Young’s (Pagan) Heart of Gold

Esquire magazine’s “What I’ve Learned” segment focuses this month on legendary folk-rocker Neil Young. In it Young pretty much outs himself as a Pagan.

“I really didn’t know what God was. But I did know about Sunday school. I was reading a lot about God, but I was bored. I couldn’t wait to get out of Sunday school. God was secondary to the whole thing. But as time went by, I got more and more angry, to the point where I didn’t like religion. Hate is a strong word. But I just kept getting angrier and angrier . . . until finally I wasn’t angry anymore. I was just peaceful, because I thought: This is not fruitful for me. I rejected the whole thing and found peace in paganism. Jesus didn’t go to church. I went way back before Jesus. Back to the forest, to the wheat fields, to the river, to the ocean. I go where the wind is. That’s my church.”

A new concert film of Young, “Neil Young: Heart of Gold”, has recently been released. I doubt we will see any nature-worshipping in it, but I’m sure it will be an enjoyable viewing experience nonetheless.