Customer Reviews

Hawks & Doves

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

1980's Hawks & Doves is one of Neil Young's most underrated albums. The follow-up release to Rust Never Sleeps, the album moves away from the power chords to an acoustic base. The album clocks in at less than a half an hour with most of the nine songs at under three minutes. The original album was broken up into two sides, the first side acoustic and the second side with a full country band. "The Old Homestead" is a rambling track with some of the most mysterious lyrics of Mr. Young's career. It's tough to get a sense of where he's going with the song, but it is intriguing none-the-less. "Lost In Space" is the a truly bizarre track complete with vocals from the marine munchkins. "Captain Kennedy" is a the stand-out track on the album. A dark and foreboding song about a young soldier heading to war. While he's on the water approaching shore he remembers his father who was shamed in battle by having the wooden schooner he captained blown up by the Germans. As he's done remembering his father he hopes his fates are different when reaches the shore and he hopes he can kill good. The song is one of Mr. Young's all-time best. The songs with the country band are filled with fiddles and hooting and hollering like a real hoe-down. "Union Man" is funny and the best of the bunch. Hawks & Doves was generally spurned by critics and the public, but it is a fine example of how Neil Young marches to the beat of his own drummer and isn't afraid to follow wherever his muse takes him.

This is a much-overlooked Neil Young classic. Released two years after his triumphant 'Rust Never Sleeps' trilogy of album, film and 'Live Rust' anthology, 'Hawks and Doves' returned to the pre-'Rust Never Sleeps' sounds of 'Comes a Time'. Although the CD closes with a number titled 'Hawks and Doves', it is clear that the title is also an apt description of the aural content of the complete work.

Originally released on vinyl in 1980, side one is the 'Doves' side. It features some lovely acoustic music, especially tracks one and three. 'Little Wing' (not the Jimi Hendrix composition) and 'Lost In Space' occupy a light, airy, stream-of-consciousness perch that few artists ascend to. The longest track on the disc, 'The Old Homestead', is actually a mid-1970's Neil composition. It runs almost eight minutes in length, and contains a great deal of difficult-to-make-sense-of imagery, such as "Just then the sound of hoofbeats was heard, and the sky was darkened by a prehistoric bird, who flew between the unfulfilled moon, and the naked rider to a telephone booth". Like abstract art, you could spend more than a few hours drawing meaning from this one. The closer on side one is 'Captain Kennedy'. I'm not anything near to being an expert in musical structure, but this song sure sounds like a knock-off of The Blind Fiddler, a traditional folk tune used by Stephen Stills on his 1991 'Stills Alone' CD. It's a fine melody and Neil's lyrics are interesting, but I wonder how conscious the similarity is.

While side one sticks with the soft acoustics of Neil's voice and guitar, side two is a country-rock patriotic party... the 'Hawks' side. Interestingly, this album accompanied one of the most desperate times in our nation's history in terms of self-confidence and economic prosperity. Neil gives the nation all it needs with optimistic, upbeat songs such as 'Stayin' Power' ("We got stayin' power, you and I, stayin' power through thick and thin"), 'Coastline' ("we don't back down from no trouble"), 'Union Man' ("I'm proud to be a union man"), 'Comin' Apart at Every Nail' ("Oh this country sure looks good to me"), and 'Hawks and Doves' ("Ready to go, willing to stay and pay, U.S.A., U.S.A."). It's one great album side, with Neil churning and turning up the electric guitar another notch with each song, and the fiddle that just says "down home America" will fetch a smile to your face as it explodes in each song.

Hillary O'Brien deserves special mention for providing exquisite backing vocals on side two of the vinyl version of this album. She plays the Nicolette Larson role from 'Comes a Time' for this memorable set. Also of note is Levon Helm's drums on 'The Old Homestead'.

I'm rating this a four primarily due to the severely limited length of the album. It comes in at under thirty minutes, and eight minutes are devoted to the weakest track on the album. 'Little Wing', 'Stayin' Power', and 'Union Man' barely crack two minutes, so this one is over before you know it. The songs are vintage though, and the liner notes include the lyrics.

