Favorite Neil Young Lyrics?

[AlecBGreen]

Ive been a real fan of music for as long as I can remember and Ive always been into classic rock. Somehow I missed Neil Young and its only now (in my 25th year) that I was properly introduced. I read his biography and listened to his 4 best CD's - On The Beach, Zuma, Harvest, and After the Gold Rush. The guy is a great guitarist and a terrific lyricist. So ... the question - Whats your favorite lyrics? Favorite song?

My submission -

favorite lyrics "And I saw you in my nightmares / but Ill see you in my dreams / And I might live a thousand years before I know what that means" - Barstool Blues
favorite song - Cortez the Killer (damn this song rocks). Vampire Blues or On The Beach are close seconds.

[samplegirl]

1. I've always liked Neil Young

Southern Man was a favorite of mine.
Ohio and This notes for you.

[ET Awful]

2. "Helpless" or possibly "Sea of Madness" (which I've only ever heard

as part of the Woodstock soundtrack (and not in the movie, just the soundtrack).

[wildhorses]

3. comes a time

Comes a time
when you're driftin'
Comes a time
when you settle down
Comes a light
feelin's liftin'
Lift that baby
right up off the ground.

Oh, this old world
keeps spinning round
It's a wonder tall trees
ain't layin' down
There comes a time.

You and I we were captured
We took our souls
and we flew away
We were right
we were giving
That's how we kept
what we gave away.

Oh, this old world
keeps spinning round
It's a wonder tall trees
ain't layin' down
There comes a time.

[wildhorses]

4. four strong winds

Four strong winds that blow lonely, Seven seas that run high,
All these things that don't change, Come what may.
But our good times are all gone,
And I'm bound for moving on.
I'll look for you if I'm ever back this way.
Think I'll go out to Alberta,
Weather's good there in the fall.
Got some friends that I can go to working for,
Still I wish you'd change your mind
If I asked you one more time,
But we've been through that a hundred times or more.

If I get there before the snow flies,
And if things are going good,
You could meet me if I send you down the fare.
But if you wait until it's winter,
It will be no good
'Cause that wind sure can blow way out there.

[peacefreak]

23. Beautiful song.

written by Ian Tyson. A tip of the hat from Neil.

[radwriter0555]

42. beautiful... I've loved Neil Young since 1972.... After the Gold Rush was

the first album I ever got.

Nice way to get cool at the age of 12.

[wildhorses]

5. out on a weekend

Think I'll pack it in
and buy a pick-up
Take it down to L.A.
Find a place to call my own
and try to fix up.
Start a brand new day.

The woman I'm thinking of,
she loved me all up
But I'm so down today
She's so fine, she's in my mind.
I hear her callin'.

See the lonely boy,
out on the weekend
Trying to make it pay.
Can't relate to joy,
he tries to speak and
Can't begin to say.

She got pictures on the wall,
they make me look up
From her big brass bed.
Now I'm running down the road
trying to stay up
Somewhere in her head.

The woman I'm thinking of,
she loved me all up
But I'm so down today
She's so fine she's in my mind.
I hear her callin'.

See the lonely boy,
out on the weekend
Trying to make it pay.
Can't relate to joy,
he tries to speak and
Can't begin to say.

[wildhorses]

6. Alabama

Oh Alabama
The devil fools
with the best laid plan.
Swing low Alabama
You got spare change
You got to feel strange
And now the moment
is all that it meant.

Alabama, you got
the weight on your shoulders
That's breaking your back.
Your Cadillac
has got a wheel in the ditch
And a wheel on the track

Oh Alabama
Banjos playing
through the broken glass
Windows down in Alabama.
See the old folks
tied in white ropes
Hear the banjo.
Don't it take you down home?

Alabama, you got
the weight on your shoulders
That's breaking your back.
Your Cadillac
has got a wheel in the ditch
And a wheel on the track

Oh Alabama.
Can I see you
and shake your hand.
Make friends down in Alabama.
I'm from a new land
I come to you
and see all this ruin
What are you doing Alabama?
You got the rest of the union
to help you along
What's going wrong?

[underpants]

7. "Kepp on Rocking in the Free World " is very good but "Comes a time" is

my favorite

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/n/neil-young/99047.html

[wildhorses]

8. cinnamon girl

I wanna live
with a cinnamon girl
I could be happy
the rest of my life
With a cinnamon girl.

A dreamer of pictures
I run in the night
You see us together,
chasing the moonlight,
My cinnamon girl.

Ten silver saxes,
a bass with a bow
The drummer relaxes
and waits between shows
For his cinnamon girl.

