Those New Songs: Falling From Above

Grandpa said to cousin Jed
sittin' on the porch,
"I won't retire
but I might retread

Seems like that guy singin' this song
been doin' it for a long time
Is there anything he knows
that he ain't said?

Sing a song for freedom
sing a song for love
sing a song for depressed angels
falling from above

Over the past few months, there's been quite a bit of debate going around the internets about Neil Young's new songs.

For purposes of this discussion, the following 11 songs are considered to be new since their debut beginning on the 2008 Europe summer tour:

01 Just Singing A Song (first: Helsinki 2008/08/07, 4th song that night)
02 Sea Change (Goeteborg 2008/08/09, 15th)
03 When Worlds Collide (Coburg 2008/08/23, 17th)
04 Light A Candle (Toronto 2008/12/04, 11th)
05 Fuel Line (Auburn Hills 2008/12/07, 18th)
06 Cough Up The Bucks (Worcester 2008/12/13, 12th)
07 Hit The Road (Worcester 2008/12/13, 14th)
08 Get Behind The Wheel (Worcester 2008/12/13, 19th)
09 Off The Road (NYC, 2008/12/15, 19th)
10 Get Around/You Don't Need A Map (NYC, 2008/12/16, 15th)
11 Fork In The Road (Neil's Garage debut 1/7/09).

Thanks Sharry for research and keepin' jive alive in T.O.!

(If you haven't heard all of the new songs, Roel's Rust Radio is rotating recent stes this weekend and Johnny's Song Dog site has samples.)

So, it would seem that quite a few folks are less than enamored with the new songs -- in particular the Linc-Volt car themes. Or as Mark "spook_the_horse" characterizes the reaction on Rust : Message: New Neil & Record Company Clowns...: "a general chorus of slight consternation and no little disquiet."

The latest round on Neil's creativity was sparked by Village Voice's review of last month's NYC shows by Rob Harvilla "Let's Avoid Neil Young's Next Record: The old stuff enthralls, but the new stuff terrorizes at MSG:

"I am struggling to think of anyone who could possibly give less of a fuck about what you think of his/her new album than Neil Young does. But each song tonight creates an unpleasant binary effect: Love it if we immediately recognize it; barely tolerate it if we don't."

And many reactions have tracked along with the sentiment. Regarding the most recent song "FORK IN THE ROAD":

"The other car songs featured on tour are decidedly bad, but this 'Fork in the Road' song is so distressingly awful that it almost seems like a joke. So hideous that one almost has to laugh at the situation. Would a record company actually listen to this garbage and then agree to release it? At some point, they're going to have to take a stand - right? I'm actually rooting for the record company here."

And this comment:

"Seems to me all of Neils recent output about cars and driving around the great USA is low on melody. High energy and just churning on seem to be getting the upper hand, much like on Living with War. Do you suppose that's the price of making quick, Current Affairs Music? (On the other hand, his old current affair songs had GREAT melodies..)"

PunkDavid adds harshly with The new songs - Please tell me they get better:

"I don't think that words can really adequately describe my opinion of these songs. I'd like to think that this is how fans must have felt when they first heard Trans or Everybody's Rockin', but as strange as those two albums were, there was something new and radical in the music. There was a twist, a gimmick, an experiment that didn't quite work.

This new stuff is simply the most tired music I've ever heard from Neil. I hope it's just half-baked and needs to be reworked in the studio, or something, but I'm afraid that there's not enough substance to make the songs be anything short of below average at best.

I've been a fan for 20 years. I've bought every new Neil album immediately after release for 15 years. Even when I was listening to new albums that I knew were well below Neil's peak performances of the past, I could still find merit in them. Even Are You Passionate, which I rank as Neil's worst solo release, had sparks of brilliance amid the shlocky sentimentality of lyrics set to a musical genre that
was poorly suited to Neil's musical skills. These songs are right in Neil's comfort zone musically, but there's nothing to them. The lyrics are pedestrian, and the music I'd call pedestrian too [snip]."

