# How in the blue fuck has Neil Young gotten as far as he has? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 29, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000 "2003-04-29T21:05:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000/1 "2003-04-29T21:05:03Z")
I’m sitting here in my office and Harvest Moon comes on the radio. **What the FUCK is that man doing**? It certainly isn’t _singing_, at least not in any sense that any other professional vocalist would do. I dug into the back of the awesome supercomputer that is **bernse’s** mind. I have come to the conclusion that the man must be physically incapable to hold a tune, or at the very least be tone deaf as I cannot think of a single song that he was able to completely sing in key. The idiots of American Idol should be clammering to sing his songs as they would all sound like the gods were singing compared to him. HOWEVER, I am **not** saying he is not a musican. I suspect he can play the axe (or some other insturment) pretty damn well. However, the man sings like an elephant is standing on his testicles while he does it. I cannot imagine how anyone would think he is pleasant to listen to. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000/2 "2003-04-29T21:09:33Z")
Wow **bernse** - two pit threads in a week! Neil is just continuing the tradition of successful Canadian musicians that aren’t particularly good singers: Leonard Cohen (a personal fave) Brian Adams (could the man’s voice be any more grating?) Cory Heart (OK but sings through his nose) Celine Dion (OK, she can sing but she’s really absurdly rediculous) You see where I’m going here? ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000/3 "2003-04-29T21:11:41Z")
Well, that’s your opinion, and since this is the Pit, I have say I respectfully fucking disagree. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000/4 "2003-04-29T21:16:57Z")
> [@](#): > > I have say I respectfully fucking disagree And you are certainly allowed to, no matter how wrong you are. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000/5 "2003-04-29T21:21:07Z")
Neil & Jimi were seated next to each other on the singing suck bus. Nevertheless, I’ll listen to either all day long. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000/6 "2003-04-29T21:29:42Z")
> [@](#): > > How in the blue fuck has Neil Young gotten as far as he has? Back when a wonderful simple song was worth something Neil wrote a lot of them and he made a lot of people a lot of money. So they let him sing. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000/7 "2003-04-29T21:32:25Z")
If you do not “get” Neil Young, I question your musical knowledge and sophistication. Also, I feel sorry for you. Same thing with Bob Dylan. ---
**Author:** ![birdgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/51bf81/32.png) [@birdgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/birdgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000/8 "2003-04-29T21:38:01Z")
You obviously have not heard the entirety of Neil Young’s work. What you hear on the radio is only a fraction of what he has done. I absolutely love Neil Young, and his unique voice is one reason why! And yes he is also a great musician and songwriter. So bernse, what kind of music do you like? ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000/9 "2003-04-29T21:38:19Z")
Pardon? You have to be _sophisticated_ to appreciate someone that can’t hold a tune to save their life? Man, I feel sorry for _you_. Tell you what, we’ve got a Christmas CD of jingle-cats somewhere. They sound marginally similar to Neil Young, IMHO, but maybe I’m just not _sophisticated_ enough to appreciate it. I’ll send it to you. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000/10 "2003-04-29T21:43:45Z")
Have to respectfully disagree with the OP. Young may not have the greatest voice in the world, but it is a voice that, to me at least, sounds perfectly suited for the songs that he sings. I also think he’s an excellent songwriter. _Harvest_ was a sensational album, and he’s done a heap of great stuff over the last three decades or so. ---
**Author:** ![thatDDperson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@thatDDperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thatDDperson)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000/11 "2003-04-29T21:44:53Z")
Neil and Bob and Willie all write well. Their voices are an acquired taste. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000/12 "2003-04-29T21:45:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lainaf \* > **If you do not “get” Neil Young, I question your musical knowledge and sophistication.** And I think people who call others “unsophisticated” because they don’t like a certain musician are elitist jerkoffs. