Is 'Man Needs a Maid' ridiculous?

'Welfare Mothers', on 'Rust Never Sleeps', is a much more offensive NY track.

Instead, he used strings, horns, chimes, and whatnot to make damn sure that we all heard him say that he needs a maid to cook, clean, & leave. It's like he wanted the listener to hate the song.

I bet he still lets out an evil cackle or two when he thinks about all the buzzes this song has killed over the years.

The next thing you know, chimes and cellos are striking melodramatic poses, and Neil is loudly and repeatedly insisting that A MAN NEEDS A MAID. Then someone is sure to say that the lyrics are demeaning to women, and someone else will reply that they are actually wistful and touching, and a third person will say oh, give the poor guy a break, he was wearing a back brace when he wrote that. You and your friends aren't laughing anymore, but off in the distance, you can almost hear Neil chuckling.

He could have delivered those lyrics in a mellow fashion, and nobody would have given them a second thought. Instead, he brought an entire orchestra in to poop on your party. Good one, Neil...

"A Man Needs A Maid," on the other hand, is a sad little song, so the epic strings seem out of place.

The song= a guy looking around his grubby apartment, and wishing a woman was there to pick up all his crusty socks and empty bottles.

The production=an armored viking looking over some great vista while eagles circle overhead.

This is exactly the kind of 'look' I'm going for ... I think it sounds kind of deadpan, flat, sorrowful and beautiful. Maybe I could be the feminazi you need.

""A Man Needs A Maid," on the other hand, is a sad little song, so the epic strings seem out of place."

I think this is true - the strings on this song are funny. It's partly because the strings are so rich and his voice is so thin and cracking too.

'Welfare Mothers', on 'Rust Never Sleeps', is a much more offensive NY track.

??!!!

At least, it seemed that way to me. To my friends, it just seemed like I was living in a disgusting apartment.

They were nice enough to keep coming over, though, and some nights, after having a few drinks, I'd start to describe my dark emotional vistas. My friends never shared my fascination with this topic, however. "Quit bitching and start cleaning," was their advice.

In retrospect, they were 100% correct, and I'm damn glad that I never used a bombastic string section to try to convince them otherwise.

it deserves an r&b cover -- by r kelly?

When will I see you again?

is speculation as to whether the dude should get a maid really worth the corny, overdone instrumentation

"listening to neil young sing about women is like watching a cop eating donuts."

haha! Yes, exactly.

adamrl needs a maid

but it does sound like he just wants some chick who'll clean up his shit. it's kinda amazing that he thought he could get away with that in 1972 (the height of bra-burning feminism, ya know).

There is such a thing as singing as a character, ya know.

the most basic connection a human can make

More basic: I just shook hands with a homeless-/street-paper vendor.

Doped-up makes it hard to get things done around the house.

I thought that maybe I would get a made = I'll stop where I can, get some fried eggs and country ham