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An unofficial news blog for Neil Young fans from Thrasher's Wheat with concert and album updates, reviews, analysis, and other Rock & Roll ramblings. Separating the wheat from the chaff since 1996.
Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” strikes a chord with many listeners, both musically and thematically.
The song’s passionate call for freedom and its socio-political commentary resonate deeply, echoing the timeless desire for true liberty—a theme equally profound in the Bible. But how can we connect the cry for freedom in Young’s lyrics to the biblical principles of liberation, love, and justice?
In "Rockin’ in the Free World," Neil Young highlights the struggles and disparities within society, asking listeners to reflect on what freedom truly means. The Bible also speaks extensively about freedom but in a way that transcends political and social realms.
Consider John 8:36 (NIV): "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." Here, Jesus offers a profound freedom that surpasses any societal construct—a spiritual liberation through His sacrifice.
Elsewhere in the set, Pearl Jam took
a minute to remember the tragedy of 9/11 on what was the 21st
anniversary of the event. Vedder relayed the story of a man named Mike,
who leaves New York every year on the date because of the trauma of the
event. However, this year he “thought it would be a good idea to be here
tonight with you”.
Vedder did express that he felt 9/11 had led to greater unity in the
United States, saying: “There was a time we supported each other. That’s
the part we cannot forget. Let those lessons be remembered as our
solidarity to come together and keep this country straight.”
“This is the 37th time this band has played in New York City. I think
we’ve only played Seattle 50. Here’s the thing – I don’t remember half
of those fucking Seattle shows. I just don’t. But I feel like we
remember ever Manhattan show,”Vedder said
later.
“This potentially has the chance to be the most memorable of
them all. We are quite honoured to be spending this important date with
you.”
The
back cover of the album "Noise & Flowers" features a
photomontage showing Neil Young & Promise of the Real as graffiti on
the Berlin Wall. The wall is also decorated with flowers - matching the album title.
Before the Fall: Neil Young writes Beatle's lyrics "Love Is All We Need" on the Berlin Wall in October, 1982
And while we have spent a great deal of time here on this blog analyzing the song “Rockin’ In the Free World” over the last few decades, we do sometime wonder just what it is about this song exactly that makes it work on so many levels?
If you listen to a lot of Neil Young songs, you start to see that
even though a song may be in a simple major or minor key (this one is in
E minor, with an A chord thrown in, borrowed from the dorian mode), he
tends to favour pentatonic melody shapes.
An E minor pentatonic scale uses the notes E, G, A, B and D, and
you’ll notice that a lot of the verse melody dwells on these notes,
particularly D, E and G:
Those melodic ideas, playing in and around those three notes, are a
favourite shape of Neil’s, and as I say, you’ll notice that he really
likes pentatonic shapes. You see it in the opening line of “Old Man” (“Old man, look at my life/ I’m a lot like you were…”), and all through the melodic ideas in his “Heart of Gold.”
...
Lyrics
The lyrics reference the politics of the late 1980s, so you’ll see
references to the Iranian “death to America” mantra of that time, as
well as some gibes to George H.W. Bush’s “thousand points of lights”,
and “a kinder, gentler nation.”
But I think what is most noticeable is that this is the sort of lyric where the meaning gets transmitted best when being sung over one or two pitches.
When you sing lots of repeated notes, it sounds like a kind of musical
“scolding”. Just as Bob Dylan chose to set the lyrics of “Like a Rolling
Stone” over melodic cells that repeat the same note often (“Once upon a time you dressed so fine/ Threw the bums a dime/ In your prime…”), Neil sings out the words to “Rockin'” like he’s really trying to make an important point, and uses repeated pitches to do it.
...
Chord Progressions
The song is in E minor, and both the intro and the verse use the simple three-chord progression Em-D-C.
In the intro, those chords get played over a pedal point bass that sits
on that tonic note E. The bass then moves to play root position chords
for the entirety of the verse.
The chorus switches to the relative major key of G major, and gives us this progression: G-D-C-Em.
