“Degraded”: the genre that Neil Young thought ruined rock
The core meaning of rock and roll has always been about slightly outsider music. As much as people can try to shape their sound into whatever they want to, the core meaning of the genre was about rebelling against the kind of monotonous sounds that people heard on the radio whenever the smooth stylings of Bing Crosby came on. While Neil Young could certainly appreciate all kinds of music, he felt that this one genre fundamentally ruined what rock and roll was supposed to be.
Because looking at what Young did, nothing he has ever released has been about going along with the norm. He had a few genres he liked to dip in and out of, like hard rock and country, but the lion’s share of his material was about playing whatever he was feeling at the time and not apologising for one second.
Then again, that kind of attitude is always enticing. No matter how many people like the idea of playing for the masses, the art of someone playing only for themselves is enough to gain some respect amongst fellow musicians, but not even Young seemed prepared for how big his audience got.
Once albums like Harvest began taking off and the success of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young began, he was already starting to reel back a little bit. Despite many people loving his twists and turns, albums like Trans and Landing on Water aren’t exactly the work of someone who loves the idea of selling out to the masses.
At the same time, the version of rock and roll that Young saw back in the day might not exist anymore. Looking through the 1970s, the genre managed to get folded in with pop at some of the time, leading to many artists writing songs to get signed rather than quoting something that was in their heart.
Even though they arguably became more successful, Young thought that the rising pop genres were responsible for killing off rock’s credibility, saying, “What has degraded what we now call “rock and roll” is not rock in itself, but rather “pop”. Commercial product. It’s an imitation, a pale resemblance of what it once was. It’s Perry Como compared to real rock. You remember how it started? There was real rock, then that other music that everyone listened to. Today, our parents listen to rock. It’s over.”
If anything, the main figures carrying on rock’s values in the modern age are punk rockers who live to rebel against the system. Even if they don’t follow all the tropes of traditional rock and roll, they never lose the values of making music intended to go against the grain.
While it might be nice for different generations to come together for a rock concert, Young knows better than anyone that the genre wasn’t about pleasing the parents. It was about subverting everyone’s expectations, and when bands started crossing the line into being pop stars first and musicians second, that’s when Young jumped off the bandwagon.
