Neil Young Gone From Spotify

Neil Young felt he was still relevant this week. He released an open letter to Spotify, ordering the music streaming service to “deal with the vaccine misinformation coming from Joe Rogan’s podcast.” This is in reference to parts of the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast that mention possible therapeutics in dealing with Covid-19 infection. Young asked the music provider to remove either Joe Rogan’s material or Neil Young’s songs. Spotify quickly made the right decision.

As a child, I felt Young’s “Rockin in the Free World” was an innovative song. This was until I realized it was recorded in 1989. As a junior high student I just assumed it was a hard rock song from the 60s or 70s that contained a lot of innovation (like Black Sabbath). It is sad to see Neil decompose into a free speech-hating curmudgeon. He actually created about ten to fifteen minutes of listenable music over the past 60 years.

Southerners have had an accurate opinion on Neil Young for over half a century. His song, ‘Southern Man,’ was a complete guilt trip on people who happened to be born at a lower latitude than him.

I saw cotton and I saw black
Tall white mansions and little shacks
Southern man, when will you pay them back?

-Neil Young, Southern Man 1970

Slavery is a horrible piece of American history, but his lyrics from 50 years ago are consistent with his lack of judgement today. How many slave owners heard this song? Who was he accurately calling out?

Neil’s letter this week is evidence of a growing portion of the country who believe that the periodic table of elements suddenly became political. Joe Rogan mentioning compounds like ivermectin is permitted by the first amendment. I have heard Rogan talk about this Ivermectin, and at no point has he ever told anyone to try it.

Nearly any compound can be deadly at a high enough amount. Even nutmeg! Because of this, a person’s right to speak with health care professionals about possible treatments is a crucial interaction. Neil Young and others do not want doctors and patients to have real conversations, or knowledge of an extensive arrays of treatment. This leads people to taking far too much of the compounds they looked into in the first place.