"Throw Your Hatred Down"

Was Neil Young's 9/24/24 encore a message to all of us?

From what it says on YouTube, this stirring live version of “Throw Your Hatred Down” was performed by Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts on September 24 at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, New York.

Reportedly — I wasn’t there — it was the encore for the second night. Now you never know about an encore. It can be something to send fans off into the night or it can be sort of like a benediction. Given the increasingly heated political climate around us, even back in September, was Neil speaking to all of us?

Telling all of us to THROW YOUR HATRED DOWN?

And maybe it’s a reach but since Neil has endorsed Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris and actually sued Donald Trump in 2020 to stop him from using “Keep On Rockin’ In The Free World,” was Neil saying something to the masses, about all this hate-filled political speech?

You may remember back in 2020, Neil wrote a blistering letter to Donald Trump, where he called him “a disgrace to my country.” And he added…“Your mindless destruction of our shared nature resources, our environment and our relationship with friends around the world in unforgiveable.:

If you’ve followed Neil’s long career, you know that he’s wandered, sometimes jumped feet-first into politics, starting with his famous protest song “Ohio” written after the shooting at Kent State back in 1970.

Famously, and somewhat contradictorily, he came out supporting Ronald Reagan in the mid-80’s in the middle of his brief excursion into country music, “Old Ways.”

In 2006, he turned up the heat even more bluntly in 2006 with “Let’s Impeach the President,” a cut from his “Living With War” concept album, which he supported with a Crosby, Stills and Nash tour. He caught a lot of heat and certainly fired up the South, as revealed on the DVD Young released after the tour. He got some Georgia fans really upset, but made sure to include their comments in the DVD of the tour. That’s Neil.

Though CSNY certainly had their hands — and voices — into politics before: “Find The Cost Of Freedom” (among many others), CS and N seemed a little surprised by the intensity of the anger from the audience, as revealed on the DVD. Neil was ready to move on — and he did.

So, while Bruce Springsteen actually performed at a Georgia rally, Beyonce made an appearance (but did not sing) and Taylor Swift made a very public announcement of her support for Kamala Harris and Neil did post his endorsement on his Neil Young Archives site, he hasn’t performed at any rallies in support of her. Not yet anyway.

The song, “Throw Your Hatred Down” was written in early 1995 when Neil was recording an album with Pearl Jam. (An album that I love, btw.) And the lyrics do seem to fit the moment.

THROW YOUR HATRED DOWN

Here in the conscious world, we place our theories down
Why man must bring us to our knees
Before he sees the weakness of his sinful plan
The power in his hand will never touch a friend
Throw your hatred down Meanwhile in the underworld, the weaknesses are seen
By peasants and presidents who plan the counter-scheme
Children in the schoolyard finish choosing teams
Divided by their dreams while a TV screams Throw your weapons down
The wheel of fortune keeps on rollin' down
The street that's paved with sinful plans
There but for circumstance may go you or I
Dressed in gold lame, find a place to stay Throw your hatred down
Throw your weapons down

The surging, churning music of this song, as recorded with Pearl Jam and then played with the Chrome Hearts that September night, the way the 78-year-old Young rocks out on this song it’s as if he’d wrote it that morning. Elsewhere on that “Mirror Ball” album, he sings “People my age don’t do the things I do.” This clip proves it.

So, if it WAS a benediction, a blessing, a caution, a plea that the ol’ guy was sharing with the world, it came at a pretty appropriate time. Listen to the man play — and note the little riff from “Tonight’s The Night” in the middle of his solo — he’s a long way from fading away.

And “Tonight’s the Night”? Well, November 5 will BE the night, after all. Hope you all get out and vote.