The tag at the end of each chorus, which brings us back to either the
intro for the next verse, or Neil’s guitar solo, is an A major chord.
Previously, Neil Young has “continuously and publicly” objected to his music being used by Donald Trump
going back to 2015 on his website NYA. Background on Neil Young's Open Letter To President Trump and below.
Young’s on-the-sleeve politics, meanwhile, have always seemed a bit
evasive.
Anti-Nixon protest songs led, in the ‘80s, to wishy-washy
support for some Reaganomic policies (predictably, Young seemed to
double down on this the instant he was called out for it); lifelong
activism around stewarding the environment was undercut by the
post-9/11, pro-war torch song “Let’s Roll.” More recently, in addition
to threatening to take the President to court (embracing the tradition
of eager American litigiousness), he has expressed support for Joe
Biden, and for Black Lives Matter, writing on his website that America needs to “deal with our white insecurities.” He also, even more recently, vowed to uncouple his Archives website from Facebook,
claiming that “the corrupt social platform” was “screwing with our
election.”
Even that one word—“our”—is significant. It suggests that
Young, a newly certified American, self-described “old white guy”
consummate artist of disillusionment, hasn’t succumbed to the cynicism
that US politics seems to encourage.
U.S. Republican Presidents Richard Nixon, George Bush, Sr. (#1), Ronald Reagan
And Neil has weighed in on the DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION SUCCESS | NYA, where his longtime friend and bandmate Stephen Stills lip synced to "For What It's Worth".
President Trump's Walk Off Song: Neil Young's "Rockin in the Free World"
Donald Trump - Neil Young
Minutes ago, President Trump's walk off song at event in Georgia at UPS HQ was Neil Young's "Rockin in the Free World" (see clip below @ 00:50).
Trump play's Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" after ending his speech. I can only assume they haven't read the lyrics.pic.twitter.com/gbLBFUMsZQ
— Walks the Path of Healing and Combat (@StephenRowe0) July 16, 2020
Today the president's "walk off" song at event in Georgia was not the usual from the Rolling Stones but instead Neil Young's "Rockin in the Free World"
In the ongoing contretemps and escalating between Neil Young and U.S. President Donald Trump, Neil has posted an open letter to President Trump on Neil Young Archives.
In the ongoing contretemps and escalating between Neil Young and U.S. President Donald Trump,Neil has posted an open letter to President Trump on Neil Young Archives.
A Letter To President Trump
7-6-20
Dear Mr. President:
Although I have repeatedly asked you to please not use my music because it indicates that I support your agenda, you have always played my songs anyway at your gatherings, with no regard for my rights, even calling me names on twitter.
I did notice that you played my music at your latest rally in Dakota despite my previous requests.
Because you are in charge of the Covid 19 response here in the USA, I will not sue you, (as certainly is my right) potentially distracting from your important work at hand protecting and saving American lives. With the enormous power you wield on our behalf, I wish you all the best in your critical battle to save American souls from this threat. I know you will do your best for all Americans, regardless of political leanings. I give you my encouragement in your efforts to Unify America.
I suggest you listen to my song ‘Looking For a Leader 2020,” available on my website, neilyoungarchives.com as part of a work I recently completed with my wife- ‘The Porch Episode,’ as I believe it would be an interesting addition to your next rally.
And -- again -- Neil Young has expressed his strong opposition to Donald Trump's use of his music, tweeting: “This is NOT ok with me…” (More details, footage and commentary here.)
All of which -- naturally -- created much angst and drama across the lands.
Last week, Young criticized Trump‘s leadership of the U.S. in a lyrical rewrite of his 2006 track “Lookin’ for a Leader” during Porch Session earlier this week.
"Lookin' for a Leader"
“Lookin’ for a Leader” - new lyrics
“We had Barack Obama and we really need him now.
The man who stood behind him now has to take his place somehow
America has a leader building walls around our house
Don’t know Black Lives Matter and we gotta vote him out.
