Neil Young – “I think that the time when music could change the world is past”

Neil Young at a press conference today for the Berlin Film Festival, where he is showing his new film “CSNY Deja Vu,” said:

“I think that the time when music could change the world is past.  I think it would be very naive to think that in this day and age.” 

He 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.”

If you are not older than 30 and not familiar with Neil Young or Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, they were a popular music band in the 1970s.  Each artist had successful careers before and after CSNY.

I listen to Neil Young when he comments on music and art, because he has for a long time proven to have predictive and often accurate sensibilities on popular culture, politics, and world conditions.

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U2 sang a similar sentiment in their Rattle and Hum song:  God Part II:

“Don’t believe that rock ‘n’ roll
Can really change the world
As it spins in revolution
It spirals and turns
I . . . I believe in love

Don’t believe in the 60’s
The golden age of pop
You glorify the past
When the future dries up
Heard a singer on the radio late last night
He says he’s gonna kick the darkness
’til it bleeds daylight
I . . . I believe in love”

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Yet both U2 and CSNY continue to make music.  They continue to sing.  They continue to take on the Sisyphean task of never stopping pushing the rock up the mountain. 

I agree with Neil Young that science, physics, and spirituality must also play their roles.  But I don’t agree that music has lost it’s ability to effect change. 

Consider Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech from 1963.  Its words certainly are memorized by many of us.  The words are heard often and have changed our cultural conscience.  But the Rolling Stones “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” from 1965 is probably heard a couple more million times everyday here in the states. 

Music matters.

To critique “music” is to critique the medium and not the messages.  And music, as a medium can be one of the most pervasive and memorable ways of creating change.  Many of us born after the height of 60s music are still daily and profoundly shaped by it. 

Music did change the world.  It continues to change the world.

And it continues to have that opportunity.  Artists can still pick up music as and tool and try to figure out how to wield it to their purposes.  (By the way, Sheryl Crow’s new album “Detours” is very good and I highly recommend it.)

But Neil is right to imply that people should not look to music to be the only source of change.  And this blog tries to connect worlds of different arts, philosophies, and technologies to show many mediums working toward similar purposes, to continue to attempt to effect positive influences daily on this world.

This blog receives over 6,000 visits a day – mostly people (over half outside the United States) searching the web for information on the arts.  Within the next couple months, this site will surpass over one million visits.  This blog is a drop in the bucket.  Its effects are limited. 

This blog may not change the world, but it is going to keep trying.  It’s going to keep showing the connections, variety, and number of artists who are working toward similar pursuits.  I think many musicians and artists proceed against the oppressing odds with similar purposes.

Whether you agree with Neil Young or not, is not so important. 

If you disagree in part with Neil Young, prove him wrong by showing or improving music’s reach and quality of communication to the rest of the world (and more specifically, start with your community and friends). 

If you agree with Neil Young, then do what Neil Young does and keep singing, expand into new mediums (he just put his band’s music into a film), and keep speaking out for the things you want to see changed.

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(Click on images to view them individually.)

The two illustrations in this post are by James Jean (top), and Gabriel Bá & Dave Stewart (above), from the recent book “The Umbrella Academy.”  Written by Gerard Way, from the music group “My Chemical Romance,” this part of the story is about a character who channels her music and musical ability into great power.  The book itself is an example of artists using multiple mediums, technologies, and cooperation to both create an excellent work of art and to possibly slip in some innovative ideas in the process.  I recommend the series.

© All rights reserved by the respective artists.

http://www.jamesjean.com/

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Stewart_(artist)

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