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I'm going to start off this issue of the newsletter with a collection of oddball quotes. Then I'll go into my music spotlight and my book spotlight, both of which will probably be regular features here, in order to lend some structure to my ramblings.
What attracts me most to his music is his attitude, the spirit that creates it, more than any particular aspect of it. Neil is diverse; his music spans country, folk, heavy metal, Techno Pop, basic rock, horn-driven blues, 50's pop, and ambient music. And in each of these fields he employs the same creative and performance abilities. He creates his own unique songs in each style, he is never slave to the style. In my mind he outdoes all of the native performers in any style of music he tries. To Neil, music knows no boundaries. He not only creates in all fields, but he mixes them in performance. If performing solo acoustic he'll play his heavy rock songs, or his synth-pop or his blues, and vice-versa. It's the spirit of the music that means something to him.
Neil is interested in keeping the music alive. The one thing he will never be is a studio monster, mixing tracks to perfection and then playing the exact setlist note by note on stage. Neil is interested in live music, he doesn't listen to the radio or albums. He has no setlist when he plays solo (he usually uses one with a band), he goes by feel. And he never plays a song the same way twice. He's played with more bands than I can keep track of, and each reads his music in a different way. His guitar work is ever shifting, no two solos match.
Since we're onto the topic of playing... I didn't know Neil was my artist until I saw him play live. To watch Neil playing electric guitar is to understand what music is supposed to be about. Playing acoustic, Neil's voice and guitar can clamp on my heart. But watching him play electric guitar is watching him scream; I think of it as controlled chaos. There is no question that Neil feels his music, there is no chance that it's become a business for him, no chance that he's after fame. Neil plugs in and becomes a conduit for the music, and you can see him convulsing at the end of the cord. He takes a song and starts to deconstruct it until it seems to be crumbling into primal chords, but it's never just noise. It's his scream.
Neil Young's span from melody to feedback symbolizes what makes him the perfect musician to me. He is like a primal force that doesn't care about boundaries, styles or categories. He plays a song the way it comes out of him, whether or not it fits the category he's put into. He's real, he's an ornery old cuss who scoffs at all that music industry stuff that we forgot was so stupid. He judges a band by their live show. He doesn't sell his songs to sponsors. He introduces songs in concert by saying "Here's some more trash for you." He's great.
Anyway, I heard this book mentioned a lot when I was at the Gaia Institute this summer. I assumed it was a profound book of philosophy or something, but it's a lot different. It's actually a record of the author's use of hallucinogenic drugs under the tutoring of Don Juan, a Yaqui Indian. That in itself is interesting.
Don Juan, under his system of teaching was a man of knowledge, what we would think of as a sorceror. Part of the pursuit of knowledge was the use of peyote, devil's weed, and mushrooms. Don Juan considered these plants to harbor powerful allies which the man of knowledge could use to increase his power. The goal of gaining this power for Don Juan was to gain knowledge, ultimately about the right way to live.
The author is a man who happened to come in contact with Don Juan, and whom Don Juan chose as his apprentice. He slowly introduced him to the world of 'non-ordinary reality' through ritual use of these plants. Obviously the fact that the author was under the influence of hallucinogens during these experiences makes for an easy explanation of what occurred. But his detailed recordings of his time with Don Juan and his experiences in this other reality are fascinating.
The author himself believed that these experiences were just hallucinations guided by the cues of Don Juan, rather than another realm of spirits and powers. What the book made me think is, why couldn't this magical realm be real? Most everybody would assume it is not, but why is that? I've never produced a special paste of Devil's Weed or chewed a Peyote button, so how do I expect to know whether it would give me special powers or not. On what basis do we dismiss such ideas? What is it in us that makes us so skeptical about something we know nothing about? Certainly we would need some sort of proof and experimentation if we were to take these tales as fact, but in the lack of such trials, why do we scoff at them rather than remain neutral? As far as I can tell, nothing would be different in my life if there were people in this world who could gain magical powers by the use of certain plants. I don't associate with anyone who would be doing any such thing, my life would in no way involve people such as Don Juan. So whether I decide to believe in it is just a whim, guided by no experience. Why don't we try being a little different, and assume that it's true?
Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself, and yourself alone, one question...Does this path have a heart? All paths are the same: they lead nowhere. They are paths going through the bush, or into the bush. In my own life I could say I have traversed long, long paths, but I am not anywhere. My benefactor's question has meaning now. Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn't. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; the other weakens you.
I can't add anything to that quote. We have to divorce ourselves from the idea that our lives must have a goal and a list of achievements. Life isn't a journey to somewhere, and it's not a to-do list. It's just there, and if your life has heart that's all that matters.
The End