TS: Cowgirl In The Sand vs. Down By The River

My microscopic preference comes down to music, for the most part, but I also think "Cowgirl" yields more unforgettable lines: "purple words on a grey background," "when so many love you, is it the same," "can I see your sweet, sweet smile"--pretty much every line.

is this a joke? cowgirl is a hundred thousand times better than DBTR

maybe from a song craft POV, but I just kinda barrelled ahead to "what jam do I prefer?"

Since I went River over Cowgirl in the big poll, I'll go Cowgirl here. They were both top 5 for me. Love that they and "Cinnamon Girl" were all recorded in the same day. (Or at least I like the story. They've all told it enough times that I assume it's true.)

recorded or written in the same day?

they were all written this morning

I think all written one day and all recorded another day.

Young eventually enticed Whitten, Talbot and Molina to come up to his Topanga home/studio and record some “strange songs” he’d written while being laid up with the flu. “In a single day,” Talbot says, “we did ‘Cinnamon Girl,’ ‘Down By The River’ and ‘Cowgirl in the Sand.’ There wasn’t much need to discuss it….”

http://www.theuncool.com/journalism/rs284-neil-young/

Shocked to see the swell of support for "Cowgirl." Voted "River."

In the new book he says he discusses writing all 3 at the same time while sick.

Cowgirl reminds me of a chick i used to date. She torched me but there are some fond memories. We saw Neil at Radio City and also at some small theater up in Washington Heights.

cool thing in the book re: crazy horse -- neil says he's working on a compilation of early crazy horse/danny & the memories/rockets material.

Oh wow! The Rockets album is really good btw.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzfldDrZ6j8

yeah it is a pretty cool record. neil says the comp is called "Early Daze" and will sort of tell the complete story of Danny Whitten. will probably be released sometime in 2024.

"Down by the river". This is my 'default song' - if I ever get an annoying song stuck in my head, like "Chirpy chirpy cheep cheep", I start singing "Down by the river" to get rid of it. A great opening chord change, huge spaces in the arrangement to get lost in, spooked atmosphere. And I wonder if he heard "Season of the witch"?

huh never thought of season of the witch as a connection to Down By The River, but now that you mention it ...
i remember reading that molina and talbot thought of the down by the river beat as a super slowed down james brown rhythm. which is kind of funny. guess that puts river in the category of epic rock jamz that have a secret james brown influence like marquee moon.

Cowgirl easily.

i think DBTR sounds corny, especially compared to cowgirl

when i meet a cowgirl fanatic, there's usually a cowgirl somewhere in the listener's past

not for me amigo

and no, i didn't shoot my baby--my love for DBTR is despite the lyrics, not because of them!

i had a ruby in the dust, not a cowgirl

and yeah, the Hey Joe theme of River is is a music cliche by now...

not for me amigo

― 69, Friday, October 19, 2012 5:04 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

There may be a cowgirl in my future, but none in my past.

i do , and it was the woman in her that made her want to play that gaaaammmmmme (oy vey that's a stinker)

Hello cowgirl in the river
I've got to shoot you with an arrow from my quiver

they really are two peas in a pod these two ditties

what's corny is the lyric 'hello cowgirl in the sand'

ha, true

after re-listening to the Fillmore set, went with Cowgirl. the turnarounds are better.

what's corny is the lyric 'hello cowgirl in the sand'

― mookieproof, Friday, October 19, 2012 7:48 PM

really, I think it's such a great opening lyric. hello cowgirl in the sand, is this place at your command? establishes place, character, and relationship so economically.

i went for down by the river. not sure if that was the right choice. both songs are phantastic. were there any other songs with lyrics in the 1960s longer than nine minutes?

Desolation Row, Sad Eyed Lady

(Huh...never noticed before that those are about the same length)

I really need to get into this album, i have it on LP somewhere. I've listened to it once or twice but always in the background and halfway through "Cowgirl" i stop what i'm doing and this "Oh this must be that 'Cowgirl in the Sand' song everyone always talks about! Cool!"

this is a freaking tough on

*one

cowgirl

Listened to studio and Fillmore versions of both and I guess it's Cowgirl, barely.

Voted cowgirl. DBTR has always felt like a newly solo artist performing a popular standard. I don't think that is an accurate impression, but I've always held that bias. Besides, cowgirl is all time.

Scott Miller, from Game Theory/Loud Family, had this great line about how creepy it was to start out a murder ballad with "Be on my side/I'll be on your side"

I mistakenly thought that buddy miles wrote this song. I will do my research next time, ILX. I apologize to you and Neil both.

cowgirl

Cowgirl. I used to like Down By The River more, but after a long drive playing both at top volume for close to an hour, I came around.

its close. but i think cowgirl wins it for the foreboding way each chorus ends with that "bah bah - bum! bah bah - bum!" riff.

isn't it "bah bah - dum! bah bah - ram"?

i cannot muster an argument either way tbh

voted River on account of its creeping intro which I favor over Cowgirl's abrupt entry

i vote cowgirl cause sexy

River is moodier but Cowgirl has more interesting stiff going on musically. That Dm7 stomp underneath “it’s rhe woman in you...” is so great

Also, River is moving, but is hardly alone as a "shot my woman song", where on Cowgirl, the fever-dream altered state is palpable and strange.

Ha, I just listened to this record a couple hours ago.

River is the sound of the coming apocalypse; Cowgirl the sound of everything lost in it.