It's wonderful that these Neil Young albums are reappearing after years in the vaults. My turntable fizzled more than 10 years ago, and so it has been at least that long since I've heard "Hawks & Doves". Similar to "On the Beach", it's a little disorientating experiencing these albums on CD. LP sides had this way of creating separate worlds and shocking transitions weren't quite so shocking when you had to flip the vinyl disk. This lp worked great on vinyl (and it works great on CD, too): the first 4 songs (the more mellow acoustic numbers) were labeled the "Hawk Side" and the harder songs were on the "Dove Side" (I may have those reversed, it's been a long time). So, conceptually the CD loses out a bit, because the two "sides" run smack into one another. Regardless, it's great to have this album back.

The first 4 songs, as mentioned, are acoustic and tend towards mellow Neil. A long harmonica blast that sucks you in opens the album and releases you into the acoustic setting of "Little Wing". The mood doesn't change (except for some interesting mood swings during "Lost in Space") until "Staying Power". Then the electric set and the rock drums come out. From this point on the album is filled with the sort of sloppy danceable country rock that Neil Young is famous for. The songs are not among his absolute best, but Neil Young fans will likely revel in the mood. In a way this album is really two separate albums fused together, which is why it worked slightly better on two-sided vinyl (but don't even try to take away my CD copy!!!!).

"Hawks & Doves" is a great song musically. The lyrics, and the question of how to interpret them, have probably kept this song obscure. It's often taken to be a celebration of Reaganism or Republicanism, but it can easily be read other ways. The opening lines "Ain't getting old, ain't younger though / Just getting used to the lay of the land / I ain't tongue tied, just don't got nothin' to say / I'm proud to be livin' in the USA". It's hard to nail down a definite interpretation of this: is the song supposed to be sung by a character who isn't very insightful? It's possible. Other lines make it harder to know what's going on: "The big wind blows, so the tall grass bends / But for you don't push too hard my friend". This reads more like a metaphor for "don't rock the boat". Also, the chorus reads: "Ready to go, willin' to stay and pay / USA / USA / So my sweet love can dance another free day / USA / USA". Is she dancing alone? Is the "main character" dead or gone? Did he "stay and pay" so now his wife is alone? There's a lot of ways to read this stuff. Lastly, the line "If you hate us, you just don't know what you're sayin'" could very well be tongue in cheek. Neil Young has done tongue in cheek before, so why not here? Regardless of how you read the lyrics, it's still a great and underrated Neil Young song. Put it on and dance.

This album also stands as a sort of companion piece to "Time Fades Away" (when is THAT ONE COMING OUT!!!?!? THAT'S ONE OF HIS BEST!!!) in that both "Hawks And Doves" and "Time Fades Away" were idiosyncratic albums that followed big successes ("Rust Never Sleeps" and "Harvest", respectively). It's one of the reasons Neil Young is an interesting entertainer: you can't always predict what will come next, and success for Neil has never been in excess. It's underrated and less popular albums like "Hawks And Doves" and "Time Fades Away" (RELEASE IT!!) that have kept Neil going for so long.

Hard to believe that this is the follow-up to the all-time classic "Rust Never Sleeps", but once again Neil confounded everyone with yet another bizarre release ala "American Stars & Bars". Like that album and "Rust" we have two stylistically different sides. Side one, tracks 1-4, consisted of material written and, in some cases, even recorded in '74-'75 and is the more interesting batch of songs. 'Little Wing' is a slight acoustic number w/ shimmering harmonica. 'Old Homestead' is a brilliant and oblique number that recalls classic acoustic Neil travelogues like 'Thrasher' & 'Ambulance Blues'. 'Lost in Space' is the weirdest one on the album, but may be the best. With its underwater sounding guitar, bizarre lyrics, and even children singing at one point, makes this one of the most enjoyable pieces in the Young cannon. 'Captain Kennedy' is a solo Neil story song. The second side, tracks 5-9, was played by a one-off country band assembled by long time Young compatriot, Ben Keith. The hokey honky-tonk songs about family, the working man, and good ol' USA, fit together very nicely but just aren't very strong songs. People must have thought he was crazy singing these just a year after screaming 'Rock and Roll can never die!' on "Rust". One would think the album would be better if he stuck with one style , however, no one knew at the time about the situation with his severely handicapped son which limited his time to write songs and record. Neil would only play one show in 1980 at the Bread & Roses festival...the lone show in a nearly four year period of live inactivity. Worth having in the collection if only for the first four songs.

