Neil Young delivers a video for his blistering new protest anthem, Big Crime, with The Chrome Hearts during the 2025 American tour
by Paul Cashmere
Neil Young has released a video with a fresh political punch, unveiling his new protest anthem, Big Crime, during a soundcheck in Chicago on 27 August 2025. Performed with his backing band, The Chrome Hearts, the track marks the first live outing of a song that quickly became a highlight of their 2025 American tour, appearing 11 times on stage.
Recorded spontaneously before the crowd arrived, the Big Crime performance captures Young at full force, blending his signature guitar attack with lyrical directness. The refrain, “There’s big crime in DC at THE White House”, delivers a sharp critique of Donald Trump’s recent “crime emergency” declaration in Washington, D.C., and positions Young once again at the forefront of musical protest.
Young’s lyrics leave little room for ambiguity:
Don’t need no fascist rules
Don’t want no fascist schools
Don’t want soldiers on our streets …
No more money to the fascists
the billionaire fascists
TIME TO BLACKOUT THE SYSTEM
No more great again…
The song riffs on Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan while demanding systemic change, showing Young’s protest instincts remain as potent as ever. His engagement with political themes is far from new.
From the gut-wrenching immediacy of Ohio in 1970, written after the Kent State shootings, to the scathing critique of Living With War in 2006, aimed at George W. Bush’s administration, Young has built a legacy of confronting authority through music. On Ohio, Young and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young immortalised the lines “Tin soldiers and Nixon coming … Four dead in Ohio,” a moment that still resonates as one of rock’s most enduring protest statements. Living With War leveraged choral fury to call for presidential accountability, demonstrating Young’s ability to channel anger into artistry.
With Big Crime, Young continues this lineage, proving that even in 2025, his voice cuts through political discourse. The song debuted exclusively on YouTube and the Neil Young Archives, bypassing traditional music channels to reach audiences directly, reflecting both urgency and intent.
During the Chicago show, Young and The Chrome Hearts’ setlist provided a cross-section of his storied career, combining classics with contemporary material:
Ambulance Blues (from On The Beach, 1974)
Cowgirl in the Sand (from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, 1969)
Be the Rain (from Greendale, 2003)
Southern Man (from After The Gold Rush, 1970)
Ohio (CSNY single, 1970)
Silver Eagle (from Talkin to the Trees, 2025)
Looking Forward (from CSN&Y, Looking Forward, 1999)
One of These Days (from Harvest Moon, 1992)
Harvest Moon (from Harvest Moon, 1992)
Singer Without a Song (unreleased circa 2012)
Mr. Soul (from Buffalo Springfield Again, 1967)
Sun Green (from Greendale, 2003)
Big Crime (released 2025)
Like a Hurricane (from American Stars ‘n Bars, 1977)
Name of Love (from American Dream, 1988)
Old Man (from Harvest, 1972)
Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black) (from Rust Never Sleeps, 1979)
The set demonstrated the seamless integration of new material like Big Crime alongside seminal works spanning decades, reaffirming Young’s relevance in modern rock while maintaining a clear link to his past.
Big Crime is a statement from an artist who has never shied away from political engagement, an assertion that the power of music to challenge authority endures. Through decades of activism, Neil Young remains steadfast in asserting that change begins with a voice, a guitar, and a message.
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