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Neil Young came face-to-face with his arch nemesis – a living, breathing ear of GMO corn – on Thursday's Late Show With Stephen Colbert, with the rocker engaging in a conversation about why he's so against agrochemical company Monsanto.
Colbert first relayed to Young the results of a study that found there is no quantifiable difference between the health of non-GMO eaters and their genetically modified-consuming counterparts.
"That must be a Monsanto study that didn't notice the terrible diseases and all of the things that are happening," Young said. "Why these things have been banned throughout Europe and throughout the world. Why 38 countries banned GMOs; they didn't just label them. They're concerned, those governments, about the people that live in the country. They want to protect them."
Following Young's hurtful comments regarding Monsanto, an incensed, life-size GMO corn came out onstage to accuse Young of "labeling" him. "I don't generally like to label things, but you're so dangerous and you're dangerous to me personally and my family and the rest of the planet," Young said.
Young's comments infuriated the corn to the point that the cob exploded in anger, bathing the rocker and the host in popcorn. "He was so young," Colbert joked.
Also during the interview, Young discussed love, Bernie Sanders, his upcoming live LP Earth and the PONO Music Player with Colbert. On the latter subject, Young described the high quality of the music, "For your ears, it's even better than a Toblerone."
Young also railed against the current state of the music industry. "I missed the memo that said that albums are not happening anymore," Young said. "It's all about albums being a ripoff and only one song is good on the album so that's all you need to get … Singles are great; it's just that there is more to it than singles. There's more to love than the first kiss."
Prior to the interview, Young and Colbert hung out backstage to spoof the "Rockin' in the Free World" controversy with Donald Trump. When Colbert asked why Young wouldn't allow Trump to use the track at campaign rallies, Young said, "the misogyny and the racism … those two key facts are something you can't really ignore."