At a half-hour, this is hardly a bargain purchase, but think of it more like an EP of stray--but still connected--thoughts following the brutal "Rust Never Sleeps" era. The first side of the original album is, as most agree here, the superior one, consisisting of several quiet, mystical hippie-folk numbers that
were actually written and recorded in the mid-70s. The melodicism here is Young at his absolute best, and he could've filled the second side with even more great 70s outtakes from the lost "Homegrown" sessions. Instead, he contrasted the
spacey, meditative nature of the first side with all those
down'n'dirty hoedown country-rock songs, full of empty patriotism and praises for the "simple way of life". He was criticized (as usual) at the time for veering so far from his last work into what seemed like Republican babble, but I see this as Young being *very* ironic and singing from a certain character perspective, rather than his actual thoughts at the time--remember that he is contrasting thoughts and images here, especially with those beautiful, wistful sentiments from side one. His actual "Republican" phase, from '83-'85, was vastly misunderstood, did not last long anyway, and he came back to his old self more vengeful than ever on "Freedom" and "Ragged Glory". "Hawks And Doves" seemed to predict the emotional tension that seethed at the core of the country at the start of the 80s, and is perhaps even more relevant today as that gap has grown much, much wider.

One indication of this album's quality are the thoughtful reviews given to it here by its supporters; rarely on Amazon or anywhere else do the meanings of the words become such a forum for intense discussion, analysis and debate than on the Neil Young pages.

This album, like so many of Neil's best, was panned on release because it followed a hugely successful album in an entirely different genre (not unlike "Time Fades Away" after the pastoral "Harvest"). Neil exhibits his right-wing politics in the last songs of the set, and he was attacked for it but I don't understand why...if a person can be left-wing, what's wrong with being right-wing? Anyway, I heard the second side a lot before getting around to the slower, moodier first, and they are completely seperate, as Neil planned. In this way, the CD is going to lose something from the vinyl, but its a minor detail. This album, like most of the other "Missing 6" (now "Missing 2"), is now regarded by many as one of Neil's best. If you want your Neil collection to be complete, get this and the other three that have been now released. "Re-Ac-Tor" is equally good, and "On the Beach" is arguably his best effort ever.
Analysis of some of the songs is in order.
"The Old Homestead" is a weird stream-of-conciousness number that seems a sequel to "Thrashers," in that he is describing, in symbolic form, his relations with bands he has shared the studio with (although the message is different here).
"Captain Kennedy" is a fantasic, low-key acoustic number which may be about Young's father, who was I believe in the navy in World War II, and the lines spoken by the song's narrator that open and close the album nicely capture the feelings of, well, "a young mariner headed to war."
"Stayin' Power" is a nice number probably written for Young's wife and their son, pledging his intention to stay with them (although I have seen it interpreted as a sappy commitment to Ronald Reagan's down-home American politics, but I disagree). "Coastline" is essentially the same.
"Union Man" is a hilarious swip at, you guessed it, unions. Young lampoons his own union, the AFM (does he even belong to it? Probably not after this) and union concerns and practices in general. Did people who found him too right-wing even listen to this?
"Comin' Apart at Every Nail" is a nice little number about the scarcity of jobs and it appears Young blames it on inadequate border protection (the fences, people slipping by).
"Hawks and Doves" is not as ambiguous as people like to believe. I think it is rather straightforward, sure the patriotism is zealous but what is wrong with patriotism? Besides, the man's Canadian. The lyric "The big wind blows, so the tall grass bends/But for you, don't push to hard my friend" is meant to say to other countries hostile to the U.S. "We're only going to take so much" (remember, this was the time of the Iran hostage crisis). Like I said above, I do not condemn Young for supporting the country or for saying he's proud to live in the USA; he has every right to feel that way even if he did write "Ohio." Besides, for all you who hate his Republicanism, I think "Rockin' in the Free World" was a pretty harsh condemnation of the condition of the country; he was changing with the times.
Well, back to this album. It is a must-own, not only for completists by any means. This and all of the Missing 6 are essential Neil albums (where the hell is "Time Fades Away"?!).
So buy it instantly.