We got our election but corruption has a chance
We got to have a big win to regain confidence
America is beautiful/But she has an ugly side
We’re looking for a leader for this country far and wide
Just like his big new fence
This president’s going down
America is moving forward
You can feel it in every town
Scared of his own shadow
building walls around our house
He’s hiding in his bunker
Something else to lie about.”
What will be next in this 4 year battle of ever escalating tensions?
And -- again -- Neil Young has expressed his strong opposition to Donald Trump's use of his music, tweeting: “This is NOT ok with me…” (More details, footage and commentary here.)
All of which -- naturally -- created much angst and drama across the lands. In fact, our TW tweets saw the highest number of impressions ever since we started using the tweetverse.
For starters, I guess I would agree that the polite, gracious thing to do would be to honor someone’s request when it comes to something like this, but then Donald Trump is not a polite, gracious man when it comes down to brass tacks, which is exactly the mindset the powers behind him had in mind when they approached him to run for the Presidency, something he had to be convinced into doing.
He’s clearly not a politician, he’s a disrupter- again something his backers were looking for, something long honed as a negotiating tactic in order to bring out people’s real positions, and real objections. Bluster, bad manners, self aggrandizing statements, buffoonery, and more- crazy like a fox.
What is the urgent crisis at hand requiring brass tacks? Well, take a look at what Rockin’ In The Free World chronicles (incidentally, a song that calls out the man many people believe JFK Jr.- a close personal friend of Trump, had identified as being at the very center of his fathers public execution- a man whose party aligned politics, along with the democrats, is the very thing that Trump is standing up against, but never mind that for now). Whatever else you think about the songs meaning, its upshot is that despite all the attacks on freedom, you have to still stand up and fight for what you think is right, and wrong or right, many people believe this is exactly what Trump is doing, including myself. As I’ve said elsewhere, how is it that no one short of a Donald Trump could be found to lead the charge of the behind the scenes patriots in this last ditch effort to oppose the tyranny of globalism, and the Federal Reserve Bank? "Drain the swamp," rend asunder the Deep State, the Shadow Government. How is it that no one possessed of any backbone, not bought and paid for, no establishment figure not compromised in one way, shape, or form, can be found to do the right thing?
Can anyone deny that the country is not in a metaphorical “Hurricane” at the moment? Notwithstanding Neil’s objections, I think the song choices are right on.
The more pertinent to me song choice is Devils Sidewalk, a metaphor for the battle raging against good and evil, a battle that clearly defines the Civil War and second American Revolution the country is currently right smack in the middle of, in addition to the larger struggle being waged on a world wide basis- a struggle that traces its origins all the way back to the Tower of Babel, but, better not go there, except to say that Thrashers oft alluded to “Big Shift” weighs in the balance- the Great Awakening, the much needed shift in consciousness, Ascension, etc.
Anyways, I thought about it for a bit last night after reading this post, and the comments, and though I didn’t have the time to really go into it, from my memory of Devils Sidewalk I wasn’t perplexed by the song choice at all. Nor was I surprised by the other choices, although Cowgirl In The Sand?, that doesn’t quite fit in other than “Be on my side, I’ll be on your side,” I guess. Dunno. Sure, for the average person, heck, even for some Neil fans, it’s a relatively obscure cut off a relatively obscure album, but evidently Trump is not the average person when it comes to knowledge of Neil, and very likely neither is someone(s) somewhere on his campaign team.
Just take a close look at the incredible lyrics. It describes the devil dining on the “streets of hate,” and the captain sounding the warning to a crew who would rather focus on a “woman delicious.” Never mind, there is no metaphorical devil, no streets of hate. Some things aren’t getting better or worse, and there’s nothing to avoid, as long as we have so many toys to enslave- I mean, divert our attention. “There’s a garden growing… And a million weeds… With no way of knowing… Who has done which deed.” Sound like an “invisible enemy,” sound like something Trump is always on about? An enemy that, throughout republican and democrat administrations alike, has successfully sought to destroy America’s industrial base, so that globalism’s new engine of empire, China, can be built up? You wouldn’t want to trumpet those sentiments walking into a car factory in Michigan, would you? There is so much more to say, but I’ll leave it at this- there is a lot of grist for the mill here, and strange as it may seem, there is more than enough there in the lyrics to match up with the real world crisis that Trump and his backers are trying to wage war against, whether you like him or not, and you will never understand the man and what he is attempting to do, if you don’t understand the battle against evil that is being waged. But, if you just can’t stomach so disagreeable a man co-opting songs that make the honest attempt to call out evil for what it is, then ignore it.
