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Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 1:38 am
Updated Wed. Apr. 19 2006 11:25 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Veteran rocker Neil Young has unleashed a musical critique of U.S. President George W. Bush and his conduct of the war in Iraq.
In his upcoming protest album titled Living with War, the Canadian rock legend calls on Americans to re-think their president's policies in the war-torn country.
"We can make mistakes, that's part of freedom, but we don't all have to believe what our president believes to be patriotic," said Young Tuesday in an interview with CNN.
The Toronto-born, Winnipeg-raised Young says on his website that the newly-finished album was recorded with a "power trio" of an electric guitar, bass, and drums -- plus a trumpet and a 100-member choir.
"I think it is a metal version of Phil Ochs and Bob Dylan. Metal folk protest?" says a moving ticker on Young's website.
The CD -- which includes such bluntly-titled tracks such as Let's Impeach the President -- is yet to be released. But fans are buzzing about the new album filled with anti-war messages.
The title song is the second of 10 tracks on the record, and includes the lyrics:
I'm Living With War right now, and when the dawn breaks I see my fellow man. And on the flat-screen we kill and we're killed again. And when the night falls I pray for peace.
The song also contains lines from the U.S. national anthem: The rocket's red glare / Bombs bursting in air / Give proof through the night / That our flag is still there.
It's somewhat of a change of tune for Young, who came out publicly in support of the controversial U.S. Patriot Act after the attacks of Sept. 11.
Young recorded the song Let's Roll, a tribute to passengers who reportedly fought back against hijackers on doomed United Airlines Flight 93 over Pennsylvania.
Movement
But Young was an early opponent of the Iraq war, and he's hardly alone in expressing through music discontent in the actions of the Bush administration.
A steady antiwar sentiment has been brewing since the U.S-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, with superstar acts like the Dixie Chicks and Madonna expressing opposition to the war -- and facing backlash from critics.
These days, mainstream acts seem to be more comfortable expressing critical thoughts.
In a song titled Dear Mr. President, pop superstar Pink unleashes a scathing attack, asking Bush How do you sleep at night? And the always political Seattle band Pearl Jam tells the story of a soldier's death in their song World Wide Suicide on their new album.
"Medals on a wooden mantle. Next to a handsome face. That the president took for granted. Writing checks that others pay," reads the lyrics.
"People were, certainly in the first couple of months, very cautious, and they are less so now," Sean Ross at Edison Media Research, which conducts research for radio stations and others in the U.S., told The Associated Press. "So it took people time to get past whether they were willing to say things."
Popular songs created with a political statement in mind remain in the minority, however, and there has not been an overwhelming indictment by artists of the Bush administration and the Iraq war
