I’ve always liked Neil Young, but I never really dove into his music the way some people do. I know people whose obsession with Neil Young rivals my obsession with Rush*. I never dug that deep. Everybody Knows This is Nowhere and After the Gold Rush and Harvest and Deja Vu are friggin masterpieces. I can’t really tell you what they are musically because Neil Young is such his own thing that it defies categorization, but I can tell you that they are pretty much perfect. After that my knowledge of his career is kind of spotty.
Yesterday though, Neil proved that he is indisputably The Man. He sent a letter to his management and his label telling them to remove his music from Spotify in protest of Spotify hosting Joe Rogan’s podcast. Rogan spews Covid disinformation and puts Spotify customers at risk. Neil Young’s letter says that Spotify can have him or they can have Rogan but they can’t have both.
Kick ass. Neil Young: The Man. If I were wearing a cap right now I would 100% be tipping it to him.
In a world of schmucks like Eric Clapton, be Neil Young.
*Rush did a Neil Young song on their covers EP. Buffalo Springfield’s Mr Soul. That really doesn’t mean anything at all, I just feel happy that it happened. They actually did two Buffalo Springfield songs on that EP but the other was a Stephen Stills song. They covered For What it’s Worth. I don’t know if Neil Young (or Stephen Stills for that matter) ever heard the covers, but I hope he (they) did and I hope he (they) dug them. I guess I just like the idea of knowing that artists I admire also admire each other. I think that’s a happy thought.
Inside the Red Head's Head 