Neil Young: Music Can't Change World

BERLIN — Neil Young has a pessimistic message: Music has lost its power to change the world.

The 62-year-old singer brought his new movie, "CSNY Deja Vu," to the Berlin film festival Friday. The film was shot during the 2006 Freedom of Speech tour by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Young, who directed the movie under the pseudonym Bernard Shakey, wasn't making any big claims about its effects.

"I think that the time when music could change the world is past," he told reporters. "I think it would be very naive to think that in this day and age."

Young added: "I think the world today is a different place, and that it's time for science and physics and spirituality to make a difference in this world and to try to save the planet."

"CSNY Deja Vu" intersperses footage from the tour, which featured performances from Young's "Living With War" album, with archive and television news material _ and unfavorable reactions from critics.

"If we didn't do that, it would just feel like a bunch of old hippies up there saying what they thought _ and who cares?" Young said.

Young said he called his fellow band members before the tour and told them: "This is all I'm going to do, I won't be doing anything else and I don't want to sing any ... pretty songs; we can only sing about war and politics and the human condition."

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"The goal was to stimulate debate among people, and I hope that to some degree the film succeeds in doing that," he said.

"CSNY Deja Vu" is showing outside the main competition at the annual Berlin festival, which runs through Feb. 17.

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On the Net:

Berlin Film Festival:

http://www.berlinale.de/en/HomePage.html

Neil Young:

http://www.neilyoung.com/

Comments

[bushmocker]

I think Neil knows his music has an effect on the culture but he doesn't see the improvement he would like to see.On a personal level he has had multitudes of people experience personal growth listening to his music.Just because he doesn't see it doesn't mean it isn't there,I think he hoped to see a much improved world at his age and sadly I agree with him, I'm not sure if it has improved either.

[Dendroica]

Neil, you are vastly underestimating yourself.

Ohio, Southern Man, Old Man, For the Turnstiles, Pocahontas, The Needle and The Damage Done, After the Gold Rush, Keep On Rocking In the Free World... you did protest music and people heard you and were moved to action.

The bigger problem isn't apathy, but the mind-numbed religious fanatics who will vote for whomever the Republicans tell them to. But why am I telling you this- you fell under their spell once upon a time as well...

[andyg]

neil old you mean.

[mouselion]

Music, as with all art, is not made in a vacuum. You can't separate life from the art. All art, no matter when it was made (and no matter how unwittingly) makes a political statement.

When Neil says, "it's time for science and physics and spirituality to make a difference in this world" he's ignoring that they've been saying that for a few centuries now and, in fact, the current situation with Iraq (war), Pakistan (nukes), Iran (maybe nukes), terrorism, energy consumption and global warming is because "we" put "our" faith in science and technology. What ever happened to "When the aimless blade of science slashed the pearly gates"?!

And, as far as spirituality -- whose version of spirituality? Another blogger today wrote of the need of a spiritual awakening. Seems like that also plays into the problems of today. Somebody's grasping at enlightenment eventually caused subsequent followers to hate somebody's grasping at enlightenment.

So, for "science and physics and spirituality" to make a difference in the world, it takes vision. To communicate that vision, it takes art (which includes web design, blogs, and even "objective" news media).

So, sorry Neil, you're not off the hook on that. And, neither are the rest of us...

(Sorry for the grouchy post earlier -- the whole "I don't see how we can change things" has been my mood all day).

[transendentilist]

I think Neil has done his part. And he's done it masterfully. It's someone else's turn to carry the torch.
The MTV generation was grossly used. Music became nothing more than a product, a commodity for sale.
There was so much more going on in the sixties. Not just for young people, but for the entire country. There was more to sing about.

[transendentilist]

Spirituality isn't dependent on varying individuals. Spirituality is spirituality, and it's really not open to many different interpretations. People may express it in a myriad of ways, but they would all be expressing spirituality. I think you make the common mistake of confusing spirituality with religion. Religion is myth and cultus. It has little to do with genuine spirituality.

[MrWampler]

Mtv claims full responsibility for the fall of the Berlin Wall. How dare he contradict Mtv, in Berlin no less!

