll Again"
The polarizing reaction to Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts new song and video "Lets Roll Again" has ranged from robust cheers and applause to condemnation and accusations.
Not since 2006's album Living With War has a Neil Young album had so much controversy before its actual release.
The primary controversy around "Lets Roll Again" -- set to the tune of Woody Guthrie’s iconic “This Land Is Your Land” -- swirls around the lyrics:
‘If you’re a fascist, then get a Tesla/If it’s electric/
It doesn’t matter/If you’re a Democrat, then taste your freedom/Get whatever you want, and taste your freedom.’
The video accompanies the verse with a ‘Heil Tesla’ image depicting Tesla's Elon Musk’s mistaken "Nazi-style salute", which, btw, was really just him touching his heart and waving to crowd in a gesture of love.
Elon Musk
(Video Frame via Official Video)
"Heil Tesla"
(Video Frame via Official Video)
Neil Young's Tesla/Musk outrage has not always been the case. Neil Young famously converted a Ford Lincoln Continental into "LincVolt", an electric car. The project began in approximately 2008.
SEPTEMBER 25, 2010
Back in 2016, Neil Young was critical of German car manufacturers in an interview with Associated Press. (thanks Rusted Moon!)
So. Times change, feelings change.Neil Young: "There's nothing revolutionary about building an electric car with all the air pollution on our planet.But car manufacturers keep building the same cars over and over again—and they even advertise how advanced they are. The same old story over and over again. It's disappointing to see so little innovation. And then Tesla comes along and leaves everyone behind. Especially the German car manufacturers. They acted like it was a joke, like Tesla was a joke. But suddenly Tesla has overtaken them on the road.And they're not even advertising. Tesla is just good; they've created something good.I didn't make it ["LincVolt"] to sell it to anyone. I just wanted to say, 'Look, this thing exists, it's great.' I've put 55,000 miles on it now.I drive it all the time; I love it."
More on Neil Young's LincVolt: Re-powering the American Dream.
Neil Young & Marc Benioff
by Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts
(Video Frame via Official Video)
Labels: album, chrome hearts, neil young, Official Music Video, song, tracklist, video
by thrasher@PermaLink: 5/05/2025 02:53:00 PM
8 comments
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Pardon My Heart
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8 Comments:
I’m reminded of Trans Am, an overlooked song from SWA. The lyrics deal directly with “global manufacturing”, and it is global at this point. American companies, and investors, need to look for opportunities in order to participate in the international marketplace.
If the free market is really efficient, opportunities should keep appearing. What’s more, if you’re against regulation or intervention on principle, I can’t see the point in complaining about market conditions. Hell, the USA was not created by people being risk averse. The truth is, most people are okay with regulation, provided they see something in it for them personally.
Thrasher, I respectfully suggest you do not so blithely declare that Elon Musk's hand gesture was a benign expression of love. Consider his embrace of Germany's far-right AfB party, his praise for numerous dictatorial leaders including Hungary's anti-democratic and anti-LGBT president Viktor Orban, as well as El Salvador's Bukele, including providing him with a tour of a Tesla factory; a man who has publicly stated that, "The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy", a point of view manifestly in evidence through Musk's DOGE firings; a man who told the New York Times, "I disagree with the idea of unions." Whether Musk is a bonafide Nazi sympathizer and white supremacist I cannot state definitively, but neither do I think you know enough to declaratively maintain that his hand gesture was not a salute and a signal to far right constituencies.
I would just like to thank my father in law, one of the smartest guys I know, for providing me with the inspirational words on my Tesla Takedown & Hands OFF protest signage.
He told me Elon Musk will be leaving DOGE after his 130 day “term” is up. I said “Really”? “He’s been punching a clock? Do you trust T Rump to file accurate time sheets? How do you know it hasn’t been one day a week and will continue for up to 130 weeks?”, I asked.
His answer: “Well, Mr. Musk is very intelligent. He’s going to Mars you know”!
I was so pleased to be informed of this I could barely contain my enthusiasm. “When? Please, timestamp that for me”. And my protest sign was born:
Mars. NEEDS. Musk.
Thanks, Bob. Thanks fer having Bobfest! 😎
@ Renaldo - thank you for the comment.
We realize now that we did not clarify.
Elon Musk clarified that his gesture was not meant to evoke Nazi symbolism during an appearance on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast, released on February 28, 2025. He stated, “It was obviously meant in the most positive spirit possible."
If you follow link above, NBC News in an article titled "Elon Musk takes familiar fraud, waste claims to Joe Rogan with DOGE discussion," published on February 28, 2025. Additionally, the podcast episode itself, "Joe Rogan Experience #2281 - Elon Musk," is available on YouTube, published on February 28, 2025, at: https://www.youtube.com.
This comment has been removed by the author.
well, shit! ol' thrash is a rogan lovin', elon apologizin', DOGE appreciatin', MAGA man!
that checks out.
Let’s just say I would be leery of taking Musk’s word uncritically, about The Salute or anything else. If it was a faux pas, most of us couldn’t afford that level of social unawareness without major consequences. Ignorance is generally not an excuse.
@ windsaloft - not necessarily.
We're actually truth lovin and disinfo hatin.
It doesn't help your case to recklessly make false claims. It actually hurts the cause, does self inflicted damage and is just plain evil.
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