A dreamer of pictures
I run in the night
You see us together,
chasing the moonlight,
My cinnamon girl.

Pa sent me money now
I'm gonna make it somehow
I need another chance
You see your baby loves to dance
Yeah...yeah...yeah.

[wildhorses]

9. down by the river

Be on my side,
I'll be on your side,
baby
There is no reason
for you to hide
It's so hard for me
staying here all alone
When you could be
taking me for a ride.

Yeah, she could drag me
over the rainbow,
send me away
Down by the river
I shot my baby
Down by the river,
Dead, oh, shot her dead.

You take my hand,
I'll take your hand
Together we may get away
This much madness
is too much sorrow
It's impossible
to make it today.

Yeah, she could drag me
over the rainbow,
send me away
Down by the river
I shot my baby
Down by the river,
Dead, oh, shot her dead.

Be on my side,
I'll be on your side,
baby
There is no reason
for you to hide
It's so hard for me
staying here all alone
When you could be
taking me for a ride.

Yeah, she could drag me
over the rainbow,
send me away
Down by the river
I shot my baby
Down by the river,
Dead, oh, shot her dead.

[nutsnberries]

10. ALecBGreen --- (stringman)

your thoughts & questions made my mind swirl.
I got hooked about 1978 as a teenager and he is the one artist I know I'll hold forever. His music can be so big, fun, strange, rockin', you name it, but he really gets me with the devastatingly honest, simple and intimate. I love the music but his lyrics can just turn me into a puddle on the floor.

I've seen him many times in concert and I've had the immense pleasure to stumble upon him relaxing outdoors, enjoying his family. He smiled and was friendly.

There are too many favorites to choose from but I'll copy the lyrics to one or two...

the second half of this song brings tears to me every... damn... time. (unplugged version)


"Stringman"

You can say the soul is gone
And the feeling is just not there
Not like it was so long ago.

On the empty page before you
You can fill in what you care
Try to make it new before you go.

Take the simple case of the sarge
Who can't go back to war
'Cause the hippies
tore down everything
that he was fighting for.

Or the lovers on the blankets
That the city turned to whores
With memories
of green kissed by the sun.

You can say the soul is gone
And close another door
Just be sure
that yours is not the one.

And I'm singing for the stringman
Who lately lost his wife
There is no dearer friend of mine
That I know in this life.

On his shoulder rests a violin
For his head where chaos reigns
But his heart
can't find a simple way
To live with all those things.

All those things
He's a stringman
A stringman
All those strings to pull

[nutsnberries]

12. I Am A Child

(i love children and this is just perfection.)


I Am A Child

I am a child, I'll last a while.
You can't conceive
of the pleasure in my smile.
You hold my hand,
rough up my hair,
It's lots of fun
to have you there.

God gave to you,
now, you give to me,
I'd like to know
what you learned.
The sky is blue
and so is the sea.
What is the color,
when black is burned?
What is the color?

You are a man, you understand.
You pick me up
and you lay me down again.
You make the rules,
you say what's fair,
It's lots of fun
to have you there.

God gave to you,
now, you give to me,
I'd like to know
what you learned.
The sky is blue
and so is the sea.
What is the color,
when black is burned?
What is the color?

I am a child, I'll last a while.
You can't conceive
of the pleasure in my smile.

[wildhorses]

11. sugar mountain

Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons,
You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain
Though you're thinking that
you're leaving there too soon,
You're leaving there too soon.

It's so noisy at the fair
But all your friends are there
And the candy floss you had
And your mother and your dad.

Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons,
You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain
Though you're thinking that
you're leaving there too soon,
You're leaving there too soon.

There's a girl just down the aisle,
Oh, to turn and see her smile.
You can hear the words she wrote
As you read the hidden note.

Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons,
You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain
Though you're thinking that
you're leaving there too soon,
You're leaving there too soon.

Now you're underneath the stairs
And you're givin' back some glares
To the people who you met
And it's your first cigarette.

Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons,
You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain
Though you're thinking that
you're leaving there too soon,
You're leaving there too soon.

Now you say you're leavin' home
'Cause you want to be alone.
Ain't it funny how you feel
When you're findin' out it's real?

Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons,
You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain
Though you're thinking that
you're leaving there too soon,
You're leaving there too soon.

Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain
with the barkers and the colored balloons,
You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain
Though you're thinking that
you're leaving there too soon,
You're leaving there too soon.

[nutsnberries]

13. Pocahontas

Aurora borealis
The icy sky at night
Paddles cut the water
In a long and hurried flight
From the white man
to the fields of green
And the homeland
we've never seen.

