Last night’s Late Show With Stephen Colbert featured some extended interviews with Neil Young, touching upon several of his belief systems regarding modern day America. The conversation begins with why he’s against agrochemical company Monsanto, when Colbert relays the results of a recent study that found no difference between the health of people that consume genetically modified food and those who do not.
“That must be a Monsanto study that didn’t notice the terrible diseases and all of the things that are happening,” Young defended. “Why these things have been banned throughout Europe and throughout the world. Why 38 countries banned GMOs; they didn’t just label them. They’re concerned, those governments, about the people that live in the country. They want to protect them.”
Soon after, a life-size corn barged onto the stage accusing Neil Young of “labeling” him for being genetically modified. “I don’t generally like to label things, but you’re so dangerous and you’re dangerous to me personally and my family and the rest of the planet,” Young explained, ultimately causing the corn to explode with anger. The hilarious cameo brings an important message to viewers, as Young sports his “Earth” shirt (also the name of his upcoming LP) and details the importance of national health. Watch how it goes down below:
The conversation transitioned to a discussion about love, Bernie Sanders, his upcoming live LP Earth, and Pono, his online high resolution music service that Young describes as “even better than a Tolblerone” for your ears (watch below). The conversation took a turn into the current state of the music industry, where he explains, that “albums are not happening anymore.” Young continues, “It’s all about albums being a ripoff and only one song is good on the album so that’s all you need to get … Singles are great; it’s just that there is more to it than singles. There’s more to love than the first kiss.”
Prior to the televised interview, Colbert made a stop by Young’s dressing room to get the scoop on his controversy with Donald Trump, where he used Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” without permission. When asked why he wouldn’t allow for Trump to use the song during his campaign rallies, Young responds, “the misogyny and the racism … those two key facts are something you can’t really ignore.”