02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Neil Young's Elon Musk-bashing track is now available to stream
Neil Young has released a studio version of his new politically charged tune 'Lets Roll Again,' announcing a new album that may feature similarly scathing tracks.
The Grammy-winning musician debuted the tune last week at a benefit concert in Los Angeles, drawing attention for jabbing at Tesla founder Elon Musk with the line, 'If you're a fascist, get a Tesla/ It's electric, it doesn't matter.'
The track, released Friday, May 2, marks Young's second officially released song with his new band the Chrome Hearts. Their first album together, the 10-track project 'Talkin to the Trees,' is due out June 13.
A re-write of Woody Guthrie's 'This Land Is Your Land,' 'Lets Roll Again' also targets the American automotive industry, pleading with companies such as Ford and Chrysler to return to responsible manufacturing methods.
Young, a former San Mateo County resident, has long voiced his political beliefs and has championed sustainable automotive technology for years.
He launched Linc Volt Technology to promote retrofitting gas-powered vehicles with clean energy alternatives in 2008 and showed off a 1959 Lincoln Continental converted to run on electric batteries and a biodiesel generator at San Francisco's Dreamforce conference that same year. He has also adapted a Mercedes-Benz and a Hummer to run on used vegetable oil.
After the album's launch, Young and the Chrome Hearts are set to hit the road for their ' Love Earth ' world tour, with plans to stop at Mountain View's Shoreline Amphitheatre on Sept. 12. Though he holds dual Canadian American citizenship, Young has been vocal about his concerns about reentering the country for his U.S. shows given the current political climate.
'When I go to play music in Europe, if I talk about Donald J. Trump, I may be one of those returning to America who is barred or put in jail to sleep on a cement floor with an aluminium blanket,' he wrote on his website last month. 'That's right folks, if you say anything bad about Trump or his administration, you may be barred from re-entering USA.'
His wife, actress Darryl Hannah, noted that Trump's first administration 'tried every trick in the book' to prevent him from obtaining his American citizenship, but said that she thinks he's safe for now.
She and Young just released a new black-and-white concert film called ' Neil Young: Coastal,' which was directed by Hannah and hit theaters April 1.
