The scruffy-looking fellow hunched over a table in a roadside restaurant deep
among the redwood forests south of San Francisco does not look like a rock
superstar. He has a craggy face, like a weather-beaten farmer, unkempt hair
swept back behind his ears, and grey mutton chops; he is wearing combat
trousers, trainers and a baggy T-shirt over a modest paunch. Only the big
wraparound shades and the legend on his T-shirt — a US patent-office
application for the Gibson Flying V guitar — hint that this is one of the
most influential musicians of the past 40 years, a figure with a body of
work matched only by Bob Dylan.
Neil Young has never much cared for appearances; never needed to, and
definitely doesn’t now, at the age of 62. He probably looked a lot like this
when he met his second wife, Pegi, here, in this same restaurant, more than
30 years ago. She was a waitress, he was a rock star, but she might be
forgiven if she had taken him for a passing lumberjack. When he pulls on a
huge plaid work shirt at the end of the interview, he looks as if he is
about to go and fell some of the giant sequoias outside. Instead, he drives
the short distance home in a cream-coloured vintage Mercedes running on
biodiesel.
If Young had his way, we would all be driving on green fuel; indeed, he is
developing a revolutionary motor vehicle that he hopes, one day soon, will
“eliminate roadside refuelling”. First, though, he must talk about another
project. CSNY: Déjà Vu is the latest film from the director Bernard Shakey.
Not to be confused with any of Young’s other aliases: Joe Yankee, Joe
Canuck, Phil Perspective, Clyde Coil, Dirigible Dan, Dr Shakes, Shakey Deal
or plain old Shakey.
The film is a documentary about Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s Freedom of
Speech tour, staged during the US midterm elections in 2006. But it is a far
cry from Michael Moore-style agitprop. Young/Shakey has gone out of his way
to present an impeccably balanced picture of America’s reaction to a tour
whose repertoire consisted entirely of antiwar songs, from Buffalo
Springfield oldies such as For What It’s Worth and CSNY’s era-defining Ohio
to selections from Young’s 2006 album, Living with War. To this
effect, their trip is narrated by an award-winning television journalist,
Mike Cerre, who has covered both Vietnam and Iraq, where he was an
“embedded” reporter.
The film begins with President Bush solemnly intoning “This country is at
war”, followed by a right-wing radio presenter reading out the news that a
“major terrorist plot” to blow up planes between Britain and America has
been uncovered on the day that CSNY come to town to perform. . . “but Neil
Young says it’s no big deal”. At other points, voiceovers of enthusiastic
reviews of the shows are counterbalanced with scornful appraisals of the
“ageing hippies’ ” attempts to rouse America into antiwar protest.
In the most memorable scene, hundreds of audience members walk out of a show
in Atlanta in protest at the quartet encouraging them to sing along to
Young’s song Let’s Impeach the President. It is compelling footage: as the
lyrics are displayed on a giant screen, a chorus of boos swells, competing
with the more fervent fans’ mass sing-along, and angry punters start to
leave. Seemingly oblivious to the almost comical irony of leaving a Freedom
of Speech concert in protest at the singers expressing their own freedom to
speak out, they air their fury on camera as they leave. “Neil Young can stick
it up his ass,” fumes a female fan; “Sonofabitch — I’d like to knock his
teeth out,” a red-faced man declares. Young seems unconcerned. “Well, they
were speakin’ out too,” he chuckles behind his shades. “They were just
saying ‘F*** you, I don’t wanna have anything to do with this guy
crossing my line.’ ”
For Young, who was one of the first musicians to respond to 9/11, with his 2001single
Let’s Roll (titled after the supposed words of the passengers aboard flight
United 93 as they attempted to overpower the hijackers), it was crucial that
his film presented both sides of the story, rather than merely trying to
preach to the converted. “It’s important to have the other side,” he says.
“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 insists he had no intention of trying to convert his audience to his
views, which have turned almost full circle over the course of his career:
following his initial anti-Nixon stance in the 1960s and 1970s, he expressed
(qualified) support for Reagan during the 1980s, then became an outspoken
opponent of Bush. Nevertheless, the timing of its release is no accident.
“We thought the prime time to put this movie out would be before the general
election,” he admits.
The film will be given worldwide cinema release, but Young has no illusions
about its box-office appeal. “I don’t expect it to last long,” he admits. “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.”
The “moment” he is talking about is the American presidential
election in November. Young may claim that he is not using the film to
campaign, but he planned the Freedom of Speech tour to take place during the
midterms and is deliberately releasing the resulting film as the campaign
between Barack Obama and John McCain gets under way. Not that he has a vote:
despite living in America for 40 years, he remains a Canadian citizen. “I’m
Canadians for Obama,” he declares with a chuckle. “There’s nothing I can do
to change being Canadian. I could get a piece of paper saying I’m American,
and get a vote, but it wouldn’t change who I am. As far as voting goes, I
think I’m voting with my mouth and with my art and with what I’m doing.”
He admits there have been times when he has considered leaving America, but
insists he will stay — his Broken Arrow ranch has been home for the past
four decades. “I have an American family,” he says. “My family loves it
here. I love it too; it’s a great place. Just because things are happening
that are not right, it’s not a reason to leave. I’d rather try to do
everything I can to make it right.” He continues, with a certain degree of
deadpan irony: “I came down here because this is the land of opportunity and
I feel good. When they elect a president here, they call him the leader of
the free world. So what the hell? Canada is one of the freest countries in
the world, so I feel great — I got a leader down here, too.”
Does he really think America is a land of freedom in the post 9/11 landscape?
“No, it hasn’t been free. Under Bush, it definitely took a huge dump, this
recent seven years, but hopefully we’ll get the civil rights back.” He
believes today’s generation of young Americans does not have the same spirit
of rebellion that he witnessed in the 1960s because, unlike their parents,
they are not threatened with military conscription.
Neil gave his full support to the Patriot Act, even receiving an award from the PMRC. He told everyone to get behind Bush and to stop worrying, and that you sometimes had to give up freedoms, but they come back.
Government is the problem Neil, and Barack is just another side of the evil coin.
David, Tucker, GA, uSA
Saw CSNY in PA, drove from Montana to see them with my 16 year old son. Just a few boo's there. I am suprised Neil thinks there is a difference between Obama and McCain but Neil and Santana are my favorite guitarists.
nemo, Hamilton, USA
As a musical communicator (artist) of the feelings of our times, few touched deeper to the soul than Neil Young. His spirit has not decayed under the pressure of age and commercialism, so all power to Neil Young. That's a doco I look forward to experiencing.
Tony Ryan, Maroochydore, Australia
I have always liked Neil Young as a Muso and a performer.
But how anyone with any intellect could support the Islamic sleeper Obama is beyond comprehension! He who says the satanic Islamic "call to prayer" is the most beautiful sound in the world!
As you Americans say-go figure!
Says it all for me!
AL , Liverpool, England
I enjoyed CS&N--never liked Niel's whining nasal solo work. I don't agree with his clichéd "bubble-wrapped-60's politics," but that's subjective. I can go beyond the personal stuff and respect a lot of his remarks and the work he wants to do. I'd probably like him--If he didn't sing alone.
David Tinnon, Nampa, Idaho, USA
So Neil is going to create a perpetual motion machine. Good luck with that!!!
Tim, Toronto,
Thanks to Neil Young for his wonderful song "Restless Consumer" being included on the compilation album "Body of War - Music that Inspired an Iraq War Veteran", the proceeds of which will go to Iraq Veterans Against the War. Neil's support of the anti-war movement and IVAW is greatly appreciated.
Mary Ann Schallert, Ocean Shores WA, USA