Neil Young has gifted his music to Greenland
Keep on rockin’ in the free (for now) world
Neil Young has made no secret of his disdain for Donald Trump. The Toronto-born singer—who became a dual citizen in 2020 so that he could vote in the American presidential election—has been clapping back at the current POTUS for years now, starting in 2015 when Young demanded that Trump stop using “Rockin’ in the Free World” during his campaign.
Last year, Young released a new single, “Big Crime”—a diss track about the Trump administration. Now he’s offering his support to the people of Greenland by way of free access to his music and video catalogue for a year.
Related: Some of ICE’s armoured vehicles were made in Brampton
You know Greenland—the autonomous Danish island that Trump has been threatening to take over when he’s not too busy threatening Canada. The situation appears to have calmed down a bit over the past few days (i.e., a dialling back of occupation plans—for now). Still, the way Young sees it, it can’t be easy having a wannabe dictator toy with your homeland like a cat swatting around one of those mice on a stick.
Nothing soothes an anxious soul quite like the open chords of “After the Gold Rush” or “Helpless.” Or, if you’re looking for more fist-pumping protest vibes, “Ohio.”
Related: Mark Carney and Doug Ford patched things up in a Pizza Nova
“I hope my music and music films will ease some of the unwarranted stress and threats you are experiencing from our unpopular and hopefully temporary government. It is my sincere wish for you to be able to enjoy all of my music in your beautiful Greenland home, in its highest quality,” Young wrote on his website, where Greenlanders can download his entire catalogue.
The offer comes just a few days after he re-upped his commitment to boycotting Amazon via an open editorial on his website: “Amazon is owned by Jeff Bezos, a billionaire backer of the president. The president’s international policies and his support for ICE make it impossible for me to ignore his actions. If you feel as I do, I strongly recommend that you do not use Amazon.”
Young already removed his catalogue from Amazon Music last fall, encouraging music lovers to buy direct and buy local. Of course, in a world divided, this kind of activism is not going to appeal to everyone. But guess how many Fs Neil gives?
Courtney Shea is a freelance journalist in Toronto. She started her career as an intern at Toronto Life and continues to contribute frequently to the publication, including her 2022 National Magazine Award–winning feature, “The Death Cheaters,” her regular Q&As and her recent investigation into whether Taylor Swift hung out at a Toronto dive bar (she did not). Courtney was a producer and writer on the 2022 documentary The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, based on her 2014 Toronto Life magazine feature “The Yorkville Swindler.”
