Neil Young - The monsanto years, album (2015)

"Monsanto Years"

You never know what the future holds in the shallow soil of Monsanto, Monsanto

The moon is full and the seeds are sown while the farmer toils for Monsanto, Monsanto

When these seeds rise they're ready for the pesticide

And Roundup comes and brings the poison tide of Monsanto, Monsanto

The farmer knows he's got to grow what he can sell, Monsanto, Monsanto

So he signs a deal for GMOs that makes life hell with Monsanto, Monsanto

Every year he buys the patented seeds

Poison-ready they're what the corporation needs, Monsanto

When you shop for your daily bread and walk the aisles of Safeway, Safeway

Find the package to catch your eye that makes you smile at Safeway, at Safeway

Choose a picture of an old red barn on a field of green

With the farmer and his wife and children to complete the scene at Safeway, at Safeway

Dreams of the past come flooding back to the farmer's mind, his mother and father

Family seeds they used to save were gifts from God, not Monsanto, Monsanto

Their own child grows ill near the poisoned crops

While they work on, they can't find an easy way to stop, Monsanto, Monsanto

Don't care now what the Bible said so long ago not Monsanto, Monsanto

Give us this day our daily bread and let us not go with Monsanto, Monsanto

The seeds of life are not what they once were

Mother Nature and God don't own them anymore

The Monsanto Years is the thirty-sixth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young, released on June 29, 2015 on Reprise Records. A concept album criticizing agribusiness Monsanto, the album is a collaboration with Willie Nelson's sons Lukas and Micah, alongside Lukas' bandmates in Promise of the Real.

"A Rock Star Bucks A Coffee Shop"

If you don't like to rock Starbucks A coffee shop

Well you better change your station 'cause that ain't all that we got

Yeah, I want a cup of coffee but I don't want a GMO

I like to start my day off without helping Monsanto

Monnnnnn-sannnnnn-toooooooo

Let our farmers grow what they want to grow

From the fields of Nebraska to the banks of the Ohio

The farmers won't be free to grow what they want to grow

When corporate control takes over the American farm

With fascist politicians and chemical giants walking arm in arm

Monnnnnn-sannnnnn-toooooooo

Let our farmers grow what they want to grow

When the people of Vermont wanted to label food with GMOs

So that they could find out what was in what the farmer grows

Monsanto and Starbucks through the Grocery Manufacturers Alliance

They sued the state of Vermont to overturn the people's will

Monnnnnn-sannnnnn-toooooooo (and Starbucks)

Mothers want to know what they feed their children

Monnnnnn-sannnnnn-toooooooo

Let our farmers grow what they want to grooooooow

"A Rock Star Bucks a Coffee Shop" is a protest song aimed at Starbucks and Monsanto recorded by Neil Young that has attracted world-wide attention. It is a criticism of Starbucks. It's about Starbucks and its alleged use of GM food. The lyrics include "I want a cup of coffee but I don't want a GMO," Young sings. "I'd like to start my day off without helping Monsanto." In the song there were references to the lawsuit by Monsanto which is against Vermont because the state and its attempt to pass a GMO labeling law. It also mentions “the poison tide of Monsanto” and about a farmer who signs a GMO deal. In a brief review on the song, Stephan Schmidt of The National in the Singles Roundup said: The album’s opening track, A Rock Star Bucks a Coffee Shop, does not pull any punches, attacking Starbucks as well as Monsanto and suggesting Young has not lost his appetite for tackling the big issues of the moment

An acoustic version of the song was debuted in Maui, Hawaii by Young and his backing band called The Promise of The Real. The reason for it being done there was to bring to attention the attention to Monsanto’s destructive practices in Hawaii. Paul Towers of the Pesticide Action Network said that Hawaii was the global epicenter for GMO seed testing.