Debate Rages On Over "When God Made Me" Lyrics
How can a man asking 10 questions provoke so much discussion?
Judging from the volume of comments, the debate and controversy over the "When God Made Me" lyrics rages on.
After flaring up after the song's debut at the Live 8 concert in July, things settled down.
Then when the song reappeared for the Hurricane Katrina Benefit "Shelter From the Storm", the debate heated up once again.
The original posting containing the lyrics for "When God Made Me" has seen more reader comments than just about any other article on Thrasher's Wheat in recent memory.
I would attempt to summarize the debate but it's all much too much.
But a comment by Matt M. sums things up as well as any of the many provocative interpretations:
"Keep in consideration that Neil Young is a musician and an entertainer.
He may very well have kept his real thoughts on God to himself, and set these lyrics to music and released them downstream to either collect as silt and drop to the bottom of the riverbed, or spawn and multiply farther along.
Either way, Neil has once again stirred the muddy waters of controversy.
And no matter what side you take, or what your reaction is, the fact remains that Neil knows how to spark a debate."
Read for your self how a man asking 10 simple questions has ignited a firestorm. And post a comment (no registration required).
by thrasher@PermaLink: 9/19/2005 11:55:00 PM
3 comments
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3 Comments:
This is getting off the subject but I just read a review for Prairie Wind at E!"Entertainment" that really pissed me off. Below I pasted the review and my email to them. If anybody else feels they have to inundate them with emails please do. Thanks for listening to me rant.
I have to take exception to the review below. Maybe the reviewer should check with the legions of Neil Young fans before they declare Greendale a "total disaster." For me it was a breath of fresh air after inhaling the rotten atmosphere that Bushco was giving out, at last somebody had the balls to stand up and say what needed to be said, and in such a fun way too! The songs on Greendale will be forever with me. If the reviewer doesn’t think Neil is on familiar terrain when he does things like Greendale he obviously hasn’t been trucking with him for long if ever.
Gloria Thompson
Our Review:
Neil Young's last album, Greendale--a folk-rock opera with an antiwar message and community-theater delivery--was a total disaster. Thank goodness the grizzled Canadian singer blows back to more familiar terrain with Prairie Wind, a subdued album that echoes his best work on Harvest and Harvest Moon. It's a little darker and more polished than those works, to be sure (and comes complete with strings and a gospel choir), but at its core it remains the same. Young takes stock of his life and the world, lays down that seen-it-all-voice and those bluesy chord changes--and all the sudden it feels like the skies part. A major improvement.
I agree, Gloria. When Greendale came out, it got a lot of stick from some reporters, but when I hear it, it was like a revelation! How many artists can anyone name who have the guts to do something so original in this day and age? Greendale comes from the heart, it's real and emotional and a stunning portrait of American society as a whole, you just need to look into all the different levels of interpretation. And certainly, as a response to the Bush administration and the ills of modern society, it's one of the bravest records around. Look what happened to the Dixie Chicks when they spoke out about the regime. Young needs to be applauded loud and clear by all who feel this world needs change.
Mainstream reviewers, who pander to the public may have trashed Greendale, but real "art" reviewers gave it raves. E entertainment is mass-audience, lowest-common-denominator type outlet. Ignore them, and maybe they'll go away.
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