"Living with War"
Neil Young
Reprise Records
2006
Ugh, hippie patriotism--can't the hippies at least be the hippies of reactionary nightmares? We can recommend some of the songs on this album, which is 100% political. On the whole, the last track by itself kills the whole album--"America the Beautiful."
Neil Young is a typical Democrat, crying for impeachment but wearing patriotism and even family on his sleeve.
These are slow-to-moderately paced songs of a somewhat toned down psychedelic guitar. The sound is consistent Neil Young, but the politics is just Democratic Party patriotism.
We can recommend "After the Garden" and "Shock and Awe." Neil Young asks in "Flags of Freedom," "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." He is also consistent in his grief for those taken by the wars.
There is no doubting Neil Young's Amerikanism. What we need to learn fast is internationalism.