The new video for Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World" directed by filmmaker Michael Moore is now posted on the Warner Reprise site.
The video intercuts footage from the film Fahrenheit 9/11 and performance footage of Neil Young and Crazy Horse performing the song on the 2003/4 Greendale tour. Much of the audience footage appears to come from the May 18, 2002 broadcast of the Rockam Ring Festival in Nurburgring Racetrack, Eifel, Germany.
There is a great deal of Iraq war footage edited into the explosive Crazy Horse performances. The montage of explosions and tracer fire at night is quite effective when intercut to Billy's heavy throbbing bass line and the strobing stage lights.
Unfortunately, the video uses the film's song edit and deletes the lines:
"There's a lot of people sayin' we'd be better off dead
Don't feel like Satan, but I am to them".
Running about 3:10, nearly two minutes of the original 4:59 song on Freedom has been eliminated.
Never get to fall in love, never get to be cool."
Screen shots of video are posted Thrasher's Wheat Neil Young Blog. More on the song "Rockin' In The Free World" and the original music video.
Article comments
1 - Jim Carruthers
Of course, he also sang: "Welfare mothers make better lovers".
If there's anything Neil Young is known for, it is changing his mind and reworking and remixing his songs. Since the lyric originally seems to be about Iran and their revolution, overthrowing the USA imposed despot, it seems appropriate that Neil Young re-appraise what "rocking in the free world" means.