wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Seeger et al. in the 40's & onward -
Dylan and his offspring in the 60's
& onward, Bob Marley, the Clash,
Gang of Four (by no means compre-
hensive, but you see where i'm
going with this...) U-2, Chuck D.,
Neil Young(yeah), Chrissie Hynde,
Rage Against the Machine, the
MinuteMen, Billy Bragg, Dar Williams
and on and on - musical tastes and
styles change, but there are always
musicians, writers, artists who are
ready to speak out about society
and its troubles, its hypocrisies -
and there are those who want to
listen, to hear...change occurs over
the long arc of time, and yes,some
folks never do notice...

hey! doesn't the take-over of local radio stations all across America by Clear Channel say something about the power of music?? Remember, clear channel pledged to "give" the election to W. They LEARNED about the power of music, just as everyone else did, in the 60's, and they're utterly mindful of it.

I think Mr. Young is very right and not necessarily conceited in his statement. He's responding to the many dire circumstances facing us today. These are circumstances that might have been altered and avoided had more people made the effort to take action in response to the music of earlier times. However, as it stands now, our situation is a more urgent one. And though music has the same power it always has had, that power is not brute enough and does not work quickly enough to be effective against the problems we are facing today.
At best, music can work as a catalyst to forces and elements already in place, as with Barak's "yes we can." I think what Mr. Young is suggesting is that we are in desperate and immediate need of such a force, perhaps scientific or political, before we can begin to hope that music will be able to help us.

If we have the same problems that we had in 1968, then what did all that great music of the 60's change.

Why is it "unclear political thinking" to be pro Reagan and anti Bush? I am sure the country is full of people who liked Reagan and despise Bush. They were two different presidents. Do you mean to say "rigid" political thinking?

Has music ever really changed the world?

I disagree with Neil Young. I believe song is a powerful form of persuasion when formulated for the correct audience and that audience is ready. My band consists of me and my three sons. Granted I'm mainly living vicariously through teaching them to be "rock stars", but the words and messages I choose to put in our songs can have a effect on their thinking and be used as moral back drops. The latest song we wrote and performed I used as an example to my 8 year-old when he recently succumbed to peer pressure. I don't necessarily think a song can be used to asuage or create a riot, but if put in the right place at the right time it can change thinking. Perhaps it's just that Mr. Young is trying to affect an audience that doesn't listen to him. As far as "science", of course, a song won't stop global warming, for example, but it always can instill a recognition of it.

I think that Neil Young may be commenting on the paucity of modern songs and lyrics that focus on social issues compared to what was prevalent during the sixties. Social change can result from consciousness-raising. "Bookends" was certainly an influential album that raised awareness of social issues that few others addressed (i.e.,corrupt middle class values, deficient eldercare, social apathy). Instead we get John Mayer recycling Curtis Mayfield's "Peole Get Ready" into " Waiting on the World to Change". Perhaps Neil is right!

Bookends was really a revoloutionary studio album that was partially outshone at the time by what the Beatles were doing, but Bookends was an album that targeted issues such as social isolation, public apathy, Viet Nam and the elusive American dream which resonated throughout Paul Simon's writing in the next two decades. I believe it was also one of the first American albums to make use of 16-track recording in truly innovative ways. Truly a landmark recording! Producer Roy Halee was the unsung member of that trio. (Oh by the way. On Monday your comments on the supposed "drug message" in Lennon/McCartney's "I Want To Hold Your Hand" was misguided. The actual lyric cited is "...I can't hide", not "I get high" -They certainly did that later - but not in that particular song. OOps.)