Neil Young

Early life (1945–1963)

Neil Percival Young was born on November 12, 1945, in Toronto, Ontario. His mother, Edna Blow Ragland "Rassy" Young (1918–1990) was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, while his father, Scott Alexander Young (1918–2005), was a journalist and author. Although Canadian, Young's mother had American and French ancestry. His parents married in 1940 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and moved to Toronto shortly thereafter. There, the couple's first son, Robert "Bob" Young, was born in 1942.

Early career (1963–1966)

Young and his mother settled in the working-class area of Fort Rouge, Winnipeg, where he enrolled in Earl Grey Junior High School. It was there that he formed his first band, the Jades, and met Ken Koblun. While attending Kelvin High School in Winnipeg, he played in several instrumental rock bands, eventually dropping out of school in favor of a musical career. Young's first stable band was the Squires, with Ken Koblun, Jeff Wuckert and Bill Edmondson on drums, who had a local hit called "The Sultan". Over three years, the band played hundreds of shows at community centers, dance halls, clubs and schools in Winnipeg and other parts of Manitoba. The band also played in Fort William (now part of the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario), where they...

Legacy

Young's political outspokenness and social awareness influenced artists such as Blind Melon, Phish, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana. Young is referred to as the "godfather of grunge" for his influence on Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder and the grunge movement. Vedder inducted Young into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. Johnny Marr has cited Young as one of the main influences on his trademark jangly guitarwork. Thom Yorke of Radiohead said After the Gold Rush gave him the confidence to reveal "softness and naiveté" in vocals. He also credited Young as a lyrical influence. He said: "It was his attitude toward the way he laid songs down. It's always about laying down whatever is in your head at the time and staying completely true to that, no...

Cowgirl in the Sand

“Cowgirl in the Sand" is a song written by Neil Young and first released on his 1969 album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. Young has included live versions of the song on several albums and on the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young live album 4 Way Street.

It was covered by the Byrds on their 1973 self-titled album.

Lyrics and music

The song's lyrics are about a promiscuous woman, or possibly three different women across its three verses. Author Nigel Williamson describes the lyrics as "obscure and dreamlike, addressed to some idealized woman." Music critic Johnny Rogan describes the lyrics as "oblique", describing the woman as being both "idealistic" and "idealized" by the singer. Author David Downing suggests that this line reflects ambiguity as to whether increased sexual freedom is a blessing or a curse. Downing, however, feels that the next line, "it's the woman in you that makes you want to play this game", was already outdated when the song was released in the late 1960s. At the time of the song's initial release, Rolling Stone described the lyrics as "quietly...

Reception

Greenwald described "Cowgirl in the Sand" as "one of Neil Young's most lasting compositions" and "a true classic". In 2004, Rolling Stone critic Rob Sheffield called it and "Down by the River" the "key tracks" on Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, describing them as "long, violent guitar jams, rambling over the nine-minute mark with no trace of virtuosity at all, just staccato guitar blasts sounding as though Young is parachuting down into the middle of the Hatfield-McCoy feud."

Harvest Moon

"Harvest Moon" is a song written by Canadian and American singer and songwriter Neil Young, released in November 1992 by Reprise Records as the first single from his 19th album, Harvest Moon (1992). The song was both written and produced by Young, reaching No. 36 on the UK Singles Chart, and Rolling Stone ranked it his 30th best.

Background and composition

Linda Ronstadt provides the backing vocals. The song is composed in the key of D Major, with Young's guitar in Drop D tuning and his vocal range spanning from D3 to F#4.

Reception

Rolling Stone ranked "Harvest Moon" in 2014 as the 30th-best Neil Young song of all time. AllMusic's Matthew Greenwald strongly praised the song, stating that the song epitomized the album and "the power of nature and music, as well as a feeling of celebrating lifetime love are the focal points here, and Young captures it all in his typically literate, artless style." Greenwald praised the melody as "positively gorgeous, and it's one that could have easily framed a heavier song." Classic Rock Review called it an "absolute masterpiece of a title song" that "celebrates longevity in relationships and love affairs with a flawless melody backed by a perfect music arrangement." They went on to say that "from the upfront acoustic riffing to the...

Music video

The music video for the song was filmed during the night at the Mountain House, a restaurant situated inside a redwood forest at Skyline Boulevard, Woodside, California. The video featured Young and his wife attending a night-time dance at the Mountain House in 1992 where Young is somehow also the lead singer in the band playing at the Mountain House. The video then moves back in time to 1967 where a younger Young (played by Melvins drummer Dale Crover) and his girlfriend/future wife dance at the same location when it was known as Alex's, again with Young as the lead singer in the band playing, showing the enduring love between the couple over successive harvest moons over the years. Young's girlfriend drops a matchbox labelled Alex's in...

Heart of Gold

"Heart of Gold" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young. From his fourth studio album Harvest (1972), it is Young's only U.S.

No. 1 single. In Canada, it reached No. 1 on the RPM national singles chart for the first time on April 8, 1972, on which date Young held the top spot on both the singles and albums charts, and No. 1 again on May 13.

Notable covers

James Last covered the song in 1972. It reached No. 17 on the Canadian RPM AC charts, December 30, 1972.

Like a Hurricane

"Like a Hurricane" is a song written by Neil Young in 1975 and first released on the album American Stars 'n Bars in 1977.

