For so many, the nostalgia of the Broken Arrow Ranch in Northern California is viscerally breathtaking. The video shot by Rick Rosas (AKA Rick "The Bass Player") on a drive into the ranch is simultaneously uplifting yet heartbreaking.
With that background, Neil's understated song melody, instrumentation and lyrics combine to bring some to smile, some to cry and everyone to wonder ... thrashers included.
Which brings us to a very special Comment of the Moment by Dan Swan.
As you may recall, Dan has been on a sabbatical -- so to speak -- from Thrasher's Wheat for awhile. Often a thoughtful commenter, his words here have been missed. His return -- for us -- is like the swallows of Capistrano.
Here is the TW Comment of the Moment on VIDEO: "Second Song" | Neil Young Archives by Dan:
I have been away for a really long time here. The reasons are multilayered and difficult to summarize here. But I couldn’t possibly not post about this new song from Neil.
My first reaction was an unmistakable feeling of comfort and reassurance. I fell under the spell of a road trip out to Neil’s ranch. Now; I don’t typically like music videos, but I make an exception in this case, because it truly serves the song. But as usual with Neil, the lyrics are really the focus here.
Neil has always had this tendency to write lyrics that feel more like a stream of consciousness, rather than a specific thing. In this case it plays to the strength of the musical tone of this song.
What it created here for me was a sense of nostalgia and purpose. Combining both without contradicting either one. Yet at the end of the song there’s a message that may seem contradictory. I’m not sure how else to explain it really. It may well be the point of the song to be unresolved in the end. Or perhaps just an open question left for each person to ponder.
All I know for sure is this Second Song affected me in a most profound way. I was drawn into that world, and it touched my spirit in an unexpected way. I felt his presence within the song. It wasn’t just him singing it, he was literally inside of it. And I was privileged enough to be invited in on his journey.
I was transported out of my current situation and spent just over eleven minutes somewhere I wish I could take up permanent residence. A place where perfect is a myth, and possibilities are infinite.
The word masterpiece has become a cliche. But if such a thing is still possible….this would be it.
Peace to All 🙏
Especially for this new song from Neil. You're right, the video of the drive into Broken Arrow ranch so captures the essence. The vibe. The whole feel of ranch world.
Rick Rosas film comes from the past.
Into the present.
Taking us to future.
Alchemy baby.
Welcome back Dan.
More reaction to VIDEO: "Second Song" | Neil Young Archives.
Rick Rosas: 1949 - 2014
Photo by Paolo Brillo
And more on Rick Rosas (AKA Rick "The Bass Player"): 1949 - 2014
Thank you so much for the honor Thrasher. It’s nice to be back with my tribe.
ReplyDeletea great comment of the moment! I have a few thoughts going back to the first time I heard the song. Nostalgia is maybe not quite right as it constantly intersects with the present. The song places the nostalgic in a deeply problematic relationship to the present, although this is not always literal. If it was just harkening back to the sunny mornings and saving dimes the song is very different and probably not worth all that much. But beyond this problematic relationship to the present is that the present is placing everything in jeopardy. There is the immediate fact, within the lyrics, that what we need and want will no longer even be possible. This reality then strips us of our dignity as we are the ones who have destroyed the possibility of a future for both ourselves and everything else. To me, the center of the song are the lyrics: "but we won't remember them, cause we're the ones who didn't care." If one is really paying attention these lines hit like brass knuckles while there is painful irony with the beauty of the song. The same spirit could provide a bonfire for an electric nightmare of another song. Second Song is beyond a warning, it is a collision with our reckless actions.
ReplyDeleteI love everything you & Dan said about the new song. I appreciate your commentary here & I thank you for it. I am still watching the song video for the first few times all the way through due to some busy days.
DeleteI love the new song! I also love the song Human Race which is way heavier than punk rock or any other music medium (IMHO) due partly to the subject matter & the jaw dropping “molten lava” onslaught, “Righteous rage by way of old black, & old Neil: a jet engine in a hurricane flies through an erupting volcano of sound!”
I guess I just want it both ways! I want the molten electric fury AND the acoustic beauty. This song nails what it is we were looking for, hoping for Grandpa Neil to serve up! It kicks ass in a quiet way; a stark wake up call. Yikes.
We have lost a lot! The idiot king is destroying our nation every day. Stuck in Iran, waiting for the world economy to crash. Untold misery afoot! Unwarranted suffering caused by a guy trying to distract from the Epstein files! Agent Krasnov has been extremely successful at destroying our nation from within. Good job, idiot king. Soon it’s off to Russia to live in exile? War crimes trials & seizing of assets pending November, short of Musk’s voti by machine DOGE work.
I pray for peaceful transfer of power. The sociopath clown makes Nixon look like the straightest arrow.
your rustie grain brother Alan in Seattle
short of Musk’s voting machine DOGE work.
Delete@ Abner - Definitely a lot to unpack here on Neil’s latest.
ReplyDeleteAny song that can make you both laugh and cry is pretty special.
Ain’t it the truth? Dan the man, of peace!
Deletey r g b a I s
Thrasher, I fully agree. The song also has moments of real peace.
ReplyDelete