Don’t give it the attention that will blow it up into something more than it is. But, again, notwithstanding Neil’s objections, I’m fine with it.
A Friend Of Yours
Thanks so much for sharing the comments here AFOY. It's been awhile and we appreciate your dropping by with your thoughts.
There's just so much to unpack in all of this that probably for the 1st time in 25 years of running TW, we're totally scattered on where to turn next while watching this slow motion train wreck. If only Neil and the Horse had been on the road this summer as planned, we would be out on the rail flying our colors. But, alas ...
So, -- FWIW -- what's happening here? Because, whatever it is, it ain't exactly clear.
There are those that do not see this as much more than just a political appropriation of an artists work by a politician. Another ripoff, so nothing new, really. But it strikes us all as a bit too odd and almost contrived.
Last week, Young criticized Trump‘s leadership of the U.S. in a lyrical rewrite of his 2006 track “Lookin’ for a Leader” during Porch Session earlier this week. (See link for lyrics update.) Now Trump's Mount Rushmore event. What will be next in this 4 year battle of ever escalating tensions?
Can a Neil-Donald truce be achieved? Should someone hold peace talks between the two? Maybe Willie could volunteer to moderate?
As we understand things (and please correct us) if Neil doesn't want his music used for event playback purposes, he has to withdraw from the arrangement. From what we gather, Neil has asked a specific candidate not to be allowed to purchase his music. But again that's not how the system works. It's all or none. He can't allow Bernie Sanders to purchase his music rights and not someone else. Again, please correct us. (Note, as background, some of the intricacies of licensing music are discussed here in 2016 on "'Fuck You, Donald Trump" Says Neil Young Onstage; Posts Video Clip to His Facebook Page.)
NASA Plays Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World" Prior to SpaceX Launch
As always, the playlist includes Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World," which is always tonedeaf in association with Trump but today is especially... pic.twitter.com/hHl6U6DFKc
NASA played a clip of Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World" just prior to the SpaceX launch yesterday.
This comes after Neil Young's song “Devil’s Sidewalk” was played at a Ford plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan before U.S. President Donald Trump visited and spoke last week.
250 Musicians Playing "Rockin in the Free World" by Neil Young
Back in 2016, over 250 musicians attempted a Guiness World Record for Number of Musicians Playing with the song "Rockin in the Free World" by Neil Young.
The event took place in Grote Markt, Haarlem (the Netherlands) on May 29th, 2016. From DGBVN 2020:
HAARLEM - Crush barriers Sunday at the Market for an unusual event. More than two hundred and fifty musicians formed together in Haarlem, The Greatest Band in the Netherlands.
Forty drummers, bassists forty, eighty guitarists and a hundred vocalists played together on the Market the song Rockin 'in the free world of Neil Young. A motley collection of tools and people, from little boys behind the drums to enthusiastic singing women behind the microphones.
The occurrence ask the musicians focus on the Youth Culture Fund, which is dedicated to children in poverty who want to follow music lessons. ,, The biggest Band Netherlands namely wants everyone can make music '', say the promoters.
The idea for The Greatest Band in the Netherlands comes from Alain Timmers after he saw on the Internet a video in which hundreds of Italian musicians and vocalists together to play a song by The Foo Fighters. Timmers this so liked that he had gathered together over two hundred musicians in no time to Facebook to make music together.
The band was Sunday conducted by Jaco van der Steen.
