May You Live in Inneresting Times: The Neil Young Voting Thread (deadline July 8)

What?! I veto that rule. I don't want St. Etienne placing on a Neil Young poll, or Pixies or whatever. Because I'd totally vote for those if I recognized the rule.

Yeah, covers count. A few of the polls have followed the more open songwriter-vs.-performer format: Pet Shop Boys, Stevie Wonder, some others. (I can't remember, but I think the PSB poll may have even let in productions-only.) Covers aren't going to have an effect on the final 50, so it's kind of a moot point. (I thought one might have a chance here, one that I voted for, but ends up it won't...I'm wading into spoilers again.) Different versions I'll be counting together. Following the way the voting's going, I have decided to count votes for "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" and "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)" separately, although I'll make note of where a combined vote would have placed.

Josh: don't worry, it's not going to happen.

I totally thought you meant covers as in Neil Young covering someone else.

that's what i thought too. just in case i wanted to vote for farmer john.

No...I mean, of course those are eligible too--he does a great "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" on some Dylan tribute album. Myself, I consider covers by Neil more marginal than others covering Neil.

But to answer DL's question, yes, covers are counted separately--St. Etienne would be counted separately from the original.

The Butthole Surfers thread near the top has a purple border; can I get a plaid border for Neil's countdown?

OK, I think I'll drop covers from my ballot if they're going to be wasted votes. Makes more room for other songs.

ok i think i'm finally done! gonna let it simmer for a day or two to make sure.

yeah, was about to send mine in and then thought i should wait a couple days to make sure i have made the right decisions.

"Gonna simmer" is amazingly close to Donna Summer.

Ballot sent. Barely manged to keep it to 40.

I voted, almost entirely for stuff I thought would be otherwise underrepresented/unchampioned. we'll see what actually shows up lol

Apologies if this has been posted:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/playlist-neil-youngs-top-20-obscure-songs-20120629

lol 7 of those are in my tentative ballot of 40, i'm not as cool as i thought

The only one of those I voted for was my #1. Otherwise I am far from obscure.

Four will be on mine too but not the Old Ways kitsch number.

Didn't vote for any of those. Thought about "Arc".

I'd never seen that, thanks. Don't have any of them on my list, though I like three or four (and don't know all of them). The thing I'd quibble with is that every song is post-1980. The author acknowledges that, but there are great lesser-known songs from before.

RS readers, I think, are less apt to consider Young's post-RNS career as worthy.

In the context of RS's readership, you're right, the restriction makes sense. I guess I'm just saying that "The Emperor of Wyoming" or "Soldier" or "Ocean Girl" or a few others are probably as obscure as those 20 songs.

One I would have included myself would be "Scenery." Mirror Ball was my one concession to catching up with stuff I didn't have before voting (I knew "Downtown," of course). I just love it--played it seven or eight times in the car last week.

Can's Lost Tapes derailed my NY listening today.

You were going along fine, Can came along and you headed for the ditch.

Scratch "Soldier"--forgot it turned up on Decade.

"Don't Spook the Horse!"

One I would have included myself would be "Scenery."

oh man, the slow song about how much the music biz sucks with jeff ament bass pops? can't relate, but then i know a lot of people like rem's "low desert" too.

ha haven't looked at the lyrics in ages but they're less specifically about the biz than I remembered. Guess the "media images slaves...they tear you down" part that made me think it was a tear for eddie v.

Balloted.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1318/5141302358_d30619ef58.jpg

(Data point: My #1 song is 3.4 times longer than my #2 song. And I nearly flipped em.)

Know what's a great obscure Neil song? Music Arcade from Broken Arrow. Probably his best acoustic song in 20 years.

Had no idea that's what "Scenery" was about--thought it had something to do with war (incidental to what I love about it in any case). For me, it really captures those long wandering '70s songs.

I had four of those obscuro numbers, and a bunch more that missed the final cut. It'd be nice to have a separate post 1980 rundown to do those eras justice (NB don't do this, I doubt there'll be enough votes)

Broken Arrow is kinda underrated tbh. I def have a song from that album on my ballot

It's an album where the cover art has put me off, I think. Long, chugging guitar workouts should not have a sleeve the colour of sludge.

haha

I kinda like the cover!

I don't know if Slip Away is a favorite or not, but it's my favorite from this album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stzfzAJXuK8&feature=relmfu

the cover is perfect for broken arrow, it's easily the murkiest, greyest album of his career

sent! i feel good about it.

Actually playing the MFSL version of Old Ways right now... the title track is still great even if the rest of it is lackluster. If you haven't heard the take of that tune on the Rock N Roll Cowboy set, seek it out... really makes you wish he had cut it like that.

Anyway, I wanted to just put in a word for two of Neil's biggest hits: Heart of Gold and Cinammon Girl. In the race to get to all the obscurities, I would hope these both would still be on practically every ballot. Sure, they're very LCD choices, but damn, they are also some really excellent records that stand the test of time.

That said, I'm absolutely ranking I'm The Ocean ahead of both of them. :-)

yeah i keep removing and then putting back things like "heart of gold" and "cinnamon girl." i should put them back in. "old man" too. i mean, there's a reason they're hits! they're perfect.

i left them all in! could not cut them, wouldn't even if i could.

HoG and Cinnamon were both ones i thought of late and added on. even though i've heard both a million times, they're both so completely classic...

Yeah, "Heart of Gold" and "Helpless" were both near-cuts for me, but in the end I couldn't leave them off. (Never thought about excluding "Cinnamon Girl" -- that riff!)

Just a general statement: beyond the inevitable "too low!" quibbles, I don't think anyone would feel that anything really famous is getting shafted right now. The only song that to me seems criminally low--my vote and no one else's--is what I always thought was Neil's obvious post-Rust masterpiece. Apparently not!

Aw no, I never even thought of including Heart Of Gold. It's so classic :(

No worries clemenza, the obvious post-Rust masterpiece is going to get hellapoints from yours truly

How many ballots so far?

y'all are talking about kinda fonda wanda right

I've tallied 24, and there are another three where I've requested some scoring clarification. Should clear 30 easily, which is what I was hoping for.

Will probably send mine tomorrow or Thursday.

30? That's it? I live in a world where everyone has at least 10 favorite Neil Young songs.

I'm not a cheerleader, but if you like even 10 Neil Young songs, why not type them out and email them as part of this poll. It's not hard. Just think of the songs, type their names in whatever order you think of them, and send that email. Boom, you have voted.

It's not hard. Try it. 5 minutes, max. Time yourself if you have to.