They killed us in our tepee
And they cut our women down
They might have left some babies
Cryin' on the ground
But the firesticks
and the wagons come
And the night falls
on the setting sun.

They massacred the buffalo
Kitty corner from the bank
The taxis run across my feet
And my eyes have turned to blanks
In my little box
at the top of the stairs
With my Indian rug
and a pipe to share.

I wish a was a trapper
I would give thousand pelts
To sleep with Pocahontas
And find out how she felt
In the mornin'
on the fields of green
In the homeland
we've never seen.

And maybe Marlon Brando
Will be there by the fire
We'll sit and talk of Hollywood
And the good things there for hire
And the Astrodome
and the first tepee
Marlon Brando, Pocahontas and me
Marlon Brando, Pocahontas and me
Pocahontas.

[swag]

19. Oh yes, there you go.

I also the lyrics to "Sedan Delivery" from the same album.

[LynneSin]

14. Sugar Mountain!

Sugar Mountain"

Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons,
You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain
Though you're thinking that
you're leaving there too soon,
You're leaving there too soon.

It's so noisy at the fair
But all your friends are there
And the candy floss you had
And your mother and your dad.

Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons,
You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain
Though you're thinking that
you're leaving there too soon,
You're leaving there too soon.

There's a girl just down the aisle,
Oh, to turn and see her smile.
You can hear the words she wrote
As you read the hidden note.

Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons,
You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain
Though you're thinking that
you're leaving there too soon,
You're leaving there too soon.

Now you're underneath the stairs
And you're givin' back some glares
To the people who you met
And it's your first cigarette.

Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons,
You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain
Though you're thinking that
you're leaving there too soon,
You're leaving there too soon.

Now you say you're leavin' home
'Cause you want to be alone.
Ain't it funny how you feel
When you're findin' out it's real?

Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons,
You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain
Though you're thinking that
you're leaving there too soon,
You're leaving there too soon.

Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain
with the barkers and the colored balloons,
You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain
Though you're thinking that
you're leaving there too soon,
You're leaving there too soon.

[nutsnberries]

15. Piece Of Crap - the throwaway song ;)

Piece Of Crap

Tried to save the trees
Bought a platsic bag
The bottom fell out
It was a piece of crap

Saw it on the tube
Bought it on the phone
Now you're home alone
It's a piece of crap

I tried to plug in it
I tried to turn it on
When I got it home
It was a piece of crap

Got it from a friend
On him you can depend
I found out in the end
It was a piece of crap

I'm trying to save the trees
I saw it on TV
They cut the forest down
To build a piece of crap

I went back to the store
They gave me four more
The guy told me at the door
It's a piece of crap

[nutsnberries]

16. new one for these days

When God Made Me

Was he thinkin' about my country
Or the color of my skin?
Was he thinkin' 'bout my religion
And the way I worshipped him?
Did he create just me in his image
Or every living thing?

When God made me
When God made me

Was he planning only for believers
Or for those who just have faith?
Did he envision all the wars
That were fought in his name?
Did he say there was only one way
To be close to him?

When God made me
When God made me

Did he give me the gift of love
To say who I could choose?

When God made me
When God made me

When God made me
When God made me

Did he give me the gift of voice
So some could silence me?
Did he give me the gift of vision
Not knowing what I might see?
Did he give me the gift of compassion
To help my fellow man?

When God made me
When God made me

When God made me
When God made me

[NoSunWithoutShadow]

17. It's sugary, silly and over-romantic and I love it..

Harvest Moon Lyrics

From the album: Harvest Moon

Come a little bit closer
Hear what I have to say
Just like children sleepin'
We could dream this night away.

But there's a full moon risin'
Let's go dancin' in the light
We know where the music's playin'
Let's go out and feel the night.

Because I'm still in love with you
I want to see you dance again
Because I'm still in love with you
On this harvest moon.

When we were strangers
I watched you from afar
When we were lovers
I loved you with all my heart.

But now it's gettin' late
And the moon is climbin' high
I want to celebrate
See it shinin' in your eye.

Because I'm still in love with you
I want to see you dance again
Because I'm still in love with you
On this harvest moon.

[nutsnberries]

18. this song SMOKES! (SNL comes to mind)

Keep On Rockin' In The Free World

There's colors on the street
Red, white and blue
People shufflin' their feet
People sleepin' in their shoes
But there's a warnin' sign
on the road ahead
There's a lot of people sayin'
we'd be better off dead
Don't feel like Satan,
but I am to them
So I try to forget it,
any way I can.

Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world.