And on and on. On this blog we've read the blowback and disbelief over the new songs from "Just Singing A Song Won't Change The World" to "When Worlds Collide" to "Sea Change" to "Light a Candle" to "Get behind the wheel".

The lyrics are lame. The songs have no melody. Re-hashes. Neil's Washed up. Even gripes about having to pay $100's to hear crappy new songs.

But you know that when the Dylan comparisons start to kick in as Charlie posts then trouble can't be far behind:

What I love about Neil albums like "Trans" and "Landing on Water" and even "Everybody's Rockin'" - he was exploring, trying something new. This new song is simply another along the lines of "Piece of Crap" and "Dirty Old Man" - Neil can put this stuff out in his sleep. It's not bad, but we've been there before. I'm not a big fan of "Greendale", but at least he had a vision for something and I appreciate it for that.

I'm just sayin' that Neil's more recent work, over the past decade or so, has, as a body of work, been neither of the quality of his past work nor represented a great departure from things he had done before. And as for being a lyricist, Neil perhaps isn't in the league of Bob Dylan (who hasn't been too shabby in releases lately either, all of which are at a very high caliber, too, ranking with the best of his entire oeuvre), but his older work typically was written by a craftsman - "Words", "Alabama", "Cortez", and so on. Brilliant lyrics combined with always excellent music. I just don't see the same songcraft in this latest song, or in much of his later work.

We find some of this vitriol quite amusing -- especially when we hear that Neil is just churning out songs for the sake of it and tossing them off like so many logs on the fire. Particularly since this is a guy who wrote "Down by the River", "Cinnamon Girl", and "Cowgirl in the Sand" all in a single afternoon while sick with a 103 degree temperature. Or wrote "Mr. Soul" in only five minutes.


But it really has been harshing our mellow here at Thrasher's Wheat to read day after day the blistering criticism of the new songs. But -- of course -- not everyone dislikes the new songs. Actually, many fans do seem to appreciate the new music and what Neil is trying to do.

And we think that Aaron, "That Old Country Insufferable Knowitall"'s analysis An Alternate Theory of Change (lengthy, but perhaps offensive enough to read) pretty much nails the validity of new Neil songs. TOCIKIA posts:

My argument will be this: that Neil hasn't changed nearly as much as many have supposed him to. One thing that has changed in many cases is the lens through which he is viewed. I believe that as the listener ages, they are less and less open to new forms or directions of art. In this case that means you are less likely to find new music that you like, especially if it moves in new directions, as you age. What that means, specific to Neil, is that while I agree that the nature of his work output is changing, I think few would dispute that that has been the only constant of his career.

In other words, our reaction to Neil's new songs says more about *us* than it does about Neil and his music.

One can recall what audience reactions were to the new Tonight's The Night songs in 1973. Is what we're experiencing comparable? Of course not.


A Man Needs A Car

As "M" comments on a L.A.Times interview with Van Morrison:

"Some artists, of course, make an art out of veering from the script mentality. Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen hold court atop the list of rockers who strive for liberation with every performance. Jazz as a genre also counts spontaneity among its core values, just as gospel at its most inspired seeks something higher through performance."

Peter D. from Holland posits:

First:
Neil is in my opinion always reinventing himself, on every record or whatever he releases. You can't really say that he has done the same thing twice.

Second:
Neil's reinventions do not always please us. That's because he finds the reality of the new invention more important than the success it will or will not have. And that's why he releases it (same reason for releasing the Archives: 'just give'em everything: the good, the bad and the ugly').

Those two points are THE reasons why Neil is still alive and present and, if I may say so, why he is one of the few pop icons that really is a true artist.

Last but not least: name me one other artist of this status who delivers new output as much as Neil. The last few years we have had sometimes 2 or 3 items per year or more…I can only be in awe.

OK, so the new song lyrics may be simple and direct. So maybe Neil got tired of obfuscating lyrics since no one can even figure out Powderfinger means? Give listeners literal messages they can figure out. "Light a Candle"? What could that possibly mean? Hmm. "Singing a Song Won't Change The World". Gee. What would change the world? "Sea Change"? We always thought that was about the Obama campaign. So on.

