Neil Young Says 'It's Time for Real Change'
Fifty years after its release, Young shared an updated version of the song with reflections on how it applies to current events.
"Here's me as an old guy singin' his 50 year old song that was written after countless years of racism in the USA… And look at us today! This has been going on for way too long. It's not just Southern Man now… It's everywhere across the USA. It's time for real change… New laws… New rules for policing."
The performance comes from a project Young is hosting on his site called "POLAR VORTEX." The project is part film, part album – and features material Young performed at a series of shows in Wisconsin and Minnesota in January 2019 when the area was hit with a massive polar vortex. Despite temperatures reaching as low as −30 °F with windchills hitting −50 °F, Young forged on with the concerts.
Here's the updated acoustic version below.
Here's me as an old guy singin' his 50 year old song that was written after countless years of racism in the USA. . . . and look at us today! This has been going on for way too long. It's not just Southern Man now. . . . .It's everywhere across the USA. It's time for real change . . . . new laws . . . . new rules for policing . . . . "Change gonna come at last . . . . ." 'Southern Man' is from the forthcoming 'POLAR VORTEX' live performance longform at NYA.
A post shared by Neil Young Archives (@neilyoungarchives) on Jun 4, 2020 at 11:03am PDT
Here's the original version