NEW YORK: One of Bob Seger's most famous songs was an unabashedly old-fashioned celebration of music for music's sake: "That old time rock 'n' roll / That kind of music just soothes the soul."
On "Ride Out," his first album in eight years, the master of crowd-pleasing Midwestern guitar rock has stayed true to his musical roots but has found a new passion to sing about -- climate change.
"Let's talk about shorter growing seasons / Let's talk about what we're going to eat," Seger says on "It's Your World" to what is, essentially, an old-time rock 'n' roll sound.
"Let's talk about mining in Wisconsin / Let's talk about breathing in Beijing," he sings. He asks the listener to "say a prayer for the victims of extinction / Say another for the redwood trees."
The song culminates in a stern condemnation of the role of money in the political system: "The rich keep bitching and the rest keep wishing it away / All these children have to face our mess some day."
Seger -- who is no relation to the late Pete Seeger, the staunchly leftist folk singer -- is not completely new to politics. On "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man," his 1969 debut album as The Bob Seger System, a harder-charging Seger rails against the Vietnam War on the song "2+2=?" as he shouts, "I just want a simple answer - Why is it that I've got to die?" Still, the former collaborator with The Eagles acknowledges that not all of his longtime fans will be happy with his passion about fighting climate change. "People are going to be mad at me. There may be a lot of people that won't come to the shows because of it," Seger said in an interview with the Detroit Free Press in his native Michigan.
"But I just feel it's something I've got to say," he said.
- A spiritual journey -
The 69-year-old plans three months of touring around North America starting on November 19 at an arena in Michigan named, ironically perhaps, for the Dow Chemical Co.
Seger has followed a trajectory similar to fellow major figures in the blues-based, guitar-driven genre known as heartland rock such as Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp, whose left-leaning views were no secret to a careful listener but who gradually became more openly political.
Seger returns to heartland rock's blue-collar themes in the opening track, "Detroit Made," a tribute to the city's troubled auto industry. He sings about not having luck with the girls as a young man in a farm truck. But, he sings, "Now I ride my 225, they all want to be my friend," in a reference to a classic Buick. (He refrained from putting in a plug for a hybrid.)
The song was originally written by Seger's contemporary John Hiatt, one of four tracks by other songwriters on the 10-track album.
Another cover -- "California Stars," an ode to the beauty of the Pacific state -- was written but never recorded by folk icon Woody Guthrie and later performed by fellow protest singer Billy Bragg with Wilco.
On his own songs, Seger not only explores politics but also delves into spirituality. In the album's closing track "Gates of Eden" -- no relation to the Bob Dylan song -- Seger's voice soars as he brings in strings to create a Gospel dimension to his guitar rock.
"I remember searching, longing for a deeper meaning," Seger sings. "And it hit me like a diamond bullet right between the eyes."
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