I love Neil Young.
In fact, I’m such a huge fan that I went straight from the airport on Monday to the screening of Jonathan Demme’s new documentary, Neil Young Journeys. After all, the man basically provided the soundtrack for my formative years.
“Tell Me Why” is the first song I learned to play on the guitar, and I listened to “After the Gold Rush” on the 1970s version of “repeat,” which meant getting up and manually putting the needle in the right groove over and over and over again. I remember spending the summer of ’72 listening to Harvest endlessly while sleeping over at my camp friend’s house (oh, Sue Agnoff, if this was Facebook, I would be tagging you here). I can’t hear any of those songs now without being brought back to my 13-year-old self again.
So I was really looking forward to Journeys – which may be why I was ultimately disappointed.
There’s no question that Neil Young is one of the most distinctive voices of our generation – both literally and lyrically. Songs like “Ohio” define moments in our collective history, and, lucky for us, he’s still singing about “Love and War.”
This film covers Young’s “journey” from “a town in North Ontario” to the final performances of his solo tour at Massey Hall in Toronto last year. He lets us ride shotgun in his 1956 Crown Victoria as he drives along, pointing out the elementary school dedicated to his father, and giving us a scenic tour of the road that brought him from “I Am A Child” to “Old Man.” Well, that actually makes the movie sound better than it is. There’s really not very much personal background shared here.
I believe that a documentary should teach you something new about its subject or give you a new way of seeing it. Other than getting a bunch of really good looks at Young’s scruffy, stubbly chin (what were you thinking, Jonathan Demme?) and learning that he once ate tar and killed a turtle (facts which do not endear him to me), I felt that this Journeys just didn’t go anywhere.
So, of course, I went to see Katy Perry Part of Me with very low expectations – which may be why I loved it!
Granted, I have dissed Ms. Perry a little in the past – and I take most of it back. (I’m sorry but lyrics like “Want to be a victim/Ready for abduction” are still not okay for the little girls in her fan base.) She is the first female artist to have five number one singles from the same album, and only the second artist ever (Michael Jackson was the first).
This documentary makes it easy to see her appeal. She lets the cameras capture her bare-faced, brokenhearted and “live,” discrediting all the critics who have accused her of being “manufactured.” Her voice actually sounds better in concert, and her joy over achieving her own teenage dream of becoming a performer is infectious and helps her reach another goal of hers: to make people smile at every show.
What I like best about this movie is the message it sends to Perry’s fans. As it follows her from growing up in a Pentacostal Christian household to being dropped by three record labels, it proves that working hard and staying true to yourself and your vision pays off big-time.
I’m not ashamed to admit I got teary three times during Katy Perry Part of Me: 1) when real young people talk about the impact she’s had on their lives and how she has reassured them that it’s okay to be weird and different; 2) when she cries over her divorce from Russell Brand, and 3) when she hugs her fans and makes them realize how much she genuinely cares about them.
I love Katy Perry.
Neil Young’s music never grows old for me. Too bad the doc was disappointing. I saw him perform with CSN&Y in Boston, a long, long time ago, and much later danced my infant to sleep listening to Young’s Harvest Moon CD.
If you are a local San Diego area resident, you may want to keep an eye and ear out for a local performer, Peter Bolan, who does an amazing job of covering Neal’s playlist. There is usually an annual “Back to the Garden Concert” at Anthology covering all the old Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young hits.
That all being said, I feel Mr. Young is a lot more interested in getting his political views of justice and equality out that showcasing his illustrious career. His latter years have been brilliantly peppered with dialogue in concert-and an opera , as well- relating to the state of humanity- and human rights on all levels-an amazing man with a worthwhile agenda.