And before the accusations of being a Neil sycophant start flying as usual, we'll leave you with our thoughts after hearing most of the new songs live during our excellent road trip adventure last month:

At this point, we're just not going to get into a debate on the merits of these 10 or 11 new songs that were worked into various combinations the setlists in Philly, Boston & NYC.

For the doubters of the new songs, we'll just say that sometimes it takes time for them to age, breathe and to come into their own. The point being, that pushing ahead into new frontiers is sometimes more inspiring then plowing the same old ground. Breaking through the wall. We like to call it taking a risk. Without risk there is no growth. I for one, would be disappointed in Neil for not trying out something new and just giving us the hits.

That being said, Neil had some heavy duty messages. We'll challenge anyone - your Dylans, Springsteens, your flavor of the month band to go out and tell it like it is. Even if it's maybe not the most elegant lyrics Neil has ever written.

So let's take "Cough Up The Bucks$" for example. Who wouldn't plunk down a few $'s to hear Neil sing @ MSG in NYC -- blocks from Wall St. -- a song about corporate welfare and reckless greed? It's like going into the lion's den with red meat. So we'll cough up the bucks to maybe hear "Cough up the Bucks" again! Afterall, it's only fuckin' money.

That's change we can believe in.

In conclusion, it would seem that some long time Neil fans have reached a fork in the road in terms of appreciating Neil's career direction. So which fork in the road will you take?

Over on Karen's blog Come In, she's running a poll on "What is your favorite song in Neil’s new batch?"

Cast your vote and come back and tell us what you think. No, what you really think. Are you taking the stay the course fork? Or are you ready to be the change?

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Don't Be Denied: Rescued From Obscurity

From The Adios Lounge: Six Degrees: Headed For The Ditch on Don't Be Denied:

Too bad because Time Fades Away, for all its flaws, acne scars, and tuneless tumult is about as honest a recording as you'll hear. "Don't Be Denied," in particular, is both one of folk music's most searing moments and one of rock music's most honest moments. It's a no-flinching, no-bullshit account of an innocent made cynic, the dream of becoming a rock star fulfilled and discovering precisely what that means. "A millionaire through a businessman's eyes." Fucking brilliant.

pantsfucious on The Adios Lounge mentions Time Fades Away huge foldout hand written lyric sheet that came with the album. The lyrics sheet contains the fabled "Oh Canada" verse, which was not actually on the recording.

And what if one wants a copy of TFA? Here's the situation for a vinyl LP on Amazon.com: "Time Fades Away by Neil Young (LP Record) with 9 Used & new from $48.95 up to $95. For used vinyl?!

And thanks for the shoutout pantsfucious!

For those of you interested, check out Thrasher's Wheat, a Neil Young fan site that has started a petition to release Time Fades Away on CD. Interesting that the post to which I'm linking is dated April 2009. Apparently, this petition comes to us from the future, which is both creepy and comforting. They may be spying on us, but at least there is a future. Personally, I think if Neil wants to reissue this album, he should do so on 180 gram vinyl. Remaster it a little bit, include the lyric sheet, and maybe some other LP-sized goodies. This is a recording meant for analog, so if you're gonna do it, do it right.

Back to the future because you know how time fades away.

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AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND Tour Widget

Just uploaded a new tour widget for the AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND tour leg in sidebar.

You can zoom into venue, pan around venue, get directions, and print maps from widget.

Everything looks good to go. If something's not working right, please let us know.

You can grab the code to embed on your blog on the bottom menu of widget.

Thanks Schmap!

More info on Neil Young 2009 Tour of Australia and New Zealand. (This is where concert reviews will be linked from.)

Also, a couple of other things to note to help stay on top of Neil's never ending tour (we hope).

Something new we're trying is microblogging with Twitter.


You can now subscribe to real time Twitter updates from Neil Young news.

Along with e-mail update notifications via FeedBurner. See right sidebar for subscribe info.