[transendentilist]

Ha! MTV brought down the Berlin wall???????? That's a ridiculous statement. The fall of the Soviet Union took decades, and it deteriorated from the inside out.

[marko77]

transendentalist

Mr. Wampler is being deliciously sarcastic. I think MTV is the brain child of Wharton Business School graduates or Wharton clones who know have always known how to make a buck off of shit music and schlock. And they continue to this day.

[ultomatt]

I just have to say one more bit.

There needs to be a new painting like Picasso's heart breaking image that was inspired by the Nazi attack on Spain in 1937, of the city of Guernica. What's needed now is an image to touch people's hearts regarding the atrocities committed by the US military in Falluja, Iraq. Picasso's painting changed the worlds view of warfare, and was an icon of the evils of modern warfare.

Giving up, and saying it can't be done with art is stupid, and counterproductive. One picture can change human beings. One song can do it too. Any work of art has the potential to change the world. To say otherwise is to give up and die.

[ultomatt]

From Wikipedia...

Guernica at the United Nations

A tapestry copy of Picasso's Guernica is displayed on the wall of the United Nations building in New York City, at the entrance to the Security Council room. It was placed there as a reminder of the horrors of war. Commissioned and donated by Nelson Rockefeller, it is not quite as monochromatic as the original, using several shades of brown. On February 5, 2003 a large blue curtain was placed to cover this work, so that it would not be visible in the background when Colin Powell and John Negroponte gave press conferences at the United Nations. On the following day, it was claimed that the curtain was placed there at the request of television news crews, who had complained that the wild lines and screaming figures made for a bad backdrop, and that a horse's hindquarters appeared just above the faces of any speakers. Diplomats, however, told journalists that the Bush Administration pressured UN officials to cover the tapestry, rather than have it in the background while Powell or other U.S. diplomats argued for war on Iraq."

[ChristianEcon.com]

Wow--even if the crew story is correct, it's a testament to Picasso's artistic power.

[ultomatt]

And Falluja.

A city with a population between 435,000-600,000, that was razed based on "intel" that said that upwards of 2000 "insurgents" (aka "terrorists") were hidin' out in the city. That's somewhere between the size of Edinburgh, Scotland, and Frankfurt, Germany...around a half a million human beings. This puts the supposed "insurgent" population at between 0.46 and 0.33 percent, depending on which is accurate, the low end, or the high end, of the population figures.

Imagine the US military going into Frankfurt, Germany, and flattening 85% of the structures, and killing thousands of innocent residents...with the reason being, 0.33 percent of the population are bad guys! This is exactly what our military did to Falluja. The main difference being, these are middle-easterners (aka "ragheads") so who gives a fuck? And hey, they killed 4 mercenaries and mutilated the corpses, so the entire city deserved to be destroyed!

These are just the basic numbers, when you get into details, you find that the US attacked infrastructure and essential civil services, which are war crimes. When you take out water treatment plants, sewage treatment plants, power plants, hospitals, police stations, public works and so forth, you are actually using biological warfare, in a secondary sense. That is, without these services, cholera and other deadly diseases break out. Children die by the scores of diarrhea and dysentery. This is one reason why these are war crimes. Then there's the use of cluster weapons and white phosphorous in urban areas...more war crimes. The US vehemently denied using white phosphorous until video footage proved they were liars.

Falluja was worse than Guernica.

And that's the way it is in Bushemada Bizarro World.

[ultomatt]

This doesn't even address the use of directed energy weapons, for which there was strong evidence in Falluja. Microwaves perhaps? No one knows for sure, but there were mortalities that had injuries unlike ANYTHING the doctors had ever seen before. Read this if you dare, or care...

http://www.democracynow.org/2006/7/25/u_s_broadcast_exclusive_star_wars

[ultomatt]

It's not that music can't change the world, it's that a lot of musicians (like Neil) no longer have the insight, creativity or need, to do it. And most successful ones are owned and operated by the very people who need to be exposed by the very art they have taken control of, and turned into product.

