Neil Young Drops 2019 Live Version of 'Southern Man,' Calls for 'New Rules for Policing'
Neil Young’s “Southern Man” came out in 1970 (via After the Gold Rush), but the singer-songwriter thinks it’s just as relevant today — with one caveat. He’s not just singing about the South anymore — but the whole country.
Young posted a 2019 performance of the song on his Archives Wednesday, writing: “Here’s me as an old guy singin’ his 50-year-old song that was written after countless years of racism in the USA. And look at us today! This has been going on for way too long. It’s not just ‘Southern Man’ now. It’s everywhere across the USA. It’s time for real change, new laws, new rules for policing.”
Young, of course, is referring to mass protests against police brutality spreading across the nation and world in response to the police killing of George Floyd.
The lyrics of “Southern Man” draw heavily on the years of slavery in the U.S. — specifically in the South. It’s far from Young’s only politically driven track; Crosby, Stills Nash and Young’s “Ohio” recently turned 50. That song dealt with the Kent State Massacre, during which the Ohio National Guard shot at students protesting the Vietnam War, killing four.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/neil-young-southern-man-protests-1009891/
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