I'll be brief here, although there's a lot to be said for this little record. In the light of Neil's latest, Living with War, it seems appropriate to say a word about "Hawks & Doves," Neil's previous attempt to express his love for the USA. He's ready to go, if he has to, but willing to stay, pay taxes, and support the ideas of personal freedom and personal responsibility (two big Neil themes) that make America such as crazy and hopeful place to live.

And unlike George Bush, Neil really is a "uniter," and sees through the partisan divisions to a common American character. Using the commonplace political associations of American music, Neil sings "Got rock & roll, got country music playin'. If you hate me, you don't know what you're sayin'."

It's all American music, and there's something in us all and at the heart of rock and country music that we share. Chuck Berry and Hank Williams: both hell-raisers at heart, and as American as apple pie. And, his Canadian citizenship notwithstanding, so is Neil Young.

Released in 1980, this album ended up under the radar, and from the sounds of it, a lot of Neil Young fans have tried to disown it altogether. Too bad, because Hawks and Doves is a great listen.

The first half is mostly acoustic with sparse backup which suits the songs perfectly. Little Wing is simple and evocative. It could have been an outtake from After The Gold Rush. The Old Homestead is weird and wonderful, full of extended metaphors that Neil really uses masterfully. Lost In Space is Neil at his most playful. It has some very nice guitar work, and the Marine Munchkins are great. Captain Kennedy is like an unplugged version of Powderfinger, which is to say, one of his very best.

The second half is all countrified, with a little rock and roll thrown into the mix. Not as sloppy as the stuff on American Stars and Bars, and not as forced as Old Ways. Both Staying Power and Coastline are straight forward examinations of Neil's newly found domestic bliss (he was recently married to his current wife). Not his best work, but pleasantly upbeat. Union Man is an absolute riot. I would give all I own to hear this one live.

The last two songs are where I think a lot of Neil Young fans lose interst. Both are terrific songs but signal a definite shift in Neil's politics. While Coming Apart At Every Nails at least shows some moderation, Hawks and Doves is a full bore patriotic stomper. If you want to box Neil in as the political gadfly he may have been in 1970, you might be a little shocked (but then again, that's what you get for wanting to box Neil in). If you're OK with it, you're in for a great ride.

Hawks & Doves is a lovely little NY album, mostly acoustic and another gem from the early 80's. The songs on this album have received little airplay, and Captain Kennedy was covered in "The Bridge - A Tribute to Neil Young" by nikki Sudden & The French Revolution.

Stayin' Power, Union Man, Little Wing, Comin' Apart at Every Nail and Hawks and Doves are all exellent songs on this gem of an album. In my opinion, Hawks and Doves is a very prescient song about the US - Middle East political situation and what would happen in the twenty years to come. Of course, anybody who tries to analyze Mr. Young's lyrics is a fool, but I have my views and I'm stickin by 'em.

A very fine album and a fine addition to any collection. For those of you who are shy of the thunder that Neil can generate, this album is almost entirely acoustic and shouldn't cause any blown speakers.

I got the album in a box of old LPs that I bought at a rummage sale. Such a pleasant find. It's not often that you find conservative opinions in music, but that's not what makes this album good. It sounds like two separate records, both sides being brilliant. I love the fiddle on the second half, and the twanginess of the first half. You don't hear much music like this, and you don't hear too many people that are willing to really sing about what they believe like Neil Young does on this album. Highly reccommended.