Also, see sidebar for our other favorite Neil feeds from Rust, Rust Radio, BNB, etc.

Enjoy the tour down under!

ps - We hope AUS/NZ gets a full set of ALL the new songs!
PSS - And make a wish for Harvest Moon in Brisbane on 21st January.
psss - Anything you can do to help offset bandwidth expenses is always appreciated. Thanks!

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Photos of Neil Young in Worcester-Boston 2008: A Day in the Life of Ol' Black

A Day in the Life of Ol' Black
Photos by Steve Babineau
Neil Young - Boston/Worcester: 12/13/08

Here's some photos by Steve "Babs" Babineau, a long time Neil Young fan and photographer. Babs has been shooting Neil for over 30 years now and has contributed to The Bridge School and Farm Aid numerous photo projects that have raised substantial funds for the organizations.

Steve gets some amazing shots like the one above where you can literally see the ripped strings flying during "A Day in the Life".













We caught up with Babs in Worcester before and after the show and had a great time hearing about the experience. Babs tends to use long lens so he filmed from a number of different angles. Also, you'll note that we have a couple of shots of Chad, who usually doesn't manage to get in the frame.


Also, Steve has a new book on his other love -- the Boston Bruins hockey team. Steve has been the official team photographer for 35 years and the book has over 300 photographs, many of them never published before, in glorious color and classic black and white, capturing the Bruins history and the team's characters. More on the book Black and Gold: Four Decades of the Boston Bruins in Photographs.

Thanks Babs!

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Archives Release Date Poll

This week we blogged on The Neil Young Archives (NYA) status and ran a poll on predicting the release date.

Interesting results so far.

-- Over 80% of respondents believe that NYA will miss the Feb 24, 2009 release date.
-- An astonishing 18% believe that NYA will "Never" be released -- almost equal to those voting for NYA meeting the target release date.
-- "Sometime later in 2009" topped poll with 32%.

So when do you think The Neil Young Archives will be released?

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Concert Review of the Moment: New York City, 12/16/08

Photo by Joey "Feelin' Young"

A great Neil Young Concert Review of the Moment from New York City Concert, 12/16/08:

"In between Wilco and Neil, I took advantage of all the people scrambling and moved from the 200 level down to a third row seat right at stage right. I was about 100 feet from Neil. The magnetic pull was trying to take me right on stage but metal bars blocked the way. Luckily, Neil must of felt the magnetic pull. During Cinnamon Girl, he came over to the side of the stage and rocked out the ending screaching notes of cinnamon girl. The couple of people in front of me didnt even bother to get up as I stood up and just got pulled towards old black. I just gave every ounce of energy I had as I slipped into a surreal mental state. My arms started doing these helicopter spins and my eyes were just popping out of my eyes. It did not take long for Neil to spot me and once he saw I was giving him everything I had he gave everything he had right back. His eyes locked in on me he just kept feeding the high pitched solo to me right in front of me. My arms kept just kept revolving at the speed of light as I signaled to Neil to keep it coming. I can't really compare the experience to anything that I have ever experienced before."

The entire review is definitely worth a read. More on Neil Young in New York City Concerts, 12/15 & 16/08 and Road Trip Report.

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*BREAKING! - New Song: "FORK IN THE ROAD"

UPDATE: See new video "Fork In the Road" - New Video!.

UPDATE: Welcome Uncut.co.uk - News readers! Thanks iFarah!

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Listen to New Song: "FORK IN THE ROAD" on Neil's Garage.

Thanks BSM & e2f!

So what can this possibly mean? The new album of Linc-Volt love songs is coming? Part of the soundtrack for the Linc-Volt documentary? Or is it Toast? Or are the Archives still next up? Or the Booker T & DBT CD? Or Harvest Moon Live? Or maybe an Archives hidden track?

isn't this fun!? This is literally another fork in the road....

Actually, we think this upload is an indication that the NYA page update is coming very soon. By driving traffic to the site looking for new song, folks will stumble on the NYA details. But hey. That's just a theory....