I see a woman in the night
With a baby in her hand
Under an old street light
Near a garbage can
Now she puts the kid away,
and she's gone to get a hit
She hates her life,
and what she's done to it
There's one more kid
that will never go to school
Never get to fall in love,
never get to be cool.

Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world.

We got a thousand points of light
For the homeless man
We got a kinder, gentler,
Machine gun hand
We got department stores
and toilet paper
Got styrofoam boxes
for the ozone layer
Got a man of the people,
says keep hope alive
Got fuel to burn,
got roads to drive.

Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world.

[nutsnberries]

20. Philadelphia

Sometimes I think that I know
What love's all about
And when I see the light
I know I'll be all right.

I've got my friends in the world,
I had my friends
When we were boys and girls
And the secrets came unfurled.

City of brotherly love
Place I call home
Don't turn your back on me
I don't want to be alone
Love lasts forever.

Someone is talking to me,
Calling my name
Tell me I'm not to blame
I won't be ashamed of love.

Philadelphia,
City of brotherly love.
Brotherly love.

Sometimes I think that I know
What love's all about
And when I see the light
I know I'll be all right.
Philadelphia.

[nutsnberries]

21. Expecting to Fly

There you stood
on the edge of your feather,
Expecting to fly.
While I laughed,
I wondered whether
I could wave goodbye,
Knowin' that you'd gone.
By the summer it was healing,
We had said goodbye.
All the years
we'd spent with feeling
Ended with a cry,
Babe, ended with a cry,
Babe, ended with a cry.

I tried so hard to stand
As I stumbled
and fell to the ground.
So hard to laugh as I fumbled
And reached for the love I found,
Knowin' it was gone.
If I never lived without you,
Now you know I'd die.
If I never said I loved you,
Now you know I'd try,
Babe, now you know I'd try.
Babe, now you know I'd try,
Babe.

[PRETZEL]

22. Old Man

OLD MAN
Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.
Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.

Old man look at my life,
Twenty four and there's so much more
Live alone in a paradise
That makes me think of two.

Love lost, such a cost,
Give me things that don't get lost.
Like a coin that won't get tossed
Rolling home to you.

Old man take a look at my life I'm a lot like you
I need someone to love me the whole day through
Ah, one look in my eyes and you can tell that's true.

Lullabies, look in your eyes,
Run around the same old town.
Does it mean that much to me
To mean that much to you?

I've been first and last
Look at how the time goes past.
But I'm all alone at last.
Rolling home to you.

Old man take a look at my life I'm a lot like you
I need someone to love me the whole day through
Ah, one look in my eyes and you can tell that's true.

Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.
Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.

[johnnie]

24. "Needle And The Damage Done"

It hit home a few times in my days..
:(

[eauclaireliberal]

25. "I love Reagan"

BBC did a piece on how much of a wingnut he is/was (I don't know, is he still alive? Hard to tell when he is as irrelevant as he is).

[nutsnberries]

29. more lyrics, moved 'em below.

[eauclaireliberal]

32. Back on topic: Old Man is my fave. n/t

I said, n/t.

[nutsnberries]

26. This Old Guitar - pretty duet with EmmyLou Harris

This old guitar ain't mine to keep
Just taking care of it now
It's been around for years and years
Just waiting in its old case
It's been up and down the country roads
It's brought a tear and a smile
It's seen its share of dreams and hopes
And never went out of style
The more I play it, the better it sounds
It cries when I leave it alone
Silently it waits for me
Or someone else I suppose

This old guitar
This old guitar
This old guitar

This old guitar has caught some breaks
But it never searched for gold
It can't be blamed for my mistakes
It only does what it's told
It's been a messenger in times of trouble
In times of hope and fear
When I get drunk and seeing double
It jumps behind the wheel and steers

This old guitar ain't mine to keep
It's mine to play for a while
This old guitar ain't mine to keep
It's only mine for a while

This old guitar

[Bonhomme Richard]

27. Powderfinger

I can't explain why, just love the story.


Look out, Mama,
there's a white boat
comin' up the river
With a big red beacon,
and a flag,
and a man on the rail
I think you'd better call John,
'Cause it don't
look like they're here
to deliver the mail
And it's less than a mile away
I hope they didn't come to stay
It's got numbers on the side
and a gun
And it's makin' big waves.
Daddy's gone,
my brother's out hunting
in the mountains
Big John's been drinking
since the river took Emmy-Lou
So the powers that be
left me here
to do the thinkin'
And I just turned twenty-two
I was wonderin' what to do
And the closer they got,
The more those feelings grew.
Daddy's rifle in my hand
felt reassurin'
He told me,
Red means run, son,
numbers add up to nothin'
But when the first shot
hit the docks I saw it comin'
Raised my rifle to my eye
Never stopped to wonder why.
Then I saw black,
And my face splashed in the sky.
Shelter me from the powder
and the finger
Cover me with the thought
that pulled the trigger
Think of me
as one you'd never figured
Would fade away so young
With so much left undone
Remember me to my love,
I know I'll miss her.

