Neil Young song draft

[Erik]

Live with Pearl Jam at the MTV Music Awards in 1993. This was a big deal at the time:

[Mithrandir]

Today is the day!!!!

[chancellor]

LOL...even I have the song figured out, but the story behind it will be great (as usual)!!

[Erik]

LOL...even I have the song figured out, but the story behind it will be great (as usual)!!

I mean, all you had to do was go to the first post of this thread and see what I picked in the first round.

[Erik]

So here we are at the end of my Neil Young countdown. Thanks again to everyone who followed along. I've also been posting it on a few other forums, and someone from one of those has created a Spotify playlist of the songs in my top 101, minus a few rare songs that aren't on Spotify. It's currently updated through entry #5 and will be completed soon: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3P...zLqxFbrEsAvzjE

Without further ado, here is my favorite Neil song and first-round draft pick.

1. Cortez the Killer (Zuma, 1975)
About 2 months ago, I had this FB messenger exchange with a friend:
Him: "Either I'm f*!#in' hammered, or Cortez is the greatest song ever recorded."
Me: "It can be two things!"
To me, this is Neil's greatest song, which in my book means it's indeed probably the greatest song ever recorded. Its sound is monumentally influential; its pacing and repeating chords have been replicated at some point or another by almost every rock band worth its salt that's been formed since 1975. (Neil did it himself on Scenery, entry #60.)
It begins with nearly three and a half minutes of creeping rhythms and mesmerizing guitar passages before we even get to the words. Neil's solos get more intense as the song goes on, and then everything fades out around the 7:30 mark. That was not by design. During the fateful recording, an electrical circuit blew and all power to the console was shut off. The remainder of the jamming and a final verse were lost. When informed of this by producer David Briggs, Neil said "I never liked that verse anyway" and decided to put the magical take on the album with the fadeout. The lost verse has never resurfaced -- but who knows what might turn up on Archives Vol. 2, which will be released before the end of the year and will cover the mid-70s.
The lyrics are ambitious, convoluted and at times incredibly sad. One of many songs Neil has written about the atrocities committed against the Indians, this delves into the Spanish conquest of the New World. Neil has claimed he began the lyrics after sitting through a history class in high school. In any case, it should not be analyzed for historical accuracy. As Neil said to biographer Jimmy McCollough, "What the f**k am I doing writing about Aztecs in 'Cortez the Killer' like I was there, wandering around? 'Cause I only read about it in a few books. A lotta s**t I just made up because it came to me." And the final verse jumps to the present day, perhaps referencing the topic that dominated his lyrics in 1974 and 1975, his breakup with the mother of his first child. "And I know she's livin' there/And she loves me to this day/I still can't remember when/Or how I lost my way."
The legend of this song is really cemented in concert, however. It is the template for many of Neil's wildest and most passionate explorations on guitar. The version from my first Neil show, 2/5/91 at the now-torn-down Philadelphia Civic Center, is, quite simply, the greatest live performance I have ever witnessed, despite the venue's awful sound system. Neil's final solo, after the "I still can't remember when/Or how I lost my way" passage, was an otherworldly outpouring of sonic emotion that was the mental equivalent of a knockout blow. (My reaction at the time was OH MY GOD!) I have never encountered anything like it, even on the other live versions of Cortez that I have seen and heard. When I joined a Neil discussion group after getting internet access, I was able to trade for a cassette recording (with poor sound quality) of the show that confirmed I was not delusional; that performance really happened the way I remembered it. I don't have access to the cassette anymore, so now it lives on in my memory. (If any of you ever happen to come across a recording of this show, let me know.)
In the years since 1991, if you count my friends' bands playing in bars, I have been to more than 1,000 rock concerts, and I suspect a lot of that was driven by wanting to recapture in some form the high that Cortez the Killer gave me on that fateful night. The version I saw at my last Neil show in 2015 with Promise of the Real (linked in the comments) came very close. My life would not be what it is if not for this song and the first show where I witnessed it.
And there we have it. Thank you all for following along and giving me a reason to indulge in organizing my thoughts about my favorite musician.

[Erik]

The version I saw in 2015 with Promise of the Real:

[Erik]

Weld version. Awesome, but still not as good as the one I saw on that tour. I'm not big on the Live Rust version, I don't care for the turn into reggae at the end.

[Erik]

Here is the final comparison of how the Rolling Stone top 100 list compared to my top 101. We shared 6 songs in the top 10, but none had the exact same placement. Things got more divergent after that.