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The Neil Young Archives: Everything You've Ever Wanted To Know But Were Afraid To Ask

   1st night with Neil Young Archives by John R., New York  

Archives Open Thread: Thursday, 6/4/09

 

Archives Open Thread: Wednesday, 6/3/09


Zak Claxton and Neil Young Archives Vol. 1 Review

Stick around while the clown who is sick does the trick of disaster



Countdown to Hell freezing Over NYA Release


And I've been waiting for you.
For such a long time now.

- Today's The Day: The Neil Young Archives Finally Arrives

 

The opening of The Arc of the Covenant by tomlong95 - 

 

OFFICIAL Website: The NYA Post Informer -

 Neil Young Archives Tutorial and Archives Guy Q&A ... -

 Archives Open Thread: Sunday, 5/31/09    Box set Design by Gary Burden   - Archives Open Thread: Saturday, 5/30/09 -

 Thanks Again Archives Guy! -  

Archives Guy Q&A Session: Wednesday, 5/27   Sneak Peek       - NYA Question of the Moment: Riverboat Recordings -  

Archives Guy Q&A Session: Tuesday, 5/26 -  

Unique NYA Moments - 

Archives Guy Q&A Continues This Week

- Comment of the Moment: Archives Preview
-
Neil Young Archives Volume #1 track samples are now available for preview on Amazon.com. (5/2009)
  The Ark of the Covenant   - Neil Young Archives: "Defy expectation and transcend limitation" - TONEAudio MAGAZINE (5/2009)
- Blu-Ray System Recommendations (5/2009)
- Archives Guy Online *NOW* for Q&A Session (5/2009)
 - Archives Guy Stops By For Some Q&A (5/2009)

-
Demo of North Country Archives Disc #8 (5/2009)

  The Holy Grail   - Neil Young News: So What's Really on Archives Vol. #1? (5/2009)

- Counting Down the Days for the Neil Young Archives (5/2009)
  Neil Young Archives Preview Blu-Ray Disc   - A NYA Blu-Ray Preview (5/2009)
 - Archives Guy Has Some Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) (3/2009)

  See? The Archives really exist!   - An Archives Analysis: It's Such A Fine Line (3/2009)
 - Fans React to Neil Young Archives Track Listing: Are We A Nation Of Whiners? (3/2009)

- Finally!!! The Neil Young Archives Track Listing - Release Date Now June 2, 2009 (3/2009)

- Uncut Magazine's Archives Preview (Feb 09)


- Official Reprise Neil Young's Archives Website Up
 - Neil Young Archives Update from Archives Guy on official NYA website status (Jan 09)


- Archives Release Date Poll Analysis (Jan 09)
 - Archives Q&A Session and Continued (Dec 08)
- Archives Update from Archives Guy (Dec 08)
- The Archives: Burned with Both Feet on the Ground (Dec 08)
- Is Blu-Ray Dead Already? Not So Fast Yet (Oct 08)
- Seriously, Pre-Order on Amazon Archives Volume 1 (Oct 08)

- The excruciatingly delayed 'Archives' project is 'supposed to be' released on November 3, 2008 (Aug 2008)


- Archives To Be Available On CD, DVD (July 08)
 - The Archives Release Delayed Until 2008 and More On ‘Archives’ Delay (June 08)
- Archives Preview Video and Partial Track Listing (May 08)
- The Archives Turns Fans Blu (May 08)
- Reaction to The Archives: Into the Blu and Out of the Black (May 08)


- Webcast of Archives Announcement at Sun JavaOne Conference Keynote with Neil Young (May 08)

- Report on JavaOne Conference (May 08)
 - The Archives Will Come Out This Year ... Except...(Jan 2008)

  Coming in 2007! (according to official reprise site still!)   - The Archives Vol.01 1963-1972: Let The Speculation Continue (Mar 07)
 The Archives: Easter Eggs, Virtual Bongs, & BlueRay DVDs (Feb 06)

  The Shroud of Archives: Tracklisting of NYA   Also, we've been doing some Blu-ray research and found this Amazon page helpful in comparing various players' specifications.

