Monsanto Years

Album: The Monsanto Years (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is the title track of The Monsanto Years, a protest album against controversial agricultural company Monsanto and several other corporations. Young, a founder of Farm Aid, has been vocal for some time about his opposition to Monsanto, which is a leading producer of genetically modified seed (GMOs) and the herbicide glyphosate, which it markets under the Roundup brand. However, while the singer is opposed to the agricultural giant as a whole, he says that he's not trying to hurt any individual. "I don't really have anything against the human beings working at Monsanto," Young told Rolling Stone. "But Monsanto is the poster child for the problems we're having with the corporate government."
  • A representative of Monsanto responded to Young's criticism telling Billboard magazine, "Many of us at Monsanto have been and are fans of Neil Young. Unfortunately, for some of us, his current album may fail to reflect our strong beliefs in what we do every day to help make agriculture more sustainable. We recognize there is a lot of misinformation about who we are and what we do - and unfortunately several of those myths seem to be captured in these lyrics."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

James Bond Theme Songs

James Bond Theme SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the 007 theme songs?

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)Songwriter Interviews

"Come On Eileen" was a colossal '80s hit, but the band - far more appreciated in their native UK than stateside - released just three albums before their split. Now, Dexys is back.

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")Song Writing

Wes Edwards takes us behind the scenes of videos he shot for Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and Chase Bryant. The train was real - the airplane was not.

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," Kiss

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," KissSong Writing

After cutting his teeth on hardcore punk videos, Paul defined the grunge look with his work on "Hunger Strike" and "Man in the Box."

Spooner Oldham

Spooner OldhamSongwriter Interviews

His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."