Neil Young – Needle and the Damage Done

The Harvest Moon occurred this past weekend. Aside from being a lovely sight, it also caused my mind to wander toward the musically inviolable. That said, I’m not ashamed to declare that, as a Neil Young fan, I absolutely hate Living With War, and I downright despise our response to it.

Honestly, I can’t help but wonder whether the album was so highly lauded because of its own musical merit, or because it was a NEIL YOUNG album about “sticking it to the man.” As a card-carrying liberal, I’m all for sticking it to the man (especially the man Neil stuck it to), criticizing the current political arena, and so on. I’m all for protest music. I don’t sleep with my Gram Parsons and Phil Ochs albums under my pillow, but I treasure them as much as any fan of music. However, Living With War’s reception seems entirely hypocritical. It’s as though we somehow forgot all the criticisms we mounted against most Christian Rock and were willing to consider, yes, I’ll say it, mind-numbing music as acceptable because its message catered to us. I should also note that I’m not against simplicity, as many fans of Living With War will point to the music’s straightforwardness as part of its allure. I do, however, think we’re giving credit where credit isn’t due.

“Needle and the Damage Done” has never meant much to me aside from being a truly fantastic song; drugs have not devastated my friends’ lives or mine. But now, in 2006, I hear this song and think of another needle, that of the stylus on my record player, and the damage that can result when we listen to legacy before the music itself. It’s not okay to praise substandard music because you’re angry about the same thing the musician is. There are plenty of angry musicians ranting about politics. One asked, “Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?” Remember what we thought of him? Exactly.

The Ditty Bops – It’s a Shame

Go on. Play the song. Hear her talk/sing the line “sipping canned air in the shade of an apartment that’s built to break,” reflect on your past five years, and let it break your heart over and over again. Aside from being a sucker for waltzes, and this happening to be an utterly charming one, it serves as a nice transition. I fell head-over-heels for The Ditty Bops’ quiet, old-timey sound and the pleasant images it conjured when they opened for Nickel Creek on their latest (last?) tour. Their album, Moon Over the Freeway, which is exactly what the aforementioned Harvest Moon was on my trip down to Miami, is wonderful for nighttime driving. I suppose I could go on and make a grandiose link between Young and the Bops, but I suppose the titles say it all; there’s an old needle doing some new damage, and I think it a shame.

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