Watch Neil Young resurrect deep cut ‘This Note’s For You’ on stage for the first time in almost 30 years
Neil Young has performed his deep cut ‘This Note’s For You’ live on stage for the first time in almost three decades, taking aim at the music industry’s corporate ties.
During the encore for his concert at the Budweiser Stage in Toronto on August 17th, Young reeled out the 1988 tune, marking the first time he had performed it in any live capacity since back in 1997.
The song, which was released at a time when the music industry was increasingly turning its head towards commercialism, is a direct reference to a Budweiser advertising campaign at the time called ‘This Bud’s For You’. Subsequently, since he was performing on the Budweiser Stage, Young was taking direct aim at the venue’s corporate connections.
Due to its referencing of companies such as Pepsi, Miller and Coca Cola – also taking into account its jibe towards the latter’s ‘The Real Thing’ campaign – ‘This Note’s For You’ caused controversy at the time of its release, and was banned from being played by MTV.
At the time, Young’s manager Elliot Roberts wrote an open letter to the network, stating: “You refuse to play ‘This Note’s for You’ because you’re afraid to offend your sponsors. What does the ‘M’ in MTV stand for: music or money? Long live rock and roll.” This led to the ban eventually being overturned.
Young’s inclusion of the song in his most recent set comes as he is on a roll of unearthing obscure deep cuts during his tour with his band The Chrome Hearts, with whom he headlined Glastonbury in June.
He played his new song ‘Silver Eagle’ in Ohio on August 15th, as the first live performance of a track from his latest album, Talkin to the Trees, and has also performed the likes of ‘Mr Soul’, ‘The Loner’, ‘Ohio’, and ‘Tumblweed’ over the course of his current run of shows.
Young will perform a second gig on the Budweiser Stage on August 19th.
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