Neil Young's Rolling Stone Magazine Interview

Questions for Neil Young
Peter Relic, Rolling Stone,

You mentioned that you'd been waiting for a younger singer-songwriter to compose these song. Do you also consider this album to be throwing down the gauntlet to those younger musicians?

(no answer)

In "Shock & Awe" you sing "both sides are losing now" - does this refers specially to human life?

This refers to the war in Iraq...

What else especially pains you that you see being lost right now?

The loss of control of our destiny. We need a new leader...one we feel has been fairly elected and represents the wishes of the people instead of dividing the people.

What did the electricty of your guitar feel like while recording these songs?

The guitar was playing itself.

The choir on the album is incredibly powerful. What does the protest choir accomplish that the protest singer cannot do alone?

"There's strength in numbers." The people were singing rather than me singing for the people. This is much bigger than me. The singers all were told there was a song called "Let's Impeach the President" and if they weren't comfortable with that, then please don't come. More people came than we called.

To what degree can pop culture pierce the political apathy of the silent majority?

That's up to us. So far, WE have been the silent majority.

You met and spoke with Barack Obama at Farm Aid. What did you take away from that conversation?

A good feeling. But I didn't talk with him for long. The band was rehearsing "Southern Man" with the Fisk Jubillee singers and Wayne Jackson, of the Memphis horns. He (Obama) wanted to hear that. I did not get a good chance to feel him out about his views so I can not give you any real feedback other than that.

Technically, we're not even at war. What the hell happened to Congress?

Congress was elected by us and that's what happened. Apparently, we elected a lot of the wrong people. Some were good. You need to know who you are electing. It's not enough to know what party they represent.

And short of a second American revolution, how can we get a leader who will lead "for the people"?

First of all, We need to find a leader.

What is the best way for an American of conscience (regardless of political affiliation) to object to war and the erosion of our civil liberties?

Register now. Vote in November. Change the status quo. Pick someone you really believe in personally rather than by party affiliation. You need to feel good about your own vote, know that it was well thought through, know that you believe in it. Look for a real leader.

Thank you for your time and these songs.

Thank you for the opportunity.

Mr. Young, thank you for your response to my questions. One follow-up:

What was the tipping point when you decided you had to write and record these songs? I assume it was a cumulative thing, that they were building up inside your for a while. But what was the one thing -- a conversation, a news report, a White House statement, something else -- that made you say "Alright, I'm going to do this NOW.

We were in a small hotel and I had already written four songs and was playing them in the room. I knew I was getting sucked in. I went down to the coffee machine and there was USA TODAY, the cover showed the inside of a C130 or similar large military craft, completely converted into a flying hospital. Soldiers were lying on operating tables, with physicians furiously trying to save lives at 100s of miles an hour some 20,000 feet in the air. The plane was a shuttle between Iraq and Germany, where we have these big bases and hospitals. The USA TODAY caption said something about how we are making great strides in medicine as a result of the Iraq conflict. That just caught me off guard, and i went upstairs and wrote "Families" for one of those soldiers who didn't get to come home. Then I cried in my wife's arms. That was the turning point for me.

Courtesy of www.neilyoung.com