A World of Constant Strangers: The Neil Young Results Thread

"Old Man" and "Sugar Mountain" should've been a double a-side

My favourite old-man film.

Wow. "old Man" makes 5 of my top 10 showing up today. Seems a bit low, but I figure it has Harvest fatigue.

Years ago, my band played the basement of some stripclub/dive-bar in Winnipeg, in November. It was snowing lightly and pretty desolate. Some guy requested the Doors, and when we didn't accommodate offered to take the stage and play it for us. That night there was a man passed out in the hall that blocked our hotel room door.

The next day we met a local for breakfast, and she took us by Neil Young's high school. I wonder if I still have the picture ... ?

Weird, a band I used to sit in with had a bunch of slightly-scary Winnipeg touring stories. Apparently it was a regular tour stop for them.

Where we're at:

75. “Ordinary People” (7 votes/68 points)
74. “Don’t Cry” (7/71)
73. “Cocaine Eyes” (8/71)
72. “Sample and Hold” (8/77)
71. “Transformer Man” (7/78)
70. “Words (Between the Lines of Age)” (9/78)
69. “The Old Laughing Lady” (8/84)
68. “Love in Mind” (11/89)
67. “Philadelphia” (9/93)
66. “Fuckin’ Up” (12/93)
65. “Southern Man” (10/95)
64. “Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero Part I)” (10/96)
63. “Broken Arrow” (11/96)
62. “Harvest” (11/97)
61. “Lotta Love” (13/97)
60. “I Am a Child” (12/99)
59. “Lookout Joe” (11/104)
58. “Look Out for My Love” (12/104)
57. “Unknown Legend” (11/108)
56. “Come on Baby Let’s Go Downtown” (11/110)
55. “On the Way Home” (9/115)
54. “Birds” (12/117)
53. “Motion Pictures” (13/126)
52. “Long May You Run” (13/129)
51. “Will to Love” (13/132)
50. “Mellow My Mind” (15/132)
49. “Harvest Moon” (15/135)
48. “L.A.” (14/137)
47. “The Loner” (16/143)
46. “See the Sky About to Rain” (16/148)
45. “I Believe in You” (17/149)
44. “Sedan Delivery” (18/156)
43. “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)” (16/162)
42. “Don’t Cry No Tears” (19/162)
41. “Comes a Time” (18/164)
40. “Out on the Weekend” (17/167)
39. “Barstool Blues” (19/168)
38. “For the Turnstiles” (20/169)
37. “I’m the Ocean” (22/188)
36. “Danger Bird” (18/189)
35. “Thrasher” (20/189)
34. “Time Fades Away” (18/190)
33. “Winterlong” (19/194)
32. “Mr. Soul” (19/195)
31. “Walk On” (15/196)
30. “When You Dance I Can Really Love” (17/197)
29. “Sugar Mountain” (20/197)
28. “A Man Needs a Maid” (20/198)
27. “Don’t Be Denied” (21/220)
26. “Old Man” (24/237)

20/40 for me thus far

With me it's like, "Wheels, doors...yep, that's a car all right." Please post if you can find the picture!

http://www.adclassix.com/images/63chevpickups.jpg

My cousin used to have a '64. He lived in deep south Austin, and used to joke that when he had it (early '80s), it was considered a new truck around those parts.

Another 8/30 in today's batch. Expecting 8 more tomorrow max (and a few surprises by the looks of it).

I believe you, C. Grissom--I meant for Josh to post his Winnipeg picture. I think Neil's probably one of those people who knows yearly car models thoroughly.

9/30 - the Archive-heavy bottom section of my ballot is a goner.

believe you, C. Grissom

I believe IN you

Hmm, 18 of 40 for me. Certainly some favorites are not going to crack the top 25 for me. Granted, I like some odd Neil songs, but still, hoping a few of the strange ones show up and more obvious ones don't. Gonna be a cool top 25 I think.

"oh my god how i miss amusement parks and candy corn"

ten years later

"eat a peach, fat-asses! i'm a-go hang out with devo!"

― da croupier, Tuesday, July 10, 2012 11:50 AM (1 hour ago)

Highly underrated post, needs more luv.

I've only landed