neil young

Via Reuters:

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and Peal Jam have contributed tunes to the anti-war soundtrack for a documentary about a U.S. soldier paralyzed in Iraq.

The 30-song, two-disc album "Body of War: Songs That Inspired an Iraq War Veteran" will be released March 18 via Warner Music's Sire Records label. All proceeds from the sale of the album will benefit Iraq Veterans Against the War.

"Body of War" focuses on Tomas Young, an Army soldier paralyzed upon arriving in Iraq. It will open on March 13 in Austin, Texas, and expand nationally in subsequent months. Talk show veteran Phil Donahue directed the film with Elaine Spiro.

The album was put together by Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder, who composed the first single, "No War," specifically for the film. Pearl Jam's live version of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War" also graces the soundtrack.

Springsteen contributed "Devils & Dust," and Neil Young "The Restless Consumer." Other tracks include "Yo George" from Tori Amos, "Son of a Bush" from Public Enemy, and "Bushonomics" from Talib Kweli & Cornel West.

A few thoughts - it's awesome that this is raising money for an organization. That is a much more powerful, and lasting statement by all of these artists. In 2004, Punk Voter sold over 600,000 of it's anti-Bush CDs, and Music for America, with the help of MoveOn and McSweeney's, raised over a quarter of a million dollars via the Future Soundtrack for America. These sales were crucial in helping the organizations survive 2005, when a lot of donor money began to dry up in the youth organizing sphere. These kinds of dual donor/pr/engagement projects not only bring political awareness into the cultural realm, but they help make progressive change more sustainable by supporting institution building.

Reading this also sparked a more tangential thought regarding Neil Young's skepticism about the role of culture - particularly music - in achieving political change, which I find to be quite off base.

Maybe the reason that Young sees diminishing returns on his investment in political music has to do with his audience. While I know that many young people are always discovering Young's music, I'm going to guess that the average age of showgoers and consumers of his music - and those most likely to read his political statements - are older. Political beliefs tend to harden when people start to approach their thirties. As such, most of Young's audience has already made their political statements and declared allegiances on most issues. As such, Young may raise awareness about some issues, but his efforts seem unlikely to change people's minds or convert new, enthusiastic followers who could help drive an issue politically. I would even say ditto for Pearl Jam and Springstein.

Someone like Talib Kweli, on the other hand, has a much younger audience with less firm political beliefs (and a greater likelihood of not even being registered to vote as of yet), and greater contemporary cultural relevance. So when Talib makes a political statement, it's impact on the culture and on real tangible gains - ie voter registration or increased political activation/engagement - is much greater than that of Young.

In a nutshell, I'm positing that there is a direct correlation between the age of a musician's audience and their potential political impact.

Thoughts?