Neil Young and Philosophy by Douglas L. Berger

Author:Douglas L. Berger
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lexington Books

Chapter 6

Neil Young and American Indians: Politics, Lyrics, and Authenticity

Lee Hester

Neil Young has often championed causes and used his music to make incisive, poetic social commentary. A recurring motif in Young’s work is the American Indian. From his early days in the band Buffalo Springfield to his long collaboration with his backing band Crazy Horse, Young has used Indian imagery in his song lyrics, album covers and elsewhere even to the extent of taking on the role of an Indian. Young himself has remarked on the early evolution of his role as ‘Indian’ in the group Buffalo Springfield saying,

I’ve always liked fringe jackets. I went out and bought one right away with some pants and a turtleneck shirt. Oh yeah, I thought I was heavy. I wore them on some TV shows and whenever we worked. Then I went to this place on Santa Monica Boulevard near La Cienega. I saw this great Comanche war shirt, the best jacket I’ve ever seen. I had two more made. The group was Western, the name Buffalo Springfield came off a tractor, so it all fit. I was the Indian. That’s when it was cool to be an Indian.1

But for Young it seems that being Indian was much more than just being “cool.” The ease with which he assumes this role is perhaps best explained by his identification with American Indian people. When asked by biographer Jimmy McDonough why he liked Indians, Young could not give a direct answer, except to say that he liked all Indians regardless of anyone else’s moral evaluations of their actions.2 Indeed, Young makes no claim to Indian identity or blood despite his strong feeling of relationship. However, the idea of ‘playing Indian’ is still highly problematic for American Indian people and is such a common phenomenon that the noted Dakota scholar Philip Deloria wrote a whole book on the subject, appropriately entitled Playing Indian.3 The propriety of Young’s Indian persona, his equivocal and ahistorical treatment of Indians in his lyrics as well as the issue of cultural appropriation are often discussed almost in the same breath with his activism in aiding Indian causes, prompting Indian Country Today Media Network to publish an article asking whether “ . . . he gets a pass because, well, because he’s Neil Young?”4 This essay will look at some of the more controversial elements of Neil Young’s music with respect to American Indian people in the hope that it might help illuminate the problem and perhaps suggest some solutions.

Cortez the Killer is the first song written by Young concerning American Indian people. Its subject is the 1520 conquest of the Aztec empire by a mixed Spanish and American Indian force under Hernán Cortés, the “Cortez” of the title. It debuted on the album Zuma in the fall of 1975.5 When it was composed is in doubt. According to written accounts Young composed Cortez the Killer in 1974, completing it shortly before getting Crazy Horse together to record the album.6 But, others claim that at a concert in 1996 Young said he had written the song in high school.

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