Neil Young's new album "Living with War"

From 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?
When you see the flags of freedom flyin’

From After the Garden

we live in the garden of eden, yeah
don't know why we wanna tear the whole thing to the ground
we live in the garden of eden, yeah
don't know why we wanna tear the whole thing down

From Living with War

In the crowded streets
In the big hotels
In the mosques and the doors of the old museum
I take a holy vow
To never kill again
Try to remember peace

The rocket's red glare
Bombs bursting in air
Give proof through the night,
That Our flag is still there

From The Restless Consumer

The restless consumer flies
Around the world each day
With such an appetite for taste and grace

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'

I'm a bit too young to be tripped out by the library of hippie protest song. This stuff does resonate with me though. Neil, perhaps because though he's proud of the US, grew up in Canada, has a refreshingly broader view than much national protest music that either seems to blame everything on the US or can't see past the toenails of lady liberty.

What I enjoy as well about the album is that its lyrics aren't a collection of bludgeons but rather heartfelt and measured. Neil's into his sixties now. I'm well into my thirties and just beginning to see the possibility of moderation and realize rather than look for evil people under every rock it is often useful to look for the pull of greed or fear or anger. I think Neil sees all of these and more and is protesting for a return to actions led by feelings of truth and justice and love, attributes that led him to fall in love with his adopted country.