NEIL YOUNG
LIVING WITH WAR
REPRISE
The Neil Young you hear on Living With War does not at first seem to be the same person portrayed in the newly released Jonathan Demme concert film Heart Of Gold. In the film, a contented and happy Young travels through the reflective and mostly autobiographical songs of the Prairie Wind album with his wife Peggy and friends such as Emmylou Harris. It is an almost rustic portrait of Young, the introspective songs prompted by a brain aneurysm that threatened his life.

On Living With War, however, we hear an angry Neil Young, reminiscent of Peter Finch’s Howard Beale character in Network who shouts to the world, “I want you to get up out of your chair, stick your head out the window and yell, I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!”

Of course, there is a connection between Prairie Wind, on which Young revisited his past, and the new album that deals with his concerns about the world. “Tick tock, the clock on the wall, no wonder we’re lost in time,” he sang on ‘No Wonder’ on that album and also declared, “It’s such a precious thing, the time we share together,” on ‘Falling Off The Face Of The Earth.’

In reflecting on his own mortality, Young has also thought about the current state of politics in America, doesn’t like what he sees and, unlike many of us who stand in the, he has decided to do and say something about it. Where Prairie Wind was a personal reflection, Living With War deals with a broader view and expresses some of the most powerful sentiments ever expressed on an album, this side of the Sex Pistols.

Young’s music has dealt with politics often in the past. ‘Southern Man’ and ‘Alabama’ both dealt with Southern politics and while he was with Crosby, Still and Nash he was inspired to wrote ‘Ohio’ after the Kent State University killings, along with ‘Ambulance Blues’ and, later ‘Campaigner’ (in which he declared ‘even Richard Nixon’s got soul’!). On The Beach featured ‘Revolution Blues.’ But he has not always been on the left of politics – like a lot of people he has vacillated and occasionally supported Nixon and Reagan, while the very title of the 1980 album Hawks & Doves mirrored Young’s shifting views. More recently on Are You Passionate? he provided ‘Let’s Roll’ about the events of 9/11 and the Greendale album was, in essence, a reflection on the way in which the world has changed.

Living With War seems to carry the same urgency and has the same angry mood to it that ‘Ohio’ did when it was recorded and rush-released all those years ago. Young recorded the nine original songs (‘America the Beautiful’ ends the album) in six days in March this year with Rick Rosas on bass and Chad Cromwell, along with a 100-voice choir. Four of the songs were apparently written and recorded on the same day. It is an astonishing effort in these days when most albums seem to take months (if not years) to record and when marketing plans take even longer to formulate.

It is a brave move on several levels. First, the new album follows hot on the heels of the Heart Of Gold film and might possibly take the focus of publicity off that film. But I doubt if commercial concerns are really uppermost in Young’s mind. Second, the right-wing in America has reacted badly to musicians making political statements (witness the fuss over the Dixie Chicks). Already, he has been attacked on the Fox News network for not being a Canadian – as if that matters! No doubt Young would have considered all of this and has rightly judged that the mood in America has changed to the extent that George W Bush’s popularity is at an all-time low and people are increasingly disillusioned with the war in Iraq. “I never bow to the laws of the thought police,” he sings on the title track here.

Other lyrics on the album are similarly blunt:  “Won’t need no stinking war” (After The Garden’), “Don't need no more lies” (‘The Restless Consumer’), “Today’s the day our younger son is going off to war” (‘Flags Of Freedom’), “Let’s impeach the President for lying and misleading our country into war” (‘Let’s Impeach The President’) and, in a direct reference to events closer to home, he adds in the same song, “What if Al Qaeda blew up the levees?/Would New Orleans have been safer that way/Sheltered by our government's protection?”

‘Flags of Freedom’ also contains a reference to Dylan’s ‘Chimes Of Freedom’ as a young girl watches her brother march off to war while listening to Bob Dylan ‘singing in 1963.’ Whether or not it is a call for Dylan to say something only Young would know but certainly he has picked up the mantle (along with Bruce Springsteen) that Dylan is so reluctant to carry these days.

There have been few albums, in my memory, that have been as forthright and honest as this. Most songwriters prefer to couch their concerns in more poetic language. But urgent times require a rather more direct approach. Young has chosen to use a sledgehammer because anything less would get lost in the media morass.

However, Living With War is not all-out attack - it also poses some important questions. On ‘Lookin’ For A Leader’ Young wonders if there is someone out there ready to ‘lead.’ “Lookin’ for somebody strong enough to take it on, clean up the corruption and make the country strong,” he sings.

Closing with ‘America The Beautiful’ puts all of Young’s thoughts into perspective. This is not an attack on his adopted country, rather it is an attack on specific politicians and policies.

Regardless of the message, the album will ultimately stand and fall on the merits of the music. There have been many worthy albums that have fallen under the radar because messages are not conveyed in songs that people want to sing or play on the radio. Living With War is packed with anthemic themes, powerful guitar lines and rousing choruses. Sometimes the lyrics are clunky, occasionally you can hear evidence of the spontaneity of the recording but it is exciting because of its faults not despite them and augurs well for what Young might do in the near future. He is hardly a spent force yet.

Of course, Living With War is just one man's opinion. Young has laid out his thoughts and it is up to you to decide on your own personal response. What I really admire, however, is the fact that in a world that increasingly wants us to be passive Neil Young has veered from the middle of the road, stood up and done something. If we were all more actively involved in what goes on our world it would have to be a better place.

