"I will keep on singing": Neil Reacts to Reaction
Neil's recent comment that music can't change the world has been met with a pretty strong reaction from around the world.
Many argue that music can change the world while others argue that it never has and never will.
Apparently the reaction to Neil's quote has moved Neil to respond directly on his site N Y Times. Neil writes a post titled "A Song Alone":
"No one song can change the world. But that doesn't mean it's time to stop singing.
Somewhere on Earth a scientist is alone working. No one knows what he or she is thinking. The secret is just within reach. If I knew that answer I would be singing the song.
This is the age of innovation. Hope matters. But not hope alone. In the age of innovation, the people's fuel must be found. That is the biggest challenge. Who is up to the challenge? Who is searching today? All day. All night. Every hour that goes by. I know I am.
My friends write to me don't give up. I am not giving up. I know this is the time for change. But I know that it's not a song. Maybe it was. But it isn't now. It's an action, an accomplishment, a revelation, a new way. I am searching for the people's fuel. Will I find it? Yes. I think so. I don't know why I may have been chosen to help enable a discovery of this magnitude. I know I can only write a song about it when I find it. Until then I can write a song about the search or spend all my time looking. But a song alone will not change the world. Even so, I will keep on singing."
Yes, please, keep on searching. And keep on singing Neil.
Berlin Film Festival, 2/8/08 - Photo by Stephan "Moonshiner"