Do you like the song "Southern Man"?

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

:shrug:

[StopTheMorans]

1. love it

[KitchenWitch]

2. Good tune

But I love Neil Young!

[no name no slogan]

3. Yup

Makes its point, and makes it well.

[ronzo]

4. Yeah.

Good tune.

[nutsnberries]

5. THAT's more like it!

[LisaM]

6. Yes.

I think it's a great song, words AND music.

I am not one of those who can separate the two. I have a friend who never listens to lyrics, and I simply don't get it.

[Lex]

8. I agree.

I have that same kind of friend, and I don't see how you separate the two (lyrics and music) as a listener.

[LisaM]

16. IMO, it's a slap in the face to the songwriter

who worked had on the lyrics.

[quispquake]

9. I do the same thing...

I like lyrics, but there are few songs where it's the lyrics which hold me...I'm there for the music.

Maybe I'm just shallow :)

[Wickerman]

7. Yep

[RandomKoolzip]

10. 'sall right.

But there have been lots of revisionist rock critics who are more concerned with pushing liberal platitudes than accurately assessing musical worth who claim that "Southern Man" is classist and as bigoted as the song's target. I don't agree, although to paint ALL southern men as racist lynchers is a damned lie.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

11. True - but he knew that when he wrote it

[RandomKoolzip]

12. You oughta read "Shakey," Neil Young's biography.

That fucking guy is impossible to pin down. He's a slippery dude.

I have a theory that Neil's "pro-Reagan" phase in the 80's was done to make up for "Southern Man" and "Alabama...." His motives are consistently contrary like that.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

13. Explain Trans - NOW!!!

I was fascinated by that album as an 8 year old - now it confuses me.

[JohnnyRingo]

19. Sample and hold....Neil's submission to the "information era"

I loved that album.
He did a great vid of the "Trans" concert (in it's entirety) in Berlin with Nils Lofgren.
Hard to find, but worth the search.

Pretty cool with the sunglass/voice synth device.

[RandomKoolzip]

20. Neil and his wife had given birth to a mentally disabled son....

And Neil had enrolled him in a special therapy that would possibly help him communicate via the use of computers. Being engrossed in the world of computers inspired the lyrics and feel of the album.....unfortunately, Neil would not reveal to the press what was happening in his personal life, so his audience and the critics were utterly perplexed by his new direction. In hindsight, some of the tracks are incredibly poignant; they document Neil's herculean effort at trying to communicate with his son and being frustrated at having to deal with such a massive personal problem and hold down a career as a rock star at the same time.


This is actually one of the more fascinating chapters in "Shakey." It kinda explains Neil's motivations, which are never immediately apparent.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

21. Oh.....um.....nevermind then

[buddhamama]

14. Yeah, I do

got a problem with that?

[JohnnyRingo]

15. I don't let the words get in the way of the music.

If I hear a song I like, I usually don't even decipher the poetry for several plays.

That said....Neil Young rocks.

[Beware the Beast Man]

17. Thanks for the earworm, asshole.

:argh:

[johnnie]

18. Yes I do

Neil is pretty cool if you ask me.

[JitterbugPerfume]

23. I love it

so Neil Young is a complex person--- I thougt complexity was a GOOD thing

a thinking person will be complex (I think)

[tsakshaug]

22. few years ago

When I was a DJ-when DJs were on the radio
Well several years ago

I would play Southern Man, followed by Sweet Home Alabama followed by Zevon's Play it all night long

[bunkerbuster1]

26. Better to follow with Neil's "Powderfinger"

an exceptionally sympathetic view of a "Southern Man" defending his homestead.

how long how long
aah aah aah aah

yeah, thanks for the earworm, indeed.

[Orsino]

24. Yeah

Only a very literal reading makes this a slight against all Sourtherners. I think it's a valuable challenge to widespread prejudice, an acknowledgement of the elephant in the living room.

[GOPBasher]

25. Yes, good song and better politics than "Sweet Home Alabama." nt

[last_texas_dem]

27. Great song

Very intense vocals and great guitar work; it just has a "scary" feel to it that I enjoy. And the points Young makes are interesting.

I like "Sweet Home Alabama" too, though, for whatever it's worth.