"A Rock Star Bucks a Coffee Shop" is a song recorded by

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...

and

Promise of the Real Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, sometimes referred to as POTR, is an American country rock group based in California. The band consists of Lukas Nelson (lead vocals, guitar), Anthony LoGerfo (drums, percussion), Corey McCormick (bass guitar ...

. It is a protest song aimed at the companies: Starbucks and

Monsanto The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in ...

. The piece comes from the concept album ''

The Monsanto Years ''The Monsanto Years'' is a studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young and the American rock group Promise of the Real, released on June 29, 2015 on Reprise Records. A concept album which criticizes the agribusiness company Monsant ...

'', which primarily criticizes the firm Monsanto.

About the Song

The song was released as a single in May 2015 and is the first song on the album ''The Monsanto Years''. It refers to the lawsuit by Monsanto against

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

due to the state's attempt at passing a GMO labeling law. The song also references "the poison tide of Monsanto" and a farmer who signs a GMO deal when Young sings, "I want a cup of coffee but I don't want a GMO. I'd like to start my day off without helping Monsanto." In a brief review of the song, Stefan Schmidt in '' The National'' Singles Round-Up also remarked that song did not hold back against critiquing Starbucks and Monsanto and suggested that Young hadn't lost his appetite for tackling political issues. As of the 31st of May 2015, the song was also rewarded with the title "Video of the Week" on the Food Consumer website.

Venue

Young also introduced an acoustic version of the song in Maui while performing at "OUTGROW Monsanto", a festival held to protest Monsanto's business practices in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

. Moreover, the song was also featured in Young's July and October 2015 tours, for which Promise of the Real served as his backing band.Food Consume
Video Of The Week, A Rock Star Bucks A Coffee Shop

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rock Star Bucks a Coffee Shop, A Songs about musicians Songs against capitalism 2015 songs Anti-GMO movement Neil Young songs Protest songs Songs written by Neil Young Song recordings produced by Neil Young Starbucks in popular culture