When Neil Young took the stage at his concert in New York on Saturday, August 23, he treated fans to a performance of a song he hasn't played live in more than three decades: "Long Walk Home."
The last time the 79-year-old music legend played the controversial tune was 1989, but it sounds like he feels audiences need it more now than ever — especially after he switched up the lyrics to make it even more relevant to what's going on in the world today.
As RollingStone reported, rather than singing the song's original lyrics, "From Vietnam to old Beirut/If we are searching for the truth/Why do we feel that double-edged blade/Cutting through our hand," this time around, Young sang, "From Canada to Old Ukraine/We broke our word and left the pain/Why do we feel that double-edged blade/Cutting through our hand.”
It's no surprise that Young would choose this moment to call attention to the ongoing Russia/Ukraine war, considering how politically minded the singer has always been.
Young later ended his concert with a performance of “Rockin’ in the Free World,” chanting, "Take America back!"
Neil Young Has Always Used "Long Walk Home" to Send a Political Message
When "Long Walk Home" was first released, he wanted to make it clear that he had never blindly supported then-president Ronald Reagan.
"I was never a Reagan supporter in a total blanket sense. I was one of those who felt that some ideas he had were good ideas," he told MTV in 1990. "He had one point that he was stressing in the first six months of his job that he thought the people in the communities and neighborhoods should pull together and try to do things on their own more than depending on government to do it for them."
In recent months, Young has continued to show his support for Ukraine, though he did have to cancel a free show he planned to perform there earlier this year due to safety concerns.
“We had a good venue, close to a shelter, but the changing situation on the ground was too much," he explained in a message to fans he shared in March 2025, via Deadline. "I could not in good conscience take my crew and instruments into that area. My apologies to all. Ukraine is a great country with a good leader. Slava Ukraini.”
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