The world is no different today than it was in the 60's, the military-industrial complex was around then, and mindless militarism was running rampant, as was mindless consumerism. The details have changed, but the underlying foundation remains exactly the same. America is an imperialist juggernaut now, as it was then, and it's motivations remain the same...to gain access to other countries natural resources by hook, by crook, or by murder. American corporations were killing indigenous peoples then, as they are now. The media, while blossoming into a giant blood engorged tick, also remains the same at it's foundation. It's there to support capitalism at all costs...including cheerleading while US forces (be they military or corporate "security") go on slaughtering innocent people while "bringing democracy" to lesser humans. Remember the book and movie, "The Ugly American"? Still applies...although now it's more "The Hideous American".

The US imperialism (with the help of CIA) has been busy busy busy for a very long time...as in the overthrow of democratically elected Mosaddeq in Iran in 1953. The overthrow of Arbenz in Guatemala in 1954. The coup d'état of Diệm in Vietnam in 1963. Allende in Chile. Omar Torrijos in Panama in 1981...shit, the list goes on and on and on. So, things weren't that different back then Neil, perceptions were, but the facts on the ground (as they say) were no different. Chavez in Venezuela is most likely next...it's a long pattern of murder and mayhem. So...sorry, other than the cosmetics, nothing has changed, and art still can change the world, if applied properly, and if the artist is creative enough to meet the challenge.

I'm as cynical as the next guy, but this comment is bull-shit.

[fermata]

this kind of attitude on the part of someone who has had a long and huge career in music is hardly suprising...

the biggest enemy in america is apathy->

shrugging one's shoulders and saying that music can't change the world is just a symptom of this disease.

if mr young and his pals had made comments like this in 1968 (40(!) years ago) i doubt they would have ever been asked to play woodstock, an event that many claim "changed the world"

subtle for precedent!

[EspritDeVoltaire]

Neil Young still walks the walk, not just talks the talk.

[transendentilist]

I saw Neil several times. The last time I saw him was in 03, when he was probably 66, 67 years old. That old man rocked his ass off for about two hours straight. He wore me out almost. And I'm about 10 years younger than he is. Neil is phenomenal. A true master of his craft.

[ArmchairNihilist]

Give Neil credit for not capitulating to hippie sentimentality about "the power of music" and such nonsense. The power to change the world could be in people's hands--IF they would choose to seize it, and if they'd sacrifice some of their comforts in pursuit of the common good. Alas, our narcissistic, individualism-uber-alles, winner-take-all spectator American society thinks it's just a matter of sitting around, waiting for the pendulum to swing back toward center. I'd say our "progress" toward fascism is about 45% complete.

[mouselion]

"The power to change the world could be in people's hands--IF they would choose to seize it"

In order to make a change, you must have a vision to make a change: You must be inspired somehow to be motivated.

[Jackalheadedgod]

What is today's music? When I twist the FM dial in LA, it is distinctly Latin. Can Latin music change the world? What if I never listen to commercial radio? Am I missing something? Am I not adequately informed so that I should know that today's music can't change the world?

Regarding Neil Young, I don't think it was anything more than stating the obvious. Its not the music, its the listening, and its so diverse now.

There are so many sources of excellent music these days; web downloads, CD mailers like In Radio, FM stations such as KCRW kcrw.comm), get out of the house.

In the sixties all we had was a handful of FM stations that played album oriented music as opposed to formulaic top forty. Maybe its still the same. Turn off all those commercial stations and explore a little. A little change will do you good.

[garyoke]

Ah, hey, Neil. I, uh, want to introduce you to someone.

Yea. Bono, step over here a minute.

[Paw1]

Bono? Changing the world? Can you name a single major policy change enacted by any nation's government that was a direct result of Bono's actions?

More aptly described as a self promoting entrepreneur, who's too busy figuring out how to avoid his UK tax obligation to contribute his own money to any of his so called worthy causes...

[HLMerkin]

I'd have to agree with Casey Kasem, "These guys are from England and who gives a shit."

