Keep On Driving In The Free World

By Ben Liew  •  08 May 2009 in JUICE ♥

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Here’s one for the road. Rebel rousing rockman Neil Young’s pimped up hybrid ride is the inspiration for his latest album Fork In The Road. With the help of mechanic Jonathan Goodwin, the folk rock singer-songwriter has managed to retool his 1959 Lincoln Continental to run entirely on alternative energy. A documentary produced by Larry Johnson will follow Young and his electric car in its first long-distance trip to Washington, DC as a form of protest.

Fork In The Road is a series of songs that are loosely associated with the Lincvolt project which aims to develop a viable electric energy power system for automobiles. Young himself is no stranger to eco-friendly lyrics, themes of environmentalist spirituality and activism. Dubbed as the “Godfather of Grunge”, Young’s previous albums, such as Greendale and Living With War, gained him a much younger fanbase including Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder.

On Fork In The Road, Young is in usual form as he tackles today’s issues bluntly, from endless traffic jams to the credit crunch, with memorable lines such as “There’s a bailout coming / But it’s not for me…” and “Keep on blogging / Until the power goes out”, one should expect a 2nd round of rejuvenation for the old folker.

So the next time you’re filling her up at the petrol station, stop and consider Young’s notion of the “Awesome power of electricity / Stored for you in a giant battery”, for the death of driving is still far, far away…