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writing for godot

Neil Young, Unquiet (Review of Psychedelic Pill)

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Written by John Winters   
Monday, 05 November 2012 11:42

I’m trying to figure out why I love the new Neil Young and Crazy Horse CD, "Psychedelic Pill" so much.

Yes, I’m a longtime fan, and – disclaimer: I even play in a Neil tribute band. But that doesn’t totally explain it. The new album has much to recommend it. It’s tuneful enough. But I’m sure the latest Elton John record is also, and given the choice between opening that or an envelope full of anthrax I’d have to think long and hard before choosing. Also, the mix of sweet nostalgia on "Pill" and the ragged- ass playing of Young and his longtime conspirators in the Horse strikes me as a unique and wonderful, if incongruous, combination.

Additionally, there are things about the new album that initially
gave me pause. The opening track lasts longer than an episode of an average T.V. sit-com. Other tracks breeze past the fifteen-minute mark without breaking a sweat. Also, Yong continues to exist inside the bubble of the hippie dream, where the best ideals of the sixties live on, even if they were only a fallacy to begin with. Sometimes it makes his lyrics sound out of touch. There are lines on the new CD that are simply ponderous: “Got me a hip hop haircut,” and “I used to dig Picasso/ Then the big tech giant came along and turned him into wallpaper,” being just two.

Add to this the fact that the more modern things Young has written about in recent years and on "Pill" – electric cars, a new system for playing music, model trains – don’t interest me that much.
Still, I ponder: Why I am convinced Psychedelic Pill will receive many a “spin” on my various iPlayers?

I think it comes down to Young’s conviction, his fearlessness and the way he rages against the inevitable. Along with the desire to keep drifting back and the hippie dreams that mark this 66-year-old rocker’s writing is his refusal to go quietly into that dark night. The most obvious manifestation of this on the new CD is his guitar, which rips for most of the ninety minutes of "Pill." Loud, rude, powerfully direct, it shreds any qualms one might have about the CD’s weaker points.

At 28 minutes, “Drifting Back” mixes long musical passages, of which no two are alike, with a simple folk melody and lyrics that hark back to simpler times. The solos allow you to nestle in and ride along with the Horse, until ever few minutes Young’s voice and the lush harmonies return like a waking dream. The sing-song refrain of “Hey, hey, hey, now, now” nicely echoes one of the rocker’s earlier hits, and is catchy in its own right. In this first song Young may be griping, but anyone doing so in such an interesting fashion is hard to turn your back on.

“Twisted Road,” another look over the shoulder, and “Born in Ontario,” each have the mid-tempo, chunky and slightly syncopated rhythm that Young’s voice sits so nicely on top of. Both chug along, letting the images and memories mingle with the bittersweet melody, giving Pill two of its standout tracks. Likewise, “Ramada Inn” portrays an older couple facing the big existential questions that Young breaks down to simple matters of boredom and confusion and the need to press on. “And every morning comes the sun/And they both rise into the day/Holding on to what they’ve done…” In the end, they love each other and do what they have to.

Elsewhere, Young invokes the image of a young dancing woman, presenting it as a metaphor for an idealized past. One can be forgiven for forgetting that the time of Young’s heyday was not all weed and wonder. However, Vietnam, assassinations, overdoses and bad trips have no place on "Pill." Hell, the present and future are dark enough forces to battle with, Young must figure.

The final track, “Walk like Giants” is an odd one, even by Young’s standards. At nearly 17 minutes, it sounds like a sped-up version of “Cortez the Killer,” but features a shaky, whistled hook throughout, and seems to deal with the powerlessness we all feel when pitched against Father Time or other formidable but unavoidable foes. Young’s guitar slashes with a raw and snarling intensity, and as much as we dig it we know in the end it changes nothing. And that’s the point, to own that sinking feeling, but at the same time remembering how good rock ‘n’ roll can feel, even if the ship eventually has to down.

Artists leave their tracks in this world and it is as close to immortality as one gets. Young wants to be sure his footsteps will be heard generations from now. Just like his other work with Crazy Horse, much of it among his best in a lifetime of remarkable achievement, on "Psychedelic Pill" Young plays like a man fighting the unstoppable tide of time. This and his unflagging belief in the power of rock ‘n’ roll is what allows him to remain an artist who can still speak to our times. This "Pill" isn’t easy to swallow but it sure feels good going down.
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