Jimmy Fallon is our leading Retro Neil Young impersonator; this is not news. (He also does a solid Springsteen.) And while Fallon earned the approval of Young himself a couple of months ago on The Tonight Show, he’s now secured the cosign of David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash, as well. Monday night’s cover of Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” began as a solo Fallon-as-Young joint, but about a minute in, the real CSN showed up with game dispositions and those trademark tender harmonies. By the end, the “who dat, who dat, I-G-G-Y” part had been rejiggered to “C-S-N-Y” and set to the tune of “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.”
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young last toured together in 2006. (The CSN portion has remained active since.) Two years later, Stephen Colbert did his own Young impersonation with Crosby, Stills & Nash. While it was good — and deserves credit in any discussion of this Fallon moment — it was also just a performance of “Teach Your Children” and not a hedonistic piece of pop-rap.
That said, Fallon already brought “Fancy” out in an April lip-sync battle with Emma Stone. And maybe “Fancy,” with its death grip on the radio, doesn’t really need more than one spotlight per major television show?