   
The Neil Young Archives Vol. 1 Trailer by Neil Young

 And -- of course -- many Neil Young fans just said The Archives Be Damned long ago. So let The Archives Be Praised ... hopefully in our lifetimes.

When will Archives Vol #1 be released?

On schedule, Feb. 24, 2009 It'll slip until March 2009 Sometime later in 2009 2010 Never

View Results Polldaddy.com

Analysis of results from Archives Release Date Poll.

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Neil Young Tribute Night in Manchester, England

A Neil Young night of tribute and covers is scheduled for the Black Lion in Salford/Manchester, England, on Saturday 17th of January, 8pm to 11pm.

If you need any more information you can find it all at www.myspace.com/dbhguitar.

Thanks Dan! Have fun! Let us know how it goes.

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Digital Music: “The mind has been tricked but the heart is sad.”

Just finished up skimming through APPETITE FOR SELF-DESTRUCTION: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age by Steve Knopper. The book covers the music industry's demise in the digital age and the painful lessons that have been learned.

Neil Young's aversion to digital, CD's and MP3's on headphones is well known and documented. The book contains some Neil references such as this one cited in a review in The New York Times "When Labels Fought the Digital, and the Digital Won" By DWIGHT GARNER:

"The labels worried about digital piracy and about refitting the factories that made vinyl LPs. Record stores didn’t want to buy new sales racks. Producers worried about the effects on recording sessions, now that every footstep and door click would be audible. A group called MAD (Musicians Against Digital) quickly formed, and artists like Neil Young declared that CDs were soulless.

“The mind has been tricked,” Mr. Young said at the time, sounding a bit like Yoda, “but the heart is sad.”

The labels came around because they could jack up prices. (LPs at the time sold for about $9; most CDs went for almost twice that. ) Labels could also renegotiate contracts with artists and force customers to buy entire new album collections. According to Mr. Knopper, executives also thought it was cool watching “that little drawer open and close” on CD players."

A good read for anyone interested in the future of music in the digital age. More on Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age. (Your purchase helps support Thrasher's Wheat by offsetting bandwidth fees and keep this site corporate advertising free. Thanks!)

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A Wish For Harvest Moon

As we sift through our inbox here at Thrasher's Wheat, it sometimes is hard to keep up with all of our correspondence.

But then every once in awhile we come across a letter that just stops us in our tracks and forces us to think about what we're doing here at TW.

Here's one such letter from Steve in Brisbane, Australia:

Hi,

First of all thanks for reading this. I don’t know if my efforts will be in vain but I have to give it a try.

Several months ago, my girlfriend’s father, Peter, was given only a few months to live, on the day I bought my tickets to Neil Young’s concert in Brisbane, Australia on the 21st January 2009. My girlfriend and I had hoped that he would be able to come to the concert with us.

In early September I spoke with him about our appreciation for Neil Young’s music. I told him how I love Rust Never Sleeps, he said how much he loved Harvest etc etc He was an enormous music fan. One of his favourite things was music trivia. Only a couple of weeks later, his health had descended quite rapidly, due to cancer. The night before he died, as he lay gravely ill, my girlfriend and I put Harvest on the CD player in the hospital room and listened to the album, start to finish. We sang along to the music and shared a special moment.

As we left the hospital that night, I turned the car on and the next song to come on the stereo, randomly, was Harvest Moon. My girlfriend mentioned how much her father loved that song, especially for the fact that Linda Ronstadt sang the backing vocals (another favourite). We resolved to take a CD into the hospital the following day and play that album for him also.

The next morning, we arrived quite early, my girlfriend had a strange feeling about what was going to happen that day. After about half an hour, we decided to put the CD on. We both sat there thinking the same thing, although we didn’t know it at the time. We were desperately hoping that my girlfriend’s mother would arrive in time to hear the fourth track on that album, Harvest Moon. We kinda didn’t want to pause it or anything, we sorta had a feeling it might work out.

