CD Odyssey Disc 188: Neil Young

I actually finished listening to this disc yesterday, but I was enjoying it so much, I decided to listen to it again. I don't see anything in the rules that says I can't do that.

Besides, it was fun.

Disc 188 is...Hawks & Doves
Artist: Neil Young

Year of Release: 1980

What’s Up With The Cover?: It is supposed to be a star from the American flag, the reverse of the album are some red and white stripes. Neil Young is one of a number of great Canadian artists that can enjoy America, without feeling like they are any less Canadian. It is called being confident in yourself.

How I Came To Know It: I was just digging through Neil Young's collection a while back (maybe five or six years ago). This was in the store, and I didn't have it yet. You get to a point with some artists that you aren't afraid to buy any album - I'm at that point with Neil Young. OK, maybe not "Arc".

How It Stacks Up: I have twelve Neil Young records and I like all of them. "Hawks & Doves" really impressed me this time around, and I'm tempted to say it is third, but since I'm only three discs in, I'll put this one somewhere between 3 and 5.

Rating: 4 stars, but a thin line from 5.

"Hawks & Doves" is a very relaxed sounding album from his more definitive folk period. The first four tracks are songs originally recorded in the mid to late seventies, the last five are from 1980; the year the album came out.

This album is so relaxing that it physically calmed my body down after a very stressful week in my life. I think that's why I kept it in the car an extra day; I needed it.

The arrangements are classic early Neil Young; sparse and beautiful, and his voice has a quiet, gentle quality that I prefer to his later rock sound. In many ways, it reminded me of a very early version of "Prairie Wind", which I reviewed back at Disc 160. Where "Prairie Wind" is more about Young's early life, "Hawks & Doves" features a little more politics. Even when he strays into more serious topics (including monitoring the Soviet's on the DEW line ("Comin' Apart At Every Nail") and naval warfare, ("Captain Kennedy") he forgoes angry recriminations in favour of subtle understatement.

That isn't to say he is afraid to make his point, it is more that he does it subtly, to the point where I wasn't sure if he has a lesson, or if he's just telling an interesting story. The answer, of course, is yes.

I always love hearing "Union Man" which is in the fine tradition of sixties protest songs, but done in a humourous way. I've had a real soft spot for union protest songs lately (must be all the Billy Bragg I've bought), and "Union Man" is a good example. Here, Neil sings of an imaginary meeting of the AFM - the American Federation of Musicians (a real union - I looked it up).

In Neil's meeting he calls for new business and a motion is moved "That 'Live Music Is Better' bumper stickers be issued." Neil calls the vote, which passes with flying colours of course.

This time around I was surprised to be taken in by "This Old Homestead", which is a dream sequence taking place in Neil's head. Both the lyrics of this song, and the eerie arrangement evoke a dream admirably. It begins:

"Up and down the old homestead
The naked rider gallops through his head
And although the moon isn't full
He still feels the pull."

Two things stick out here. First, the call of the subconscious through the effects of the moon - made all the more fey by the shortness of the final line in the quatrain. The second that Neil imagines himself naked in his dream.

Later in the song, he confronts his own shadow, which challenges him with "why do you ride that crazy horse." To which the reply is:

"Who are you" the rider says
"You dress in black but you talk like a fed
You spout ideas from books that you read
Don't you care about this guy's head?"

I read a review that suggests the shadow represents critics that question Neil's decision to stick with the Crazy Horse musicians when he doesn't have to. I disagree, and think that this is Neil's own id asking him this question. It shows his bravery as an artist to call himself out for having thoughts of disloyalty to his band. I could talk about this song forever, but I'll just add that later it features three birds one of which carves his phone number in a phone booth with his beak, but that part really has to be heard firsthand.

While I have gone on a little long about "The Old Homestead" this album does not go on and on. It is only nine songs long and clocks in right at thirty minutes, with half the songs under three minutes total. Modern artists take note; more is not always better.

"Hawks & Doves" is a tight little collection of songs, with a relaxed groove that for all it's gentle nature, still has something important to say. It would be worth your time at sixty minutes, but at thirty it is worth your time twice over.

Best tracks: The Old Homestead, Captain Kennedy, Union Man, Comin' Apar At Every Nail, Hawks & Doves.