101. Lookout Joe (RS unranked)
100. Ramada Inn (RS #47)
99. Look Out for My Love (RS #55)
98. Get Back to the Country (RS unranked)
97. Homefires (RS unranked)
96. This Old Guitar (RS unranked)
95. Slip Away (RS #86)
94. This Note's for You (RS #42)
93. Mansion on the Hill (RS unranked)
92. Grey Riders (RS unranked)
91. Motion Pictures (for Carrie) (RS unranked)
90. Downtown (RS unranked)
89. White Line (RS unranked)
88. Ride My Llama (RS unranked)
87. Windward Passage (RS unranked)
86. Albuquerque (RS #39)
85. Everybody's Alone (RS unranked)
84. I've Been Waiting for You (RS unranked)
83. Winterlong (RS #45)
82. Sail Away (RS unranked)
81. Vacancy (RS unranked)
80. When You Dance I Can Really Love (RS #83)
79. Lotta Love (RS unranked)
78. I Believe in You (RS unranked)
77. Through My Sails (RS unranked)
76. LA (RS #74)
75. Goin' Back (RS unranked)
74. Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero) (RS #82)
73. From Hank to Hendrix (RS #20)
72. Drive Back (RS #76)
71. World on a String (RS #65)
70. Sea of Madness (RS unranked)
69. Razor Love (RS #60)
68. On the Way Home (RS #46)
67. Long May You Run (RS #32)
66. Like an Inca (RS unranked)
65. Interstate (RS unranked)
64. Days That Used to Be (RS unranked)
63. New Mama (RS unranked)
62. Wrecking Ball (RS unranked)
61. Shots (RS unranked)
60. Scenery (RS unranked)
59. Live to Ride (RS unranked)
58. Prisoners of Rock 'N' Roll (RS #87)
57. Come on Baby Let's Go Downtown (RS unranked)
56. Too Far Gone (RS #48)
55. Natural Beauty (RS unranked)
54. Unknown Legend (RS unranked)
53. Comes a Time (RS #51)
52. Broken Arrow (RS #23)
51. No Hidden Path (RS unranked)
50. Heart of Gold (RS #2)
49. Roll Another Number (for the Road) (RS #54)
48. Last Dance (RS unranked)
47. Welfare Mothers (RS unranked)
46. Pushed It Over the End (RS #61)
45. Harvest Moon (RS #37)
44. Don't Be Denied (RS #38)
43. Pardon My Heart (RS unranked)
42. Time Fades Away (RS unranked)
41. Change Your Mind (RS #40)
40. Love and Only Love (RS unranked)
39. Don't Cry No Tears (RS #21)
38. Mr. Soul (RS #35)
37. Tell Me Why (RS #75)
36. The Needle and the Damage Done (RS #13)
35. Birds (RS unranked)
34. Silver and Gold (RS #78)
33. Expecting to Fly (RS #15)
32. Sedan Delivery (RS #30)
31. Love to Burn (RS #91)
30. Words (Between the Lines of Age) (RS #64)
29. Walk On (RS unranked)
28. Ordinary People (RS #78)
27. War of Man (RS unranked)
26. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (RS #72)
25. The Loner (RS #41)
24. Ambulance Blues (RS #33)
23. Danger Bird (RS #24)
22. Only Love Can Break Your Heart (RS #26)
21. Cinnamon Girl (RS #7)
20. Thrasher (RS #56)
19. Pocahontas (RS #25)
18. On the Beach (RS #43)
17. Like a Hurricane (RS #10)
16. After the Gold Rush (RS #8)
15. Revolution Blues (RS #29)
14. No More (RS unranked)
13. Don't Let It Bring You Down (RS #34)
12. Old Man (RS #11)
11. F*!#in' Up (RS #36)
10. Southern Man (RS #19)
9. Cowgirl in the Sand (RS #17)
8. Tonight's the Night (RS #5)
7. Powderfinger (RS #1)
6. Hey Hey My My / My My Hey Hey (RS #12)
5. Helpless (RS #6)
4. Ohio (RS #9)
3. Down by the River (RS #4)
2. Rockin' in the Free World (RS #16)
1. Cortez the Killer (RS #3)

[Gregg]

It was a fun journey. Thank you for sharing it with us.

I decided to sit most of it out and enjoy your enthusiasm and story.

It would seem a lot of the feelings and opinions are based on when and where we were in our lives when we first heard the music. This would seem to apply to Ol Neal as well.

[chancellor]

Great job! Heckuva a Neil Young ride!

[madducks]

Yes, excellent job Erik! Really enjoyed the write ups too. When i get more time, i plan on revisiting your top 100 to listen to and read about all of the songs that i missed.

So, which artist will you be counting down the top 100 for next? Just kidding haha.

[Gregg]

Next up ABBA!!

98-suck
97-suck
96-suck
.
.
.
.
2- still suck

[Mithrandir]

Next up ABBA!!

98-suck
97-suck
96-suck
.
.
.
.
2- still suck

I love ABBA. Great pop songs!

[Erik]

Thanks everyone!

I don’t hate ABBA, but I don’t care enough about them to rank their songs.

[The Feral Slasher]

Thanks everyone!

I don’t hate ABBA, but I don’t care enough about them to rank their songs.

If you change your mind, we're the first in line.