Neil Young releases Pyramid Stage-ready anthem, ‘Big Change Is Coming’
After making waves in the press for a confusing mix-up surrounding whether he would or wouldn’t headline Glastonbury, Neil Young has returned to remind people what he’s actually all about: music. But not just music; music that dares to stare down politics and turn it into an anthem on ‘Big Change Is Coming’.
The message at hand here is simple: he yells about 50 times, “Big change is coming.” Repeated over and over amidst a mass of all-out, thundering rock and roll, it’s like Neil Young is climbing to the top of a tall tower, grabbing a megaphone and yelling it across the land—a storm warning in song form. Paired with the instrumental, the anthemic effort has a sense of real urgency, as if the artist is pointing to the horizon and demanding everyone to pay attention and act fast.
The song arrives with a music video featuring people clutching an American flag and a radio, and considering the release’s timing only days away from Donald Trump’s inauguration, it’s clear what Young is getting at here. He’s never been unaware of music’s potential to create change.
In 2008, Trump declared himself a fan, telling Rolling Stone, “He’s got something very special. I’ve listened to his music for years.” The two have even met in the past. However, during the most recent US election, Young made his position clear. “Kamala Harris is a good person who is unafraid to take on criminals and uphold the law of the USA. She’s my candidate for the future of this great country,” he wrote in a statement on his website, endorsing the Democratic candidate.
While he didn’t explicitly condemn Trump, he did share a veiled critique as he said, “Kamala Harris – She is an honest, forthright truth-teller who is experienced in the White House, free from ambiguity or evasiveness, who goes straight to the point.”
However, while ‘Big Change Is Coming’ seems to be touching on the topic of the changing office, it skirts around it too. “Big change is coming, you know what you gotta do/ Big change is coming, could be bad or it could be good,” he sings, taking a neutral stance—one that favours virtues rather than political stances. It could be read as weak-willed as if he’s now bowing to the new president with the suggestion of hope. Or, it could be heard as a much-needed dose of optimism as the musician dares to dream that something might work out and that things are possible beyond the divides of politics.
Either way, the song is powerful. It’s big and boisterous, ready-made for the Pyramid Stage and the 120,000-person-wide crowd he’ll be entertaining with this instantly hooking track that feels designed to be chanted by a mass of voices.
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