Neil Young song draft

[Erik]

20. Thrasher (Rust Never Sleeps, 1979)
Widely viewed as an eloquent dis of Crosby, Stills and Nash (and it is partly that), this has some incredible imagery ("They were lost in rock formations/Or became park bench mutations/On the sidewalks and the stations/They were waiting, waiting") and is one of Neil's grand statements of purpose; the lyrics hold some keys to why he does the things he does. He's going to follow his own way and not pay much heed to the current musical and technological trends. He has lived this way not just in his music since 1973 but through other efforts like his attempt to develop a technology that makes digital recordings sound like vinyl.
One of Neil's most beloved acoustic songs among die-hards, this was not performed in concert after the 1978 tour until 2014, and on recordings of many acoustic sets in between, you can hear people yelling for it.

[Erik]

Why did Neil pick 2014 to revive Thrasher? That was the year David Crosby called Daryl Hannah, whom Neil had left his wife Pegi for, a "purely poisonous predator." Neil has never forgiven him.

[Erik]

19. Pocahontas (Rust Never Sleeps, 1979)
Another tune in which Neil takes on the injustices committed against Indians, this is one of his most-beloved acoustic songs. It goes beyond social commentary at the end, where Neil imagines himself camping with Pocahontas and ... Marlon Brando? And talking about the Astrodome?
The briskly paced RNS version is amazing, but the slowed-down versions that sometimes appear in later concerts may be even more compelling.

[Erik]

18. On the Beach (On the Beach, 1974)
A song about being one of the last survivors after the apocalypse, inspired by the Nevil Shute book and Stanley Kramer film of the same name, this is simply stunning and has passages that sound like they could be written about today's pandemic: "The world is turnin, I hope it don't turn away"; "I need a crowd of people, but I can't face them day to day"; "I head for the sticks with my bus and friends, I follow the road though I don't know where it ends"; and one of my very favorite lines of his, "Though my problems are meaningless, that don't make them go away."
The mellow blues arrangement, which is as chilling and compelling as the lyrics, befits the influence of the honeyslides consumed during recording. The solos could get searing on the CSNY 1974 tour; even though C, S and N all HATED the On the Beach songs (too much of a downer, man), they didn't complain when Neil put them in the setlists and gave them their all.
It has been played only 5 times since that tour. On the 1999 solo tour, Neil broke it out for the first time in 24 years after someone lobbied for it at a backstage meet-and-greet.

[chancellor]

I hate it when I agree with any of CSN, but I'm with them for On The Beach. Well, kinda. I don't hate it, but just don't find it one of his more compelling tunes.

[Erik]

17. Like a Hurricane (American Stars 'N Bars, 1977; written and first performed in 1975)
Swirling and majestic, this is one of Neil's very best guitar jams and is a frequent capper of electric sets/shows. The vibe is a bit different from some of the other epics thanks to Neil's ringing solos and Frank "Poncho" Sampedro of Crazy Horse playing Stringman synthesizer instead of rhythm guitar. And the lyrics evoke the feeling of the music: "a crowded hazy bar," "far across the moonbeam, I know that's who you are," "I am just a dreamer but you are just a dream", "on our foggy trip."
Written in 1975 while Neil was recovering from throat surgery, Like a Hurricane debuted live in late 1975 alongside some of the Zuma songs. Can you imagine this sharing the same album with Cortez the Killer and Danger Bird? Neil planned to include it on the abandoned Chrome Dreams album in 1976, and ended up putting it on ASB; all of side 2 of that record is Chrome Dreams material. It's been a standard in Crazy Horse sets for 45 years and was the final encore of my first Neil show in 1991.
That this is "only" #17 shows you just how much incredible material Neil has. I just like the songs ahead of it more, there's no science to it.

[Erik]

The pump organ arrangement on Unplugged is spectacular:

[Mithrandir]

17. Like a Hurricane (American Stars 'N Bars, 1977; written and first performed in 1975)
Swirling and majestic, this is one of Neil's very best guitar jams and is a frequent capper of electric sets/shows. The vibe is a bit different from some of the other epics thanks to Neil's ringing solos and Frank "Poncho" Sampedro of Crazy Horse playing Stringman synthesizer instead of rhythm guitar. And the lyrics evoke the feeling of the music: "a crowded hazy bar," "far across the moonbeam, I know that's who you are," "I am just a dreamer but you are just a dream", "on our foggy trip."
Written in 1975 while Neil was recovering from throat surgery, Like a Hurricane debuted live in late 1975 alongside some of the Zuma songs. Can you imagine this sharing the same album with Cortez the Killer and Danger Bird? Neil planned to include it on the abandoned Chrome Dreams album in 1976, and ended up putting it on ASB; all of side 2 of that record is Chrome Dreams material. It's been a standard in Crazy Horse sets for 45 years and was the final encore of my first Neil show in 1991.
That this is "only" #17 shows you just how much incredible material Neil has. I just like the songs ahead of it more, there's no science to it.

