Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts played Chicago’s Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island on Wednesday evening, and near the end of the main set, they debuted a brand new song entitled “Big Crime” that absolutely scorches Donald Trump and his federal takeover of Washington, DC.
“Don’t need no fascist rules,” Young sings. “Don’t want no fascist school/Don’t want soldiers on our streets/There’s big crime in DC at the White House…No more money to the fascists/the billionaire fascists/Time to blackout the system.”
Video of the public performance has yet to hit YouTube, but Young posted audio of the soundcheck rendition along with the lyrics on the Neil Young Archives. Head here to check it out.
“Big Crime” is the only tune in the set that makes specific reference to Trump and his policies, but there are numerous protest songs – including “Be The Rain,” “Southern Man,” “Ohio,” and “Sun Green” – that show exactly where Young’s head is at right now.
Earlier this year, Young voiced concerns that he wouldn’t be let back into America following a European tour because of his public opposition to Trump’s immigration policies. “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 aluminum blanket,” he wrote on the Neil Young Archives. “That is happening all the time now. Countries have new advice for those returning to America …If you say anything bad about Trump or his administration, you may be barred from re-entering USA if you are Canadian. If you are a dual citizen like me, who knows? We’ll all find that out together.”
A few weeks later, he responded to Trump’s public assaults on Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen. “Bruce and thousands of musicians think you are ruining America,” Young wrote. “You worry about that instead of the dyin’ kids in Gaza. That’s your problem. I am not scared of you. Neither are the rest of us. You shut down FEMA when we needed it most. That’s your problem Trump. STOP THINKING ABOUT WHAT ROCKERS ARE SAYING. Think about saving America from the mess you made. Taylor Swift is right. So is Bruce. You know how I feel.”
Bizarrely, Trump is a big Neil Young fan who has seen him in concert on several occasions. “He’s got something very special,” Trump told Rolling Stone in 2008. “I’ve listened to his music for years. His voice is perfect and haunting. I’ve met him on occasions and he’s a terrific guy.”
Young’s tour continues Friday night at Milwaukee’s BMO Pavilion, and wraps up September 20 at Farm Aid’s 40th anniversary concert at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, where he’ll share the bill with Kenny Chesney, Dave Matthews, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, and Steve Earle.
The complete “Big Crime” lyrics:
No more great again
No – no more great again
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
Don’t need no fascist rules
Don’t want no fascist schools
Don’t want soldiers on our streets
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
Got to get the fascists out
got to Clean the white house out
Don’t want soldiers on our streets
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
No more great again
No – no more great again
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
No more money to the fascists
the billionaire fascists
TIME TO BLACKOUT THE SYSTEM
no more great again
No – no more great again
TIME TO BLACKOUT THE SYSTEM
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
NO MORE GREAT AGAIN
No NO MORE GREAT AGAIN
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
There’s big crime in DC at THE White House
NO MORE GREAT AGAIN
NO NO MORE GREAT AGAIN
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.rollingstone.com ’