[PaxMundis]

"
Bono? Changing the world? Can you name a single major policy change enacted by any nation's government that was a direct result of Bono's actions?"

And Neil Young has affected policy how...?

[TJS]

Music can't change the world if, like Neil Young, you only know three chords!

[transendentilist]

All rock is basically three chords. Young has an awesome list of songs, albums, tapes, CDs...etc. He has been performing to sold out crowds since the late 60s. How about you?

[Eoin45]

What an ignorant remark. I've been performing music ever since I was 5 years old and have done everything from 16 century Italian madrigals to 20 century atonal coral works. I've played with Chuck Berry, been on the road in a top 40 band, done country, folk, jazz etc. The validity of an artist's work has zilch to do with how many chords they know. IMHOP a band like Yes, for example, which flaunts its virtuosity, are a bunch of pompous asses who've never said anything relevant in their entire career. Neil's music certainly changed my world. And he does in fact know more than three chords.

[Dendroica]

Have to disagree with you. Yes put out some simply amazing music from 1970-1978. Some of the best composed and performed progressive rock the world has ever heard.

And then they became pompous asses.

But the music is unimpeachable.

[helonias]

Listen to "Gates of Delirium" Its about now.

[helonias]

And quite a few different tunings

[Citizen54]

All you need is three chords, bub. Especially when you're Neal Young. (And if you've ever listened to just one of his albums, it would be obvious he knows more than three chords.)

Long may he run!

[Dendroica]

You think Neil is only three chords?

Well, maybe three chords in ONE BAR, but he's far more complex than you'd ever imagine.

[HLMerkin]

Rumble by Link Wray. No lyrics yet it was banned for inciting juvenile delinquency. Simpler is often better. Neil Young knows that.

[sufi0828]

Good music can make you feel good as you try to change the world.

Recently, I've been shocked at the Democrats. They had no trouble at all cutting money for the unemployed in the recent "stimulus" package.

Pelosi and Reid acted like Republicans. It is no wonder that under their leadership, the Democratic Congress is LESS popular than Bush. What an accomplishment! Good job!

So it's easy to feel pessimistic. But a good song is always a treat and Neil has given us quite a few good songs. Thanks for making my world, at least, a better place.

[isis]

Ps--some of he blame goes to Bill Clinton for allowing media consolidation. I wish he would speak out against that instead of Obama.

[transendentilist]

Is there NOTHING Bill Clinton didn't do?? You people amaze me. You act like bill is still in office. You forget who's been running things for the last 7 years.

[PaxMundis]

You cannot deny that Bill did a lot of nasty, unprogressive things.

[misterbone]

In the heyday of CSNY, music was one of the few forms by which political messages could be communicated to a mass audience. It was after all a form of entertainment which made it available to radio and television, media which otherwise gave little opportunity for straight political discourse, especially radical discourse beyond the mainstream. Today in the age of round the clock cable television news, the blogosphere, et cetera, music no longer is an indispensable means of mass political communication. However, given its power to reach our emotions, it can still play a role where the message has particular urgency.

[transendentilist]

I think Neil is basically right. The time when music had a big impact on politics and culture is all but over.
The big difference is that in those days people made music about nearly every aspect of their lives and how the current events really shaped them. There was also a draft, and a common enemy, the government. The anti-war movement shaped the music in alot of cases. People sang about things that directly affected people's lives. Revolution was in the air, and there was a real sense of danger for those old enough to be drafted. This war has not brought out a real anti-war movement because there is no draft and young people don't have to chose between getting killed or getting locked up for not wanting to be killed.

[Phaedrus]

It's true the fragmentation and multiplication of information and entertainment sources makes it difficult if not impossible for music to have the widespread influence it had in the 60's. Also the fact that there is no draft today so many people are not personally affected by the disastrous war policies of Bush. Still there are some great protest songs around, not only by Neil Young, but, speaking of CSNY Deja Vu, have you heard John Foggarty's "DejaVu All Over Again"? It is a powerful anti-Iraq war statement and needs to be heard across the country. "Traveling Soldier" by the Dixie Chicks is another. Why don't MSM stations play such songs?