Tonight the song in my head is:
My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)
by Neil Young
from his "Live Rust" album
by Neil Young
from his "Live Rust" album
I recently told a friend how this song and this album changed my life. From the first time I listened to it, I realized that I could probably play guitar like Neil Young. It was a revelation that set me on a musical journey.
I was a junior in high school and was assigned to review "Live Rust" for our student newspaper The Original. I can still feel the heft of the double album (kids, ask your parents what an LP record is/was). And I can still see the cover art--photos of the stage set from the live shows of Neil Young and Crazy Horse--giant oversized amps dwarfing the tiny robed gnomes which were the band on stage. It was mesmerizing. And the live acoustic sides sent me reeling into the world of guitar worship, wondering whether or not it actually IS better to burn out than to fade away. Still not sure on that score...
Music never fails me. It's always there to make me feel better or to help me work through the worst of times, to celebrate the happiest of moments. It's definitely played a major role in making me the person I am here, at 44, staring one way, then another, down life's crossroads. Still, Mr. Young said it best....and his words are a comfort.
I was a junior in high school and was assigned to review "Live Rust" for our student newspaper The Original. I can still feel the heft of the double album (kids, ask your parents what an LP record is/was). And I can still see the cover art--photos of the stage set from the live shows of Neil Young and Crazy Horse--giant oversized amps dwarfing the tiny robed gnomes which were the band on stage. It was mesmerizing. And the live acoustic sides sent me reeling into the world of guitar worship, wondering whether or not it actually IS better to burn out than to fade away. Still not sure on that score...
Music never fails me. It's always there to make me feel better or to help me work through the worst of times, to celebrate the happiest of moments. It's definitely played a major role in making me the person I am here, at 44, staring one way, then another, down life's crossroads. Still, Mr. Young said it best....and his words are a comfort.
Out of the blue and into the black
they give you this but you pay for that
and once you're gone you can't come back
when you're out of the blue and into the black
they give you this but you pay for that
and once you're gone you can't come back
when you're out of the blue and into the black
Have you heard Neil Young's new album? How does it stack up?
ReplyDeleteMojo:
ReplyDelete"Prairie Wind" is great, in the same vein as "Harvest." My fave song on it is "It's a Dream" It's an album definitely worth owning.
The king is gone
ReplyDeletebut he's not forgotten
This is the story
of Johnny Rotten
Neils Canadian, eh?
ReplyDeleteA small child came in the ofice singing"The farmer in the dell"
aarrrgghh.
I just hope you can sing better than Neil :).
ReplyDeleteHey Hey - My My
A little older than you - been a fan since CSN&Y...
OK, now that's the song in my head too. Thanks a bunch :-
ReplyDeleteIf you don't already know Terry Pratchett's Diskworld books, it's time you did. "Soul Music" is all about why Music With Rocks In will never die, and it's obvious to me that Neil Young was in Terry's head the whole time he was writing it.
Best,
Sylvan
Lapsed birder and Mom of Margaret Lazer