Feeder - Just a day, and other videos

Feeder decided to do a video for one of their first hits, called Just a day. To thank the fans, they asked them to send in home videos of themselves.

What happened next ?

This.....



Here's an acoustic version of "Tumble and Fall"

Neil Young - Living with war

I just wanted to add a chance for all of you to hear Neil Young's latest effort, "Living With War". It's a timely effort, and keeping with Young's history as a fine musician and a true artist.

If you click on the following link, thanks to Neil Young, you can hear the entire CD on streaming audio :

Seems Neil's changed it, so try Googling here :

http://www.neilyoung.com/

If you click the link at the top of this post, you will be directed to Neil Young's blog. It's a place you should check out.

"...this is about exchanging ideas... it's about getting a message out. It's about empowering people by giving them a voice. I know not everyone believes what I say is what they think. But like I said before.. ya know.. red and blue is not black and white. We're all together. It's a record about unification." -Neil Young (4/18/06)

Give 'em hell , Neil.

I've spent a lot of time listening to this effort on line, and it simply gets better with time. It's got that intensity that comes from someone sitting down and focusing their creative effort over a very short time period. It's rough, raw, and passionately performed.

"After the garden" kicks it off with a bang. It makes you wonder what "garden" Neil's referring to. The garden of Eden, which is technically to be found in present day Iraq? Or that "garden" mentioned in "Woodstock" ?

And we got to get ourselves
back to the garden

"Living with war" has that timeless "sing along" quality that ranks right up there with some of the best of John Lennon's work. Maybe it's the 2006 version of " Give Peace a Chance"... It's use of an infectious melody, simple words of truth, and a mass chorus certainly brings back echoes of that mindset.

I'm living with war everyday
I'm living with war in my heart everyday
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
Try to remember peace

I join the multitudes
I raise my hand in peace
I never bow to the laws of the thought police
I take a holy vow
To never kill again
To never kill again

I think Lennon's spirit must be smiling now...

" The Restless Consumer" reminds me of that Rolling Thunder period of Dylan. In a world overflowing with hype, Entertainment Tonight and American Idol, it's the perfect antidote to what's infected us.

People from around the world
Need someone to listen
We're starving and dying from our disease
We need your medicine
How do you pay for war
And leave us dyin' ?
When you could do so much more
You're not even tryin'

Tough questions, and no real answers...

"Shock and Awe" , reminds me a bit of "My My, Hey Hey" taken to a much rougher rock and roll level. Like most of the CD, it's more in the style of Crazy Horse. Like most of the music on here, you'll find a solid foundation of simple and effective bass and drums - overlaid with distorted guitar. If you are going to do a protest song, that's the way to go.

"Families" is an essential link that couples this anti-administration protest back to being an American and a patriot.

There's a universe between us now
But I want to reach our and tell you how
Much you mean to me
And my family

I'm goin' back to the USA
I just got my ticket today
I can't wait to see you again
In the USA.

"Flags of Freedom" echoes that old Dylan style of projected images telling a story, and Neil even references back to him in the song. It even brings to mind Dylan's "Chimes of Freedom" in it's melody. I don't think the song's name is an accident, based on that connection. Lyrically it addresses the same subject.

Have you seen the flags of freedom?
What color are they now?
Do you think that you believe in yours
More than they do theirs somehow?
When you see the flags of freedom flyin'

Compare that to Dylan's viewpoint :

Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight
An' for each an' ev'ry underdog soldier in the night
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

"Let's impeach the President" is another "Lennonesque" type of political song. I really hear echoes of Lennon's spirit all the way through this CD. This one remnds me of "Luck of the Irish", in it's outrage.

That imposing of the choir shouting "FLIP...FLOP" over the President's own words is highly effective.

What if Al Qaeda blew up the levees
Would New Orleans have been safer that way
Sheltered by our government's protection
Or was someone just not home that day?

After almost four years of telling Americans that they were under serious threat and needed to be protected - we all found out they were not.

"Looking for a leader" is another positive counter balance. The tone of this CD is not attacking America, it's defending it's basic cornerstones. Neil Young is far closer to the sprit of the founding fathers than it's current neo-con leaders are.

Lookin' for a Leader
To bring our country home
Re-unite the red white and blue
Before it turns to stone

Lookin' for somebody
Young enough to take it on
Clean up the corruption
And make the country strong

Walkin' among our people
There's someone who's straight and strong
To lead us from desolation
And a broken world gone wrong

Someone walks among us
And I hope he hears the call
And maybe it's a woman
Or a black man after all

Let's hope for the world's sake, someone takes up the challenge soon.

"Roger and out" is another personal favorite of mine.

Trippin' down that old Hippie Highway
Got to thinkin' 'bout you again
Wonderin' how it really was for you
And how it happened in the end
But I guess I'll never know the truth
If you were really all alone

It brings the message of the CD down to a personal one on one level. Two friends, once young together, and now one is gone. Two roads taken at a crossroads by friends never to meet again. I wish we knew more about who Neil is referring to here. Perhaps in time we will...

"America the beautiful" is a strong finish to the CD. It rips back the flag from those who think only the right wing can carry it. If you needed any more proof that this work isn't anti-american, just anti-neo-con, here you go. It's Neil's way of saying that it's his country too, and that his rage is based on a great love of it.

An exceptionally strong work, timely, and couragous.

Take a listen to it, and then go right out and buy it.