Another jam session is scheduled for 07 June 2020. See DGBVN 2020.
Neil Young's Saturday Night Live Performance of "Rockin' In The Free World" | NYA
Neil Young's 1989 Saturday Night Live performance of "Rockin' In The Free World" is now playing in Hearse Theater | NYA.
On September 30, 1989, Neil Young served notice that he was back with a vengeance with his legendary performance of Rockin' In The Free World on Saturday Night Live. There are many, many defining moments in Neil Young's career. His appearance on SNL was another such occasion.
Neil's incredibly incendiary 1989 performance of "Rockin' in the Free World" which has been called "one of the most intense live television studio performances ever".
When Neil performed on Saturday Night Live, on September 30, 1989, the album Freedom was about to be released. Neil did a rare "3-fer" on SNL - performing 3 songs: "Rockin'", "The Needle And The Damage Done" and "No More".
Neil channels Elvis & Johnny Rotten
"Rocking in the Free World"
Young seemed possessed as he throttled his Les Paul guitar and shredded its strings before the audience. Wearing a Elvis Presley T-shirt, Young seemed to be bridging his 1970's classic "Hey, Hey, My, My" with the lyrics "The King [Elvis] is gone but not forgotten, this is the story of Johnny Rotten" with the end of the 1980's and the impending advent of the grunge-alternative music explosion.
Lupo's "Elvis Heartbreak Hotel" Shirt
Later, Young commented that he worked with a trainer before going onstage to work himself up to the encore intensity level when he normally performs the song after 2 hours on stage. Neil came on the set as if he had just performed the concert of his life and went from there. The song was selected as one of the best of Saturday Night Live musical performances of all time in broadcasts later in the 1990's for the 25th anniversary.
Critics were ecstatic about Young's return to form based on just the single broadcast and it marked a critical turning point in Neil's career. Jimmy McDonough writes in a Village Voice interview:
With the September 30 appearance on Saturday Night Live, Young arrested any signs of rust - at least for the moment. Backed by Charlie Drayton, Steve Jordan, and longtime sideman Frank 'Poncho' Sampedro - a new band Young's tentatively calling Young, CS&P - he was all over the stage, jumping on the drum stand, lunging out of camera range, whipping off earsplitting solos that sounded like falling power lines. It was the loudest thing I've ever heard on TV, the lyrics to 'Rockin' in the Free World' barely audible. This is easily his best band since Crazy Horse.
Just the look on his face was enough. He really seemed insane.
YOUNG: 'Yeah, well I was. I don't like TV. Never have. It always sucks and there's nothing you can do about it. You can't just walk on and do 'Rockin' in the Free World,' or you'll look like a fuckin' idiot. To perform that song the way it's supposed to be performed you have to be at peak blood level, everything has to be up, the machine has to be stoked. To do that I had to ignore Saturday Night Live completely. I had to pretend I wasn't there.'
So Young developed 'a brand new technique for doing TV' - a half-hour before going on he worked out with his trainer, lifting weights and doing calisthenics to get himself wired.
Video of the performance was once widely available on YouTube however -- as the corporate grip continues to tighten on the Internet -- it is no longer available. Somehow though, the 2nd song performed that night "No More" is available on YouTube... for now.
Pearl Jam + Red Hot Chili Peppers Cover Neil Young's "Rockin' In the Free World" in Rio
Pearl Jam + Red Hot Chili Peppers members Chad Smith and Josh Klinghoffer covered Neil Young's "Rockin' In the Free World" in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Mar 22, 2018.
NEW LYRICS: "Rockin In The Free World" - Neil Young + Promise of the Real, Antwerp, Belgium Concert - June 24, 2016
"Got a water cannon for the standing man
Got misinformation from the corporation
In the endless search for a drop of oil
People's lives get shattered while we suck it from the soil
Gotta show the children
We just don't care
So we keep on burnin' it
And put it in the air"
Neil Young has added new lyrics to the song "Rockin In The Free World" during his current tour of Europe with Promise of the Real.
