Neil Young's Impact On The World

There are many Canadians who have managed to make an impact on the world. Amazing Canadians can not only manage to change people’s lives, but improve them as well. Only an amazing Canadian can make the world distinguish Canada in a commendable and noteworthy way and make Canadians proud to be Canadian. By examining Young’s musical and song writing career, his role in the Farm Aid organization, and his role in the Bridge School Benefit, it is clear that Neil Young is an amazing Canadian.
Young’s music and song writing career has lasted over 45 years in total, making him one of the most diligent artists in music history. Since the start of his career in the 1960’s, Young has written over 74 songs, some of which have not yet been released.

He has commonly been dubbed as the “Godfather of Grunge.” Moreover, the style of music that Young releases is versatile. His collection of songs range from a variety of different forms of Rock music; from folk rock in “Heart of Gold,” to hard rock in “Rockin’ in the Free World,” and from country rock in, “Long May You Run,” to psychedelic and garage rock in, “Psychedelic Pill.” Young’s impact towards the rock music of today is evident through the music of today’s popular rock bands.

In a Rolling Stone article, “Phish” guitarist, Trey Anastasio, stated that, “Neil is still blazing a trail for people who are younger than him, reminding us you can break artistic ground.” Furthermore, Young’s chart accomplishments are superior to many other songwriters. Young has had 19 of his songs in the top 100 in the U.S.A and U.K charts between 1970 and 1994, 2 in the top 10, and 1 at number 1. In addition to his song success, Young has also achieved success with his albums. Throughout his career, Neil Young has produced a total of 53 solo albums. Young’s album “Harvest,” which featured his only number one song, “Heart of Gold,” was the best selling album of 1972, topping the charts for two weeks and selling over 4 million copies worldwide. Moreover, Young has

also achieved success as a band mate.

In 1966, Neil Young joined Stephen Stills, Bruce Palmer, Dewey Martin and Richie Furay to form Buffalo Springfield, a band described by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a group that, “laid the groundwork for the folk-rock and country-rock genres that took root in the Seventies.” Their hit song, “For What It’s Worth,” quickly became an iconic protest anthem. As a result, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number 63 on its “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list. In addition to his accomplishments with Buffalo Springfield, Young has also worked with “Crosby, Stills and Nash,” to form, “Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young,” and toured with his backup band “Crazy Horse.” Throughout his music career, Neil Young has received numerous honours. In 1995, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist, and in 1997, he was inducted again as a member of Buffalo Springfield. Neil Young’s voice is commonly referred to as strange and distinctive. On November 27, 2008, Rolling Stone magazine created a list ranking the 100 greatest singers of all time placing Young at number 37, ahead of artists like Elton John and Frankie Valli. In the article, Rolling Stone magazine described Young’s

singing voice as, “a quavering, lonesome tenor that works equally well over the crazed distortion of Crazy Horse and the acoustic chords of his ballads.” Likewise, Young’s guitar playing ability has also received positive acclaim. His style of guitar playing is prevalent through many of his songs. Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists” placed Young at number 17 ahead of guitarists like Alex Lifeson and Carlos Santana. Neil Young’s music and song writing ability is vast and powerful. Throughout his career, he has continued to make Canada proud due to his success in the music industry, his influence on the Rock and Roll musicians of today, and the honours and accomplishments awarded to him over the past 5 decades.
Young’s musical and song writing abilities influenced many musicians today, but none of his songs impacted others’ lives quite like his work in charities like the Farm Aid organization. Throughout the 1980’s, farmers faced a situation similar to the one in the Great Depression. Prices for farm products and land were very low and as a result, forced millions of family farmers to move off of their own land. In 1985, Young worked with John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson to create Farm Aid, an organization whose mission is to, “Raise awareness about the loss of family farms and to raise funds to keep farm families on their land.” Their methods of accomplishing this include; promoting food from American farms through different sources of media such as the radio or television, selling farming food through markets across the U.S.A, providing farmers with resources that are necessary for their farms to survive, helping farmers side by side through protests against factory farms, and notifying farmers and eaters about any problems regarding situations such as genetically modified food. Since their start in 1985, Farm Aid has continued to become more successful by completing their mission and making more people realize the importance of farming. During the 2013 annual Farm Aid concert, Neil Young stated that,
"The farmers are on the front lines of climate change, and climate change is THE issue of the 21st century. It's a bigger way of looking at what we're all doing here. It's about getting the carbon out of the sky and back into the earth. The farmer wakes up in the morning and figures out ‘what the hell can I do with this mess now? This fuel is going to be shipped to China and Asia, don’t think this fuel is for America, it’s not. The reason I am talking about that ugly situation is because the farmers again are the solution to the problem.”
Together, Young, Mellencamp, and Nelson, along with musician Dave Matthews, have raised over 45 million dollars for farming families in the United States of America. In addition to that, Farm Aid also increases their popularity by having celebrities donate money to the organization and perform in their annual concert across the U.S.A. Some of the musicians that performed in these concerts in the past include Elton John, Billy Joel, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, and the founders of Farm Aid themselves. Neil Young, along with many other musicians have impacted farming families’ lives in the U.S.A through the use of Farm Aid, an organization that Young has co-founded.
Neil Young has not only improved the lives of farming families in the U.S.A but also the lives of students attending the Bridge School in San Francisco. Young suffered from epilepsy and cerebral palsy along with his children Ben, Zeke, and Amber Jean. As a result, Young co-founded the Bridge School with his wife Pegi Young. The Bridge School is a school whose mission is to make sure that people with serious and severe speech problems and physical impairment, participate in their communities. They accomplish this through the use of augmentative and alternative means of communication (AAC), used for individuals with speech problems and assistive technology (AT), used for those with severe physical impairment. Moreover, students are allowed to participate in their school through the use of entertaining activities. These activities comprise of; baking, writing, and going on an annual field trip to Winter Lodge for a day of ice skating. Students also undertake in science experiments and participate in Sports Friday every week. Since their start in 1987, the school has continued to complete its mission. They have created their mission based upon the following beliefs,
“Everyone should have the opportunity to achieve his or her maximal potential. Everyone should have the opportunity to share knowledge, express feelings and be heard. Everyone should actively participate in his or her own learning. All children should have access to a quality education that encompasses a broad base of knowledge and experiences. Children, families, and educators must work in partnership to effectively support learning.
Everyone should have access to a holistic communication system and technology is a tool that can enhance the communication and learning process.”

Like Farm Aid, celebrities are also involved with the Bridge School Benefit by performing at their annual concerts every October at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California, and sending donations to the school for the children. Some of the celebrities that performed at these concerts in the past include Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Robin Williams, Bob Dylan, The Who, Pearl Jam, Pegi Young, and Neil Young. Together, with his wife, Pegi Young, Neil Young has made the lives of the individuals attending the Bridge School better by getting them actively involved in their community.
Canadians feel the need to be proud due to the impact their nation has made on the world. As long as Neil Young is alive, we can say that Canadians have changed the world for the better and are continuing to change the world for the better. After examining Young’s career in music over the past 5 decades, his relationship with the farming families of the U.S.A, and evaluating the satisfaction of the students at the Bridge School in San Francisco, it is obvious that Neil Young is an amazing Canadian.