Eco-communities as a social vision

Eco-communities as a social vision
Egalitarian and ecological communities, like the pictured East Wind (www.eastwind.org), are very close to our vision of an ecological society

12 November, 2015

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.