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_of\_the\_CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Earl\_of\_the\_CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_of_the_CC)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000/13 "2003-04-29T21:48:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lainaf \* > \*\*If you do not “get” Neil Young, I question your musical knowledge and sophistication. Also, I feel sorry for you. Same thing with Bob Dylan. \*\* Well, that’s some elitist self-fellating if I’ve seen it. Anyone who disagrees with you is neither knowledgable or sophisticated. Fascinating. What are your other infallable opinions? Oh wait… I don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000/14 "2003-04-29T21:48:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by birdgirl \* > \*\*You obviously have not heard the entirety of Neil Young’s work. What you hear on the radio is only a fraction of what he has done. \*\* **birdgirl** - I do have to point out that **bernse** and I are both in Canada, where the CRTC has mandated that a minimum percentage of music played has to be Canadian content. For a long, long time, that meant radio stations in Canada had to play a hulluva lot of Rush (Getty Lee - another successful Canadian musician that can’t sing), The Guess Who and, yes, Neil Young. Trust me - Canadian radio plays _WAAAAY_ more Neil Young than US stations do - I’m sure **bernse** has heard plenty. ---
**Author:** ![Fingolfin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eada6e/32.png) [@Fingolfin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fingolfin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000/15 "2003-04-29T21:49:43Z")
Who cares if he doesn’t have a pretty voice. The man is one of the best songwriters of all-time, and he is a killer guitar player. You should be buried up to your neck in a Fire Ant hole for making statements like that about a living legend! ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000/16 "2003-04-29T21:50:25Z")
> [@](#): > > You obviously have not heard the entirety of Neil Young’s work Absolutely. But if that is the case, why do all of his “popular” songs appear to be sung out of tune? > [@](#): > > So bernse, what kind of music do you like? Well, what I consider a fairly broad cross section, really. My CD collection has a lot of 80-90s light and heavy rock, light listening (IE-Roger Whittiker) and Classical (Mozart, J.S Bach, Bethoveen, etc) Question (since I am obviously not a Neil Young fan): Does he sing that badly on purpose? ---
**Author:** ![Fingolfin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eada6e/32.png) [@Fingolfin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fingolfin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000/17 "2003-04-29T22:07:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bernse \* > \*\*Absolutely. But if that is the case, why do all of his “popular” songs appear to be sung out of tune? > > Question (since I am obviously not a Neil Young fan): Does he sing that badly on purpose? \*\* Well then, I guess you also hate **The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix, Motorhead, etc. etc.**. We’re talking Rock-n-Roll here. In the world of Rock, perfect pitch and singing in tune are not always a part of the equation. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000/18 "2003-04-29T22:17:46Z")
The painful part, for me at least, is that it sounds like he is _trying_ to sing in tune. Think of _Harvest Moon_. You can almost hear him struggling to keep the odd note he actually hits. The raspy vocals of for example, Brian Johnson of AC/DC are a loud, shouting vocal and that is the way it is meant to be. And even then, he is at least hitting his notes. Something that Mr. Young seems to have the utmost difficulty doing. BTW - I will not _knock_ his songwriting ability. God knows I couldn’t write a decent song to save _my_ life. I just think I could probably hit better notes with my farts than he can with his voice. ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000/19 "2003-04-29T22:21:07Z")
**Fingolfin** is right. But you know who can’t sing, and should never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever open his throat to the public ear again?? John Ashcroft, that’s who. You wanna get fired up about crappy singing, John Ashcroft is the man, the pinnacle, the _sine qua non_ of digestive vocalization. He sounds like a sick hound in bagpipe sack rolling down a bumpy hill. I heard him only once and I will never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never get the memory of that quavering desecration of wind out of my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Fingolfin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eada6e/32.png) [@Fingolfin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fingolfin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000/20 "2003-04-29T22:25:52Z")
[looks at FranticMad] Is that the dude from **The Verve**? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-in-the-blue-fuck-has-neil-young-gotten-as-far-as-he-has/172000.md?page=2)