A rather harsh update for a song already dripping with irony, sarcasm and venom for what the modern world has wrought.
Over the years, we've written quite extensively how Neil Young's song “Rockin’ in the Free World” has been used and abused for a variety of purposes. In an in-depth look at the irony and aftermath of RITFW from The Umpteenth Times by Kevin Egan:
To borrow a phrase from the mathematicians, people seem to enjoy things broken down to it’s lowest common denominator. In the case of “Rockin’ in the Free World,” Young experiences what Springsteen has with “Born in the USA,” which is an audience clueless to the ideas expressed in his song.
The masses only seem to recall the chorus to this song, when the chorus is only a summing up of what the verses had articulated with more specific concepts and detailed images. It’s quite possible that Young may have been inspired by Springsteen (Springsteen’s song was written years before Young’s) when he created his own “anti-anthem,” a song in which a chorus is sung ironically, juxtaposed against gloomy, hopeless lyrics.
Though some may argue differently, this is far from an elitist tactic, particularly since both Young and Springsteen sing their verses quite clearly and include the lyrics to the songs on their albums. The information is there for the listener to absorb if they are interested. Unfortunately, in both these cases, many people still don’t get the joke and they ultimately and sadly become part of the joke. They sing proudly and patriotically to these “anti-anthems” that point out the hardships and inequalities of a system and government that has failed their people. It is only to those who have been listening attentively that the irony of these pieces comes across clearly enough.
Neil Young and Crazy Horse
Greendale at Radio City Music Hall, New York City - March 18, 2004
Photo by Thrasher
Tomorrow, 240 year ago -- July the 4th, 1776 -- the thirteen American colonies declared independence from Great Britain and announced they would no longer be a part of the British Empire.
Written by Thomas Jefferson, the American Declaration of Independence is now seen as a universal human rights statement:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
And on January 1st of this year, we wrote about Freedom in a New Year, which has been viewed -- in hindsight -- as somewhat prophetic for the events that would soon unfold.
The album contains the song "Rockin' In The Free World" and is one of Young's most popular, important and prophetic songs of his vast catalog.
The song has become an iconic anthem and it's status continues to rise as more and more artists cover the song. Young's lyrics are considered to be an indictment of the politics of the 1980's. In today's post-9/11 world, the lyrics seem prophetic and even more meaningful than when originally written on the eve of the '90's as the Berlin Wall fell.
Twenty years on, the song "Rockin' In The Free World" has become an encore finale for bands around the world, as well as, a coda for the days that used to be.
So. Freedom ... Is It All Really Just An Illusion Now?
***
Americana and The American Dream (Freedom ... So Is It All Really Just An Illusion Now?)
AMERICANA PROJECT
Poster by Shepard Fairey
(Click photo to enlarge)
Neil Young's new album with Crazy Horse has definitely struck a chord which is resonating not only across Americana but the Old World as well.
The songs on Americana reinterpret traditional folk songs in such a way as to breath new life and meaning into them to such an extent as to be almost unrecognizable to those who learned the songs in their childhood. And that makes some uncomfortable to go where they haven't been before.
For example, in the traditional song “Oh Susannah”, the music is a family focal point to provide relief from the grim times of the Great Depression. Those who fail to draw the line between yesterday and today's global meltdown are missing the major message of Americana . The "Even Greater Depression" of the early 21st century is the story of our lifetime. To miss this point is to fail incredibly.
Even the artwork of Shepard Fairey and Day at the Gallery where the images project populist ideals of the common man against the brutality of the state sponsored repression and economic bondage.
For Neil Young's “God Save the Queen,” the British anthem that was repurposed for “America (My Country, ’Tis of Thee)”; this version moves from British fealty to “Confound their politics/Frustrate their empty tricks” to a final chorus of “Let freedom ring.”
"The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it."
"Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control. And no official of my Administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes or to withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know."
Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young's "Chicago"
Freedom: Chicago - August 1968 "We can change the world, re-arrange the world"
[Continued]
"[We have an] obligation to inform and alert the American people -- to make certain that they possess all the facts that they need, and understand them as well -- the perils, the prospects, the purposes of our program and the choices that we face.
Without debate, without criticism, no Administration and no country can succeed -- and no republic can survive. That is why the Athenian lawmaker Solon decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy. And that is why our press was protected by the First Amendment-- the only business in America specifically protected by the Constitution -- not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and the sentimental, not to simply "give the public what it wants" -- but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our choices, to lead, mold, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion."
"And so it is to the printing press -- to the recorder of man's deeds, the keeper of his conscience, the courier of his news -- that we look for strength and assistance, confident that with your help man will be what he was born to be: free and independent."
JFK - 1961
Yet the song "Rockin' In The Free World" is often misunderstood and attacked on false interpretations and misplaced understandings. Witness some of the near violent comments that have been left on this blog over the years in reaction to some of our previous postings on the song's lyrical analysis (see comments here and here.)
There are those who have argued that "Rockin' in the Free World" espouses anti-freedom ideals, to which we have taken serious issue with in the past.
As always, we live in dangerous times where those who stand for freedom are often accused of treason and worse. Such times are now and the struggle for freedom -- even among those who feel they are actually free -- is more paramount than ever. The right to live and speak freely is an inalienably human right that can never be assumed nor taken for granted.
You need only understand the true context of George Bush’s “thousand points of light” reference. It has nothing to do with a call to civic and charitable involvement. Rather, it is a reference to Illuminism, an encoded esoteric call to arms signaling to all the wreckers throughout the world that the time has come to declare out in the open (in George Bush’s own words), a “New World Order”.
In the United States more and more recognize the disconnect between government and the needs of most Americans. They see how crony capitalist policies lead to the largest wealth divide we have known with increasing poverty, joblessness, underemployment and insecurity. At the same time the Congress, Treasury and Federal Reserve funnel trillions of dollars to the big banks, but demand cuts for programs that would create jobs, fund state and local government, build the infrastructure, provide basic necessities and protect the environment. This is the first generation of Americans who see that their children are likely to be worse off than they are.
Say what you will about Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young's 1988 album American Dream, but it did contain some quite lacerating and scathing commentary on the state of the American Dream.
The video is clearly an indictment of the rampant corruption of the U.S. President Ronald Reagan's administration and the Iran-Contra coverup scandal where high ranking government officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, which had been specifically prohibited by Congress (The Boland Amendment).
And here we are 23 years later. My how things have changed for that American Dream...
You wake up in the middle of the night.
Your sheets are wet and your face is white,
You tried to make a good thing last,
How could something so good, go bad, so fast?
American dream, American dream
American dream, American dream.
Don't know when things went wrong,
Might have been when you were young and strong.
American dream, American dream.
Don't know when things went wrong,
Might have been when you were young and strong.
American dream, American dream.
"The year 1776, celebrated as the birth year of the nation and for the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was for those who carried the fight for independence forward a year of all-too-few victories, of sustained suffering, disease, hunger, desertion, cowardice, disillusionment, defeat, terrible discouragement, and fear, as they would never forget, but also of phenomenal courage and bedrock devotion to country, and that too, they would never forget." --David McCullough from 1776
Traitor and Patriot? Thomas Jefferson
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."
Author of American Declaration of Independence
So how exactly could something so good, go so bad, so fast?
>> Pre-Order on Amazon.com << 
Human Highway
Concert Review of the Moment
This Land is My Land
FREEDOM In A New Year
*Thanks Neil!*
![[EFC Blue Ribbon - Free Speech Online]](http://www.thrasherswheat.org/gifs/free-speech.gif)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being Neil Young
Pardon My Heart
"We're The Ones 
Thanks for Supporting Thrasher's Wheat!
This blog 
(... he didn't kill himself either...)
#AaronDidntKillHimself
Neil Young's Moon Songs
Civic Duty Is Not Terrorism
Orwell (and Grandpa) Was Right
What's So Funny About 