Reception

Cash Box said that "the melodies are carried by Young's voice and guitar, all brought into focus against a distant landscape of multi-layered string effects."

Old Man

"Old Man" is a song written and performed by Canadian rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Neil Young from his 1972 album Harvest. "Old Man" was released as a single on Reprise Records in the spring of 1972, reaching number 4 in Canada, and number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for the week ending June 3.

Background

The song was written for the caretaker of the Northern California Broken Arrow Ranch, which Young purchased for US$350,000 in 1970 (equivalent to US$2,901,671 in 2025). The song compares a young man's life to an old man's and shows that the young man has, to some extent, the same needs as the old one. James Taylor played six-string banjo (tuned like a guitar) and sang on the song, and Linda Ronstadt contributed vocals.

Uses in popular culture and covers

In 2005, Lizz Wright covered it on her live album Dreaming Wide Awake, recorded at Allaire, Shokan, New York the year before. It also appears in the film Lords of Dogtown.

Only Love Can Break Your Heart

"Only Love Can Break Your Heart" is a song written by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Neil Young. It has been covered by many other artists.

Genesis and recording

The song is the third track on Neil Young's album After the Gold Rush. The song was supposedly written for Graham Nash after Nash's split from Joni Mitchell, though Young in interviews has been somewhat tentative in admitting or remembering this. Bob Giuliana, a filmmaker, claimed the song was about him: "Neil Young wrote a song called 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart.' Neil Young and I shared a best friend, and this friend, Larry Johnson, told me that Neil wrote the song about me. I had never heard it, because I wasn't a Neil Young fan. People think it's about a romance, but it's not. Larry told Neil about the whole story of me leaving the Paradigm film company, which was not fun for me - it was heartbreaking - and then he wrote the song...

Release

The song was re-released in the UK as a double A-side with the track "Filthy", peaking at number 39 in the UK Singles Chart. "Filthy", was later covered as "Jungle Pulse" by Etienne Daho. The song remains Saint Etienne's only entry in the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 97 in 1992. It did, however, top the US Hot Dance Club Play chart. The US b-side to the single was the Foxbase Alpha album track "Stoned to Say the Least."

Critical reception

In contemporary reviews, Larry Flick from Billboard wrote that the band reinterprets the tune "into a glowing swing/hip-hop jam." Ian Gittins from Melody Maker declared it as a "impossibly wistful wisp of coming-down pop", adding, "Second time around, St Etienne's delicate duffing-up of crinkle-chops Neil Young' tuff'n'tender lament still echoes poignantly, so transient and translucent, as if only synth and sighs prevent its heart cracking into a thousand lovely, lonely pieces." David Giles from Music Week stated that the song is "sung in beautifully husky tones, and set to a snails-pace dance rhythm, that is already proving immensely popular at club level." Roger Morton from NME felt that Saint Etienne's version "should nark a few old...

Music video

Two music videos were released for the single. The original version was directed by Nicola Baldwin and partly shot by her in black and white Super 8. It depicts Lucy Gillie from early 90s pop trio Golden miming the vocals (Lambert refused to appear in the video). The second features Cracknell miming to Lambert's vocals and depicts the band entering a cinema in a small French town (that inspired the group's name) where they see themselves in a movie. The act includes this song in their live shows with Cracknell performing the song.

Rockin' in the Free World

"Rockin' in the Free World" is a song by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Neil Young from his seventeenth studio album Freedom (1989). Two versions of the song bookend the album, similarly to "Hey Hey, My My " from Young's Rust Never Sleeps album, one of which is performed with a predominantly acoustic arrangement, and the other predominantly electric.

In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked "Rockin' In the Free World" number 216 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Cover versions

"Rockin' in the Free World" has been recorded by numerous artists. A version by The Alarm appears on their album Raw (1991). Pearl Jam, joined by Neil Young, performed the song at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards; the band frequently performs it live in concert. Suzi Quatro covered it on her 2005 album Back to the Drive. It was also covered by Swiss hard rock band Krokus on their 2017 covers collection Big Rocks. Roots rock duo Larkin Poe released a cover on their 2020 album Kindred Spirits. SHINEDOWN members Brent Smith and Zach Myers covered the song in acoustic in 2020 on their side project album "Smith & Myers: Volume 1". American nu metal band Soil released a cover in 2022. Numerous bands and artists have covered this song live,...

The Needle and the Damage Done

"The Needle and the Damage Done" is a 1972 song by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Neil Young. The lyrics describe the effects of heroin addiction on musicians Young knew, including his friend and Crazy Horse bandmate Danny Whitten, who would die of an overdose the same year the song was released.

The money that Whitten used to buy the drugs was provided by Young. The song would preview the theme of Young's 1975 album Tonight's the Night, which would reflect on the fatal heroin overdoses of Whitten and Bruce Berry, a roadie for Young and Crazy Horse.

Background and lyrics

"The Needle and the Damage Done" was first released on Young's 1972 album Harvest. Rather than re-recording it, Young selected a live version from January 1971 that featured him singing and playing acoustic guitar. It would appear on the compilation albums Decade in 1977 and Greatest Hits in 2004. On the handwritten liner notes for Decade, Young wrote of the song: "I am not a preacher, but drugs killed a lot of great men."

Covers and cultural references

Bands that have covered this song on studio albums include Our Lady Peace, Duran Duran, Simple Minds, and The Pretenders.