Anyway, about 30 seconds into Harvest Moon, she walked in with her other daughter, the whole family was there. We both felt pretty happy about that. My girlfriend’s aunt, who was there also but didn’t know about the song, said she could feel something special happening.

A couple of hour later, he died. Harvest Moon was the last album he ever heard.

Later in the week, after the funeral, at which, Harvest Moon was played. My girlfriend was ‘Googling’ the meaning of ‘Harvest Moon.’ She was unaware that it referred to the full moon in September and the equinox that happens twice a year, where the moon’s axis crosses the equator and that it refers to the official start of Spring in the Southern Hemisphere etc. This year, the Harvest Moon, or vernal equinox occurred at 1144am on the 22nd September.

Her father took his last breath at 1130am on the 22nd September 2008.

Basically, I would love to get this message to Neil Young and his band. It would mean a lot to my girlfriend, Danielle and her sister, Shannon, who I am going to the concert with, to hear that song performed live. I realise Neil must get a million song requests for every concert but I can only try can’t I?

Thanks for reading this. Feel free to cut and paste this and forward it on to any Neil Young forum or fan site. Hopefully, Neil may end up seeing it and even better, he might end up playing the song in Brisbane on the 21st of January. If you do, Neil, I’d be eternally grateful.

Thank you.

Steve

Steve and Danielle, so sorry about your loss. Hopefully, your wish comes true later this month in Brisbane.

Thanks for sharing and enjoy the show.

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UPDATE: 1/21 - Learn what happened last night at Brisbane, Australia Neil Young Concert, 1/21/09.

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Editorial by Neil Young: Perfect Storm for Innovation Gathers in Washington

Another editorial by Neil Young is out titled Perfect Storm for Innovation Gathers in Washington:

"A Perfect storm for innovation is gathering in Washington. With the government's recent financial assistance to GM and Chrysler, the Big 3 now have until the end of March to make the case that shows how they will survive. Survival is not enough though.

America now has a chance to lead the world in power and fuel efficiency. The Big three will still be looking for help at the end of March. As the major shareholder, the US government would have an opportunity to DEMAND the type of cars that will lead the world toward saving the planet for future generations.

If the Big three cannot agree to make only cars that are fuel efficient enough to get at least 50 MPG by 2011, 75 MPG by 2013 and 100 MPG by 2015, then they should go into bankruptcy and fend for themselves like all the other businesses that are having trouble. The truth is this can be done and innovators know the way to do it."

As usual, lots of supportive comments follow the editorial on Huffington Post. For example, Center-of-the-Bird comments:

Neil gets it, he always has and he hasn't sold out as so many rockers have, I'm talking to you Eric Clapton! ;)

No matter how you view Neil, you must agree he has remained consistent and his latest venture "Lincvolt", is no exception. Neil has always had a fondness for big land yachts and his point that even these monsters can be made much more fuel efficient is an important one. Yes, most of us would rather drive a smaller less expensive vehicle but business often doesn't have that option at least not yet. We need solutions for large and small vehicles, one size does not fit all.

And hey, political ranters, stop trying to fix the blame, do as Neil is doing and fix the problem!

More on previous editorials by Neil Young: How To Save A Major Automobile Company and editorial reaction to the
LincVolt project.

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Happy Neil Year!!!

Berlin - February 2008

Hope everyone had a nice holiday and a happy new year.

After another exhausting year as a Neil Young fan (poor us), maybe we'll get some relief in 2009? Not.

Brand New Guy emailed us to predict some possible and probable Neil Young activity for '09:

1 Go on Australia/NZ tour
2 Finish mixing songs already recorded for possible release (as "Linc Volt: the soundtrack"?)
3 Release Toast?
4 Release Archives?
5 Continue Linc Volt project
6 Finish Linc Volt movie
7 Release Jonathan Demme's "Trunk Show"?
8 Tour Europe in the summer, including Glastonbury?
9 Do Farm Aid
10 Do the Bridge School shows

So that's for starters. And your predictions for Neil in '09?

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