Neil Young and Philosophy, edited by Douglas L. Berger, explores the meanings, importance, and philosophical dimensions of the music, career, and life of this prolific singer/songwriter over the past five decades. Neil Young’s music has touched on a broad range of cultural, political and personal issues, all of which have enormous ongoing relevance for our own times. In order to accommodate Young’s artistic breadth, contributions of scholars from a wide variety of fields-- American philosophy, ethics, American Indian philosophy, feminist philosophy, psychology, philosophy of mind and religious studies--are included in this collection. They examine everything from Young’s environmentalism, invocation of American Indian themes, images of women, and interpretations of human relationships to his confrontations with the music industry, his experiments with recording technologies, his approach to social change, and his methods of creativity. The book builds on the fundamental commitment of the Philosophy and Popular Culture series to see the artist as a philosopher.

“This book uniquely and successfully sustains a cohesive analysis of the work, career, and reception of a single artist . . . Neil Young.” —Daniel Cavicchi, author of Tramps Like Us As a writer in Wired magazine puts it, Neil Young is a “folk-country-grunge dinosaur [who has been] reborn (again) as an Internet-friendly, biodiesel-driven, multimedia machine.” In Neil Young and the Poetics of Energy, William Echard stages an encounter between Young’s challenging and ever-changing work and current theories of musical meaning—an encounter from which both emerge transformed. Echard roots his discussion in an extensive review of writings from the rock press as well as his own engagement as a fan and critical theorist. How is it that Neil Young is both a perpetual outsider and critic of rock culture, and also one of its most central icons? And what are the unique properties that have lent his work such expressive force? Echard delves into concepts of musical persona, space, and energy, and in the process illuminates the complex interplay between experience, musical sound, social actors, genres, styles, and traditions. Readers interested primarily in Neil Young, or rock music in general, will find a new way to think and talk about the subject, and readers interested primarily in musical or cultural theory will find a new way to articulate and apply some of the most exciting current perspectives on meaning, music, and subjectivity. “A fascinating and unique reading of Neil Young’s music.” —Literary Review of Canada “[An] intriguing, elegantly written analysis of Young . . . Exemplifies the fruitful union of musicology and cultural studies.” —Cotten Seiler, Dickinson College

The perfect gift for music lovers and Neil Young fans, telling the story behind Neil Young's legendary career and his iconic, beloved songs. “I think I will have to use my time wisely and keep my thoughts straight if I am to succeed and deliver the cargo I so carefully have carried thus far to the outer reaches.”—Neil Young, from Waging Heavy Peace Legendary singer and songwriter Neil Young’s storied career has spanned over forty years and yielded some of the modern era’s most enduring music. Now for the first time ever, Young reflects upon his life—from his Canadian childhood, to his part in the sixties rock explosion with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, through his later career with Crazy Horse and numerous private challenges. An instant classic, Waging Heavy Peace is as uncompromising and unforgettable as the man himself.

Eight philosophers discuss the works of the best-selling novelist and reveal their thoughts on the intersection of fantasy and reality and whether the unknown is as real as the known.

Neil Young is one of rock and roll’s most important and enigmatic figures, a legend from the sixties who is still hugely influential today. He has never granted a writer access to his inner life – until now. Based on six years of interviews with more than three hundred of Young’s associates, and on more than fifty hours of interviews with Young himself, Shakey is a fascinating, prodigious account of the singer’s life and career. Jimmy McDonough follows Young from his childhood in Canada to his cofounding of Buffalo Springfield to the huge success of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young to his comeback in the nineties. Filled with never-before-published words directly from the artist himself, Shakey is an essential addition to the top shelf of rock biographies.

The story of the birth of the Religious Right is a familiar one. In the 1970s, mainly in response to Roe v. Wade, evangelicals and conservative Catholics put aside their longstanding historical prejudices and theological differences and joined forces to form a potent political movement that swept across the country. In this provocative book, Neil J. Young argues that almost none of this is true. Young offers an alternative history of the Religious Right that upends these widely-believed myths. Theology, not politics, defined the Religious Right. The rise of secularism, pluralism, and cultural relativism, Young argues, transformed the relations of America's religious denominations. The interfaith collaborations among liberal Protestants, Catholics, and Jews were met by a conservative Christian counter-force, which came together in a loosely bound, politically-minded coalition known as the Religious Right. This right-wing religious movement was made up of Mormons, conservative Catholics, and evangelicals, all of whom were united--paradoxically--by their contempt for the ecumenical approach they saw the liberal denominations taking. Led by the likes of Jerry Falwell, they deemed themselves the pro-family movement, and entered full-throated into political debates about abortion, school prayer, the Equal Rights Amendment, gay rights, and tax exemptions for religious schools. They would go on to form a critical new base for the Republican Party. Examining the religious history of interfaith dialogue among conservative evangelicals, Catholics, and Mormons, Young argues that the formation of the Religious Right was not some brilliant political strategy hatched on the eve of a history-altering election but rather the latest iteration of a religious debate that had gone on for decades. This path breaking book will reshape our understanding of the most important religious and political movement of the last 30 years.

"A collection of essays explores philosophical aspects of the Beatles' music, lyrics, and political acitivities. Topics addressed include: skepticism and epistemology, the philosophy of love, altered consciousness and drug culture, and Marxism and social philosophy"--Provided by publisher.