Neil Young is
at it again. The Canadian-born rocker has never been afraid of
controversy. Ever since the Vietnam War, he has used his music to
protest injustices in American society. Now he will be the star of a
new documentary. The film will chronicle his "Freedom
of Speech Tour," in which he sang mainly antiwar songs on
stages across America. The cameras followed 62-year-old young, along
with fellow performers Crosby, Stills
and Nash, from city to city, capturing his performances on
film. Many of his songs lacked subtlety. For instance, there is no
mistaking what his tune "Let's
Impeach the President" is about. No hidden meanings, no
veiled messages, no concealed subtexts. This is tough, fighting, edgy
political music, as only Young can deliver. Along the way, the
energetic performer encountered a number of angry folks who were in
the audience. A female fan -- now maybe an ex-fan -- declared,
"Neil Young can stick it up his ass" after one of his
performances. "Sonofabitch — I’d like to knock his teeth
out," said another.
But Young is fearless. He is also insisting that all sides of the
often contentious debate over the Iraq War be included in the
documentary. As Young put it, "It’s important to have the other
side. Plus, those people were part of the story, so why leave them
out? We decided to have an embedded correspondent documenting the tour
like he was documenting a war."
Young has no illusions that the film will set box office records. This
is no Iron Man. He told a
reporter, "I mean, let’s be realistic: it’s a film about war
and a bunch of old hippies, so that’s the way the public will view
it. We spent a lot of time on it, and it means a lot to us, but in the
overall scope of things . . . it has a moment, and this moment is
coming up, and after that it’ll be a DVD, then it’ll be gone.
It’ll be a piece of history."
So here's an Andrew's Tiki Lounge
Salute to Neil Young. After all these years, he's still going
at it, hammering away at the powers that be, full of piss and vinegar
and not afraid to speak his mind.
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