Wow‚ sometimes when you're feeling crappy‚ Mr.Young is the only thing that can perk you up. I don't know about anybody else‚ but I honestly love Living With War. When it first came out it seemed a little too direct‚ but now it's one of my most listened to Neil Young albums. Tons of great ones on there‚ but I'm a huge sucker for slow‚ sad songs‚ and "Roger and Out" is one of his best. A really great song is one that despite you directly knowing it to be about one thing‚ it grabs hold of your heart by reminding you of something else all together. I was never a kid in Vietnam‚ but this songs still gets me‚ hard.
"Sometimes the songs that we hear are just songs of our own" - when Robert Hunter wrote that in "Eyes of the World" he wasn't referring to The Grateful Dead playing their own music. He was talking about how some songs‚ some music when you hear it‚ you make it your own - it becomes connected to you in only your way‚ and truly becomes yours.
Neil did a whole video series on the recording of Living With War but this is my favorite clip. Check out 2:30 when he's talking to the backup singers‚ he's a friggin magician. Or at 3:45 when his own drummer starts talking to him - classic stuff.