Neil Young and Beck, old men.NBC is reaping a Harvest off a Neil Young song, and the singer-songwriter doesn’t seem to be happy about it. NBC debuted an ad for next week’s Sunday Night Football game on September 25, soundtracked by an acoustic cover by Beck of Young’s 1972 song “Old Man.” (If you like it, Beck also released a full version of the cover.) Young has taken a career-long anti-commercial stance, and the ad sure seemed to bother him. After the ad’s debut, Young posted a still from his 1988 music video for “This Note’s for You” to Instagram of himself and a bottle reading “Sponsored by Nobody.” (“Ain’t singin’ for Pepsi / Ain’t singin’ for Coke / I don’t sing for nobody / Makes me look like a joke,” Young sings on that song.)
View this post on InstagramHow did this happen? The NBC spot came after Young sold 50 percent of the rights to his catalogue to Hipgnosis, a song fund that’s been buying up legacy-music rights over the past few years. At the time, founder Merck Mercuriadis assured that the fund would stay true to Young’s views in how it used his music. “We have a common integrity, ethos and passion born out of a belief in music and these important songs,” he said at the time. “There will never be a ‘Burger of Gold,’ but we will work together to make sure everyone gets to hear them on Neil’s terms.” Based on that Instagram post, we’d guess things didn’t quite go down on Neil’s terms.
And as for why NBC even needed a Neil Young song for all this? Well, next Sunday night’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers looks to be the last matchup between up-and-comer Patrick Mahomes and all-time great Tom Brady (barring another Super Bowl). Mahomes, 27, is a leader of the new guard of NFL quarterbacks, and Brady, 45, is one of the last of the old guard, likely retiring at the end of this season. And both won Super Bowls at 24 — which, a press release for Beck’s cover noted, gives new meaning to the lyrics, “Old man, look at my life / 24 and there’s so much more.” Usually we can get behind some Tom Brady shade, but not like this.
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