In my top 5 Neil tunes.

[Erik]

In my top 5 Neil tunes.

And a top 5 pick in our Neil draft (by Overkill).

[chancellor]

In my top 5 Neil tunes.

Number 1 for me. Easily. Unique sound. Smartly crafted, relatable lyrics. Great guitar work, or as a friend says "brilliant, awesome guitar solo, followed by a brillianter, awesomer guitar solo".

And worth the price of admission just to hear this song.

[DMT]

Sadly, he didn't play this when I saw him.

[Erik]

Sadly, he didn't play this when I saw him.

I have gotten it at 4 of my 13 Neil/CSNY shows.

[Erik]

16. After the Gold Rush (After the Gold Rush, 1970)
One of Neil's most-beloved songs, the title track of After the Gold Rush is one of the few remnants of Neil's original concept for the album. Dean Stockwell showed Neil a script he had written about California being wiped out by a flood and Neil agreed to provide a soundtrack for it. He wrote a few songs, including this one, with the script in mind before changing direction. (The movie was never made; L.A., which ended up on Time Fades Away, seems to be about the same thing.) Neil being Neil, he told Dolly Parton in 1989 that he couldn't remember what it was about and that each verse must have been "based on whatever I was taking at the time." And more recently, he has said it's an environmental anthem.
It is all of those things. The imagery is so vivid and the tune so compelling that the song has become a lot of things to a lot of people. Even a simple celebration to the intoxicated folks who go crazy when Neil sings "and I felt like getting high" in concert.
The studio version, a piano arrangement with a french horn solo and Neil singing in a high register, is gripping, but the song has become even more resonant in concert over the years. There's a sadness tinging Neil's voice when he sings it these days. You can't go wrong with any incarnation of this, but my favorites are from the 1999 solo tour, in which he started out on piano and, in the middle of song while playing the french horn solo on harmonica, transitioned to pump organ.

[Erik]

15. Revolution Blues (On the Beach, 1974)
This is a fascinating look into Neil's songwriting abilities, and perhaps offers some insights into his psyche at the time that we don't want to know. This song was inspired by Charles Manson's cult and their atrocities. The narrator may be Manson himself, as the song builds up to the concluding lines: "Well I hear that Laurel Canyon is full of famous stars / But I hate them worse than lepers and I'll kill them in their cars." Before then, we hear the narrator's views on wanting to be separate from society but also to disturb it, finally giving in to his delusions: "I got the revolution blues, I see bloody fountains, and 10 million dune buggies comin' down the mountain."
Backed by a rollicking arrangement with David Crosby on rhythm guitar, Rick Danko on bass and Levon Helm on drums, this song is one of the prime examples of the dark, edgy side of Neil. It was his strongest declaration yet that the hippie dream idealized by CSNY and perpetuated by his early '70s solo albums was not real.
Live versions on the 1974 CSNY tour are absolutely monstrous. This despite C, S, and N hating it even more than the other On the Beach songs. Crosby was especially vocal about this, even though he played on the studio version. But sometimes anger makes for the best rock and roll.

[Erik]

14. No More (Freedom, 1989)
People's lives being ravaged by drug addiction was a theme of Neil's work in the '70s, and he wrote some more songs about it in the late '80s, of which this is the most compelling. The narrator is in recovery and is addressing someone still in the throes of addiction: "I feel the way you feel/Cause not so long ago/It had a hold on me/I couldn't let it go/It wouldn't set me free". The rest of the song addresses the desperation addicts feel when they have trouble reaching the high that got them hooked and end up scrambling to get any fix, no matter how bunk or temporary.
This song is significant for me because it was the second new song Neil performed on his amazing SNL appearance in 1989 shortly before Freedom was released, which kick-started his renaissance. Appropriately paired with The Needle and the Damage Done, the performance on this night was jaw-dropping. The full story of my reaction to that night will be told in the entry for the other new song he played.
Once I obtained the Freedom record, this quickly became one of my favorites. It seemed the blank space between Wrecking Ball and this went on forever, and I would get anxious waiting for it. Recorded with the Bluenotes' Chad Cromwell and Rick Rosas and Crazy Horse's Frank "Poncho" Sampedro, the Freedom version is driven by a brisk acoustic guitar line from Poncho and punctuated with passionate electric solos from Neil. The final instrumental passage is a stunner, with Neil's swirling squalls conveying the descent into desperation described in the lyrics.
Unlike the album's other electric guitar showcase, No More never made its way into Crazy Horse setlists and unfathomably has not been played in concert since 1989. Neil has revived some long-dormant favorites in his shows with Promise of the Real; here's another one they should dig up if they ever tour together again.