[EstimatedProphet]

28. Mr. Soul

Oh, hello Mr. Soul,
I dropped by
to pick up a reason
For the thought that I caught
that my head
is the event of the season
Why in crowds just a trace
of my face
could seem so pleasin'
I'll cop out to the change,
but a stranger
is putting the tease on.

I was down on a frown
when the messenger
brought me a letter
I was raised by the praise
of a fan
who said I upset her
Any girl in the world
could have easily
known me better
She said, You're strange,
but don't change,
and I let her.

In a while will the smile
on my face
turn to plaster?
Stick around while the clown
who is sick
does the trick of disaster
For the race of my head
and my face
is moving much faster
Is it strange I should change?
I don't know,
why don't you ask her?

[nutsnberries]

30. See the Sky About to Rain

See the sky about to rain,
broken clouds and rain.
Locomotive, pull the train,
whistle blowing
through my brain.
Signals curling on an open plain,
rolling down the track again.
See the sky about to rain.

Some are bound for happiness,
some are bound to glory
Some are bound to live with less,
who can tell your story?

See the sky about to rain,
broken clouds and rain.
Locomotive, pull the train,
whistle blowin'
through my brain.
Signals curlin' on an open plain,
rollin' down the track again.
See the sky about to rain.

I was down in Dixie Land,
played a silver fiddle
Played it loud and then the man
broke it down the middle.
See the sky about to rain.

[Left_Winger]

31. I can't choose a favorite

I only saw Neil once in concert: 1987 in Atlanta. The tour was billed as "The World's Third Greatest Garage Band" and the Atlanta show was fantastic. It began with a garage door (which was actually a curtain) raising, complete with sound effects, and Neil was there all alone with an acoustic guitar. The first 90 minutes he played his acoustic songs. After the intermission the "door" opened again and there was Neil with Crazy Horse and for another 90 minutes they rocked. The show concluded with two encores.

Damn, that was a good show!

[atomic-fly]

33. I always liked the two versions of my my hey hey, hey hey my my

[Bossy Monkey]

34. "I'm the Ocean"-- entire song

It's on "Mirrorball."

Prior to that, "Cowgirl in the Sand" and "Fuckin' Up," both for entirely personal reasons.

[graywarrior]

35. Just the name Neil Young turns me on.

[mtowngman]

36. Words (between the lines of age)

[nutsnberries]

37. "every time you touch her sets your hands on fire...

and everything you've got is all that she requires"




( This thread got me going. I gave in and ran for my cds. just put on Decade. first song, "Down to the Wire" ~those first two lines gets me all groovy. :) )

[RandomKoolzip]

38. "Revolution Blues" and "Fuckin' Up" are my faves.

[genie_weenie]

39. "Well, I hope Neil Young will remember,

a southern man don't need him around anyhow."

ha ha

I win!

[mulsh]

40. T-Bone

it's on Ractor.

Got mashed potatoes
got mashe potatoes
aint got no t=bone.

1 line for the whole song. one of the finest protest songs ever.

[radwriter0555]

41. Well I dreamed I saw the knights in armor coming, saying something about

a queen...

[nutsnberries]

43. Cowgirl in the Sand - Neil plays the shit outta that thing &blows me away.

no words necessary. most of you know what i'm talkin'bout.


:wow:

[Katherine Brengle]

44. "Throw Your Hatred Down" (1995)----

Here in the conscious world
We place our theories down
Why man must bring us
to our knees
Before he sees the weakness
of his sinful plan
The power in his hand
Will never touch a friend

Throw your hatred down
Throw your hatred down



Meanwhile in the underworld
The weaknesses are seen
By peasants and presidents
Who plan the counter-scheme
Children in the schoolyard
Finish choosing teams
Divided by their dreams
While a TV screams

Throw your weapons down
Throw your weapons down



The wheel of fortune
Keeps on rollin' down
The street that's paved
with sinful plans
There but for circumstance
May go you or I
Dressed in gold lame
Find a place to stay

Throw your hatred down
Throw your hatred down
Throw your hatred down
Throw your weapons down

[Jokerman]

45. "see the losers in the best bars, meet the winners in the dives" n/t