Return to Greendale (2020)

In 2020, Neil added to the world of Greendale with the live album and film Return to Greendale. Not only does this give us a live rendition of the studio album (which is exciting), but shows possibly the best implementation of the entire concept: the stage show. Going beyond the theatrics of Neil’s stage show for Rust Never Sleeps, the band plays alongside actors recreating scenes on charmingly low budget sets with clips of the original movie interspersed throughout. Seeing this vision of the story strips away the cheesier elements of the Greendale film although it has its own cheesy elements, namely some overzealous dancers and a bizarre instance of bad CG. Poncho did not play on the studio album, but joined Crazy Horse on the road, where he played electric piano. In the live film, he’s been replaced by a low quality double for some reason (I cannot find the reason why this was done).

The meta elements of watching Neil sing the words and actors lip sync to them all in the same scene gives the performance an almost surreal vibe that works for this quasi-supernatural story of corruption and ecology. Crazy Horse and Neil are on fire, too. The energy is amped up overall, and by the time you get to the closing “Be The Rain,” the goal of this entire production becomes apparent. It’s a clarion call meant to fire up the world and recognize the evil nature of ignoring climate change. While we mostly see the devil figure corrupt various members of the Green family and drive Earth Brown crazy, he’s also a stand-in for the machine of the world that just cares about profit. Only by getting in touch with nature, can you understand the pain climate change is causing worldwide. It’s a somewhat trite message, but seeing it through the eyes of a small town makes it personal to every viewer (I’ll say it again: a new prestige TV adaptation of this would be incredible and relevant. Picture it like how a Stephen King story plays out. Climate horror is possibly what we need right now).

There are two other films I’d like to mention. Live at Vicar St was released with the original album and is a solo acoustic performance of the entire album in order, with Neil filling in the story between each song (almost word for word the intros in the art book). I love hearing these songs acoustic. You can hear the differences between the songs a bit better (the electric versions bleed together a little too much) and the chance to spend an evening with “storyteller” Neil is a treat. Note: the film is available on Neil Young Archives but not the audio-only album, which I found on Apple Music. Inside Greendale is a making of documentary, that is not so much “making of” but “the recording of” the studio album, showing the band in the studio playing the songs while footage from the film is overlaid on top in places. Mostly I like seeing the Plywood Analog/Digital studio barn that Ragged Glory and other albums was recorded in. This is probably the least essential release in the Greendale universe.

Lastly, in 2010, DC Comics released a graphic novel of Greendale by Joshua Dysart and Cliff Chiang (of Paper Girls, a great comic and now TV series). It’s very different from the original story, featuring more of a focus on Sun Green’s journey and especially her relationship to more supernatural elements. The overall plot hits the same beats, but with a lot diversions that build the story of Sun as more of a magical being in touch with nature (something she shares with all her female ancestors). I enjoyed this graphic novel, but I think it would have been better if it diverged even further from the original story and was modernized a bit. While the themes are as relevant and prescient as they were in 2003, I think a modern retelling of this story would have been less “save the whales” and more “we are headed for collapse and it’s the billionaires’ fault.” There’s just more context to these ecological issues in the last 20 years and that would make its points more strongly.

Note: I’ve decided to talk about the whole of Greendale in two parts. This is the second and covers the Return to Greendale live album, the concert film, the Live at Vicar Street film, the Inside Greendale documentary, and the Greendale graphic novel. The first can be found here and covers the Greendale studio album, the original film, and the art book.

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