Posted on 04/14/2006 9:13:32 AM PDT by slowhand520
Neil Young, Son of Famed Reporter, Records "Impeach the President" Song
By E&P Staff
Published: April 14, 2006 11:40 AM ET
The 60's relics are so precious ain't they? Is this guy even American?
NEW YORK As an E&P "Pressing Issues" column recently noted, rock star Neil Young is the son of a famed Canadian journalist, so it should not surprise many that he recently recorded a song in California with a very reportorial -- or at least pundit -- feel to it.
Its called Impeach the President, so there can be little question what it is about.
Apparently it was recorded with a 100-voice choir. Rumors have circulated the past few days on the Web, but E&P has tracked down the strongest confirmation in a blog kept by Sherman Oaks, Ca. musician/singer Alicia Morgan.
Previous reports quoted hints by Young and Jonathan Demme (who directed the new documentary Heart of Gold) that Neil was working on a hard-rocking political or anti-Bush CD.
Last Friday, Morgan wrote on her LastLeftB4Hooterville blog that she had been summoned to a local studio to sing on the new record with 99 others. I'm not going to give the whole thing away, but the first line of one of the songs was Let's impeach the President for lyin'! Turns out the whole thing is a classic beautiful protest record. The session was like being at a 12-hour peace rally. Every time new lyrics would come up on the screen, there were cheers, tears and applause. It was a spiritual experience. I can't believe my good fortune at being a part of this.
We finished the session by singing an a capella version of 'America the Beautiful' and there was not a dry eye in the house.
Neil said it should be out in 6 to 8 weeks."
Harp magazine reported on its Web site Thursday that Demme had confirmed in an e-mail, Neil just finished writing and recording -- with no warning -- a new album called 'Living With War.' It all happened in three days It is a brilliant electric assault, accompanied by a 100-voice choir, on Bush and the war in Iraq Truly mind blowing. Will be in stores soon.
The magazine continued: Details are pretty scarce, but the featured track, titled Impeach the President, features a rap with Bushs voice set to the choir chanting flip/flop and the like.
Young has always been a maverick politically as well as musically. Although he has recorded a few songs with a "liberal" slant, he also drew criticism from the left for pro-Reagan comments many years ago. Most of his albums contain few if any political songs.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E&P Staff (letters@editorandpublisher.com)
He wasn't slamming all Southerners. Just because there isn't a line saying "I'm not slamming all Southerners" doesn't mean he is doing so. The defensiveness of many Southerners in this regard has always been curious to me. Bringing in the "typical movie" reference out of nowhere is equally curious--what movie are you talking about as being typical of this mindset?
I'm merely playing devil's advocate here, but Young was singing specifically about one type of person who actually existed/exists. Denying that is irrational.
So he imagines. If he'd cut back on the weed it might dawn on him that his political stance is conservative and status quo, not radical and revolutionary. The anti-Socialists and anti-Islamists are the rebellious anti-establishment minority now.
He finally got around to writing about Clinton?
It's about time.
Scott Young, who passed away last June at the age of 87, was a well-known sports journalist for both the Telegram (forerunner of The Sun) and Toronto's Globe and Mail, as well as the author of many books (including several hockey classics and the inevitable "Neil and Me'"). As a young man, he first worked for a Winnipeg newspaper as well as writing for Collier's, Argosy, and Sports Illustrated.
Before specializing in sports, he covered World War II from London for The Canadian Press wire service, as well as the Kennedy assassination. He frequently appeared on the "Hockey Night in Canada" Saturday night telecasts,
Scott Young gave up his newspaper career in the early 1980s, dismayed by what he saw as a bad trend in the journalistic profession -- the use of "unnamed sources." So, like his son, he was a bit ahead of his time.
When his father died last year, Neil said that he had learned from his father, "The most vivid way to get an idea across was to lay oneself bare in the knowledge that others would identify with the bareness, the sometimes painful truth." One of his most haunting songs begins, "Old man, look at my life, I'm a lot like you were," although reputedly inspired by another older fellow.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/columns/pressingissues_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002312625
My career is down, it needs a boost
I'll make an album saying I hate George Bush
It worked for Green Day, a nice big pay day
Think I'll find the same new pot of gold, 'cause my schtick's gettin' old
Neil Young lives just outside Santa Cruz, drug burnout and communist headquarters for the USA.
I'm waiting to hear " Deport the Illegals"...
If the man had been in his own bedroom and in his own wife instead of the man holding the 44s bedroom and wife they could have eliminated that verse.
Grandpa, no offense, but Neil Young is one of the most famous singer/songwriters from the late 60's to early 80's. I'd go as far as to say he's an folk-rock icon here in the States. Please stick to what you know about.
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