Brian Wise

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
WE SHALL OVERCOME: THE SEEGER SESSION
SONY/BMG

While Neil Young has chosen to take a sledgehammer approach to contemporary US politics on Living With War, Bruce Springsteen has chosen a different path with this new album yet he seems just as committed to change. Like Young, he realises that if you stand in the middle of the road for too long you are likely to be run over.

Springsteen’s performance at this year’s New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival placed him in the forefront of the anti-Bush movement that is sweeping America. I found his show one of the most brilliant, moving and inspiring that I have ever seen. If I was not a rabid fan of the man they call The Boss then, I am now. I was not only impressed with his interpretations and the superb band that he had put together but also with his obvious knowledge and affection for the songs. It also helped to place the new album into context.

While there might be some who quibble with Springsteen’s approach, I cannot think of too many other musicians – apart from Bob Dylan – who would not only be able to get an audience of more than 50,000 people singing along to traditional folk songs but also introduce them to music that they might never otherwise hear.

It is interesting that Springsteen has chosen to record and tour songs that he apparently discovered while listening to Pete Seeger albums, having recorded ‘We Shall Overcome’ for a tribute album back in 1997.

Seeger, who turned 87 last month, was one of the most important figures in the folk movement of the 50s and 60s and it is his role as a crusader for America's musical heritage, rather than as a songwriter, that Springsteen celebrates here. Seeger was blacklisted for his political views and music fans might also remember that he threatened to cut the power cable at the Newport Folk Festival when Dylan went electric. I doubt if he would have the same objections to Springsteen going eclectic!

Only the title track has a Seeger song writing credit, while most of the other selections are tagged ‘traditional’ or ‘public domain’. (A cynic might suggest that this avoids royalty payments but I am not sure of the copyright situation in the US). None of Seeger’s other better known songs such as ‘If I Had a Hammer,’ ‘Turn Turn Turn’, ‘Where Have All the Flowers Gone,’ ‘Waist Deep In The Big Muddy,’ or ‘Little Boxes’ are included but we already have versions so familiar that it is hard to imagine Springsteen bringing anything new to those songs.

Apart from providing a musical excursion – and Springsteen himself has admitted to being refreshed at not having to write a whole new batch of songs – the fact that one of America’s musical icons has decided to head in this direction is surely symbolic of what is going on in that country. Returning to material that was popular when the New York scene was a hotbed of political ferment is an important statement in itself.

However, as on Living With War, important statements from musicians would be largely ignored if the music did not provide a vehicle with which to deliver the message. On We Shall Overcome this is done so brilliantly that you sometimes forget that it was not that long ago that Springsteen reunited the E Street Band.

Apart from his wife Patty Scialfa and violinist Suzie Tyrell none of the members of the 13-piece band assembled for this recording have come from that E Street ensemble. This enables Springsteen to create an entirely fresh sound and he has rarely sounded so exuberant on record. Banjo, fiddle, tuba, saxophone, trumpet, washboard, accordion and horns all combine to provide a rich and vibrant musical backdrop. The brass section is even reminiscent at times of the days of the jazz groups such as The Village Stompers who were also popular back in the ‘folk era.’ It also recalls the energy and inventiveness of Springsteen’s early albums, particularly The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle.

Springsteen tackles songs such as ‘Jesse James,’ ‘John Henry,’ ‘Jacob's Ladder’, ‘Pay Me My Money Down’, ‘Froggie Went A Courtin’’ and ‘My Oklahoma Home,’ with the sort of enthusiasm that turns them into anthems.

In fact, Springsteen introduced ‘My Oklahoma Home’ at his Jazz Fest show as being as relevant now as when it was first written about the effects of the Dustbowl natural disaster more than 70 years ago. It was amazing to hear a huge crowd singing along to these old songs – songs that would not have been aired to such a large live audience for decades.

On the other hand, Springsteen handles the ballads with sensitivity. 'O Mary Don't You Weep' was the song with which he opened his Jazz Fest set and is one of the highlights here. The Irish anti-war ballad ‘Mrs McGrath’ elicits an interesting Springsteen vocal performance and contains the lines “All foreign wars, I do proclaim/Live on blood and a mother's pain” – surely a hint about why he has recorded these songs. The civil rights anthem ‘Eyes On the Prize’ is delivered in an almost a reverential whisper with the brass section kicking in halfway through and adding a thrilling additional dimension to the song.  ‘Shenandoah’ is another highlight, with Springsteen’s voice caressing the lyrics. The title song is given almost hymnal setting with a choir ebbing and flowing and a restrained delivery suiting it perfectly.

We Shall Overcome is one of the most important albums likely to be released this year and certainly one of the most important of Bruce Springsteen’s career. He has taken the leap from the stage to the podium, capturing the mood of times in the same way that Dylan did in the 60’s and, along with Neil Young, he also proves himself to be a worthy spokesman just when America needs some the most. (Bob, we’re waiting!).

On the Sony DualDisc format the album is in PCM stereo, there are the bonus tracks ‘Buffalo Gals’ and ‘How Can I Keep From Singing,’ plus a half-hour DVD of recording sessions shot live and unrehearsed.

Brian Wise