Only as Young as you feel

I watched Neil Young in the Jonathan Demme movie Heart of Gold tonight, and it's a real keeper. Neil is in fine form, with his unique vocal style and raw lyrical genius. He has a knack for crafting profound insights out of simple words. I know this has been out for two years, but if you haven't seen it it is worth going back to. The newer songs are wonderful, and the old tunes, going back four decades to his days with Buffalo Springfield, seem as fresh and urgent as they did when I first heard them. This is a quieter, more introspective performance than some of his more rockin' works, but every bit as full of emotion and powerful, and Demme's understated style works wonderfully with this fine performer's style.

One of the songs really struck a chord with me (pun intended), as it did when I got the "Prairie Wind" CD, which most of the material in the movie is from. It's called "When God Made Me', and it is one of the most beautiful evocations of faith and belief in a power greater than us in this world.

Was he thinking about my country
Or the colour of my skin?
Was he thinking about my religion
And the way I worshipped him?
Did he create just me in His image
Or every living thing?
When God made me
When God made me

Was He planning only for believers
Or for those who just had faith?
Did he envision all the wars
That were fought in His name?
Did he think there was only one way
To be close to Him?
When God made me
When God made me

Did He give us the gift of love
To say that we could choose?
When God made me
When God made me
When God made me
When God made me

Did He give me the gift of voice
So some could silence me?
Did He give me the gift of vision
Not knowing what I might see?
Did He give me the gift of compassion
To help my fellow men?
When God made me
When God made me
When God made me
When God made me

Thanks for that Neil. It is a gorgeously clear antidote to the fundamentalist hatred that has gotten all the attention lately.