Neil Young taunts Beck’s ‘Old Man’ cover in NFL ads

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Neil Young at Hyde Park 2019 in London, England.

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Neil Young at Hyde Park 2019 in London, England.

Photo: Redferns, Gus Stewart. All rights reserved.

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Beck released a cover of the Neil Young classic ‘Old Man’ on Monday (September 26). Only one person is obviously not enthusiastic: Neil Young himself. The probable reason: the cover song also appeared in a commercial for the NFL football league.

In the commercial, Beck plays the song on a western guitar, while images of football stars Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes are shown. While Young didn’t comment directly on the cover, he did post a photo on Instagram of himself holding a bottle that said “Sponsored by Nobody.”

The shot is a still from the music video for Young’s 1988 song “This Note’s For You.” “Ain’t singin’ for Pepsi, ain’t singin’ for Coke/ I don’t sing for nobody/ Makes me look like a joke,” he proclaimed in the lyrics at the time. And the video also poked fun at the use of pop and rock songs in commercials.

This wasn’t just a pose. In fact, Young always refused to make his music available for advertising. So what has changed? In 2021, Young sold half of his song catalog to IP management firm Hipgnosis Songs Fund. At that time, company founder Merck Mercuriadis assured that Hipgnosis would manage the songs in Neil’s interest. But it’s possible that the company, at least when it comes to covers by other musicians, is less reluctant to sponsor.

Here’s a listen to Beck’s “Old Man” cover without the football ads:

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