Neil Young famously blasted corporate sponsorship invading rock and roll in the 1988 song “This Note’s For You,” and it appears that he’s still not happy about it.
During his show Sunday night, he performed the song during his encore, which according to setlist.fm marked the first time he’s performed the track since 1997. The song directly calls out corporations like Coke, Pepsi and Budweiser in its lyrics. The choice to add it to his set Sunday was notable as he was headlining a venue sponsored by a corporation, the Budweiser Stage in Toronto.
“This Note’s For You” was the subject of some controversy when the song was released. The title was inspired by Budweiser’s “This Bud’s For You” campaign, and the video for the track parodied popular ads that featured music and appearances by artists like Eric Clapton, Genesis and others, and included impersonators of Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson.
MTV initially refused to air it but the network eventually added it to the rotation and it went on to win video of the year at the 1989 MTV VMAs.
And Young fans in Canada may get to hear him perform the song again. He’s set to play the Budweiser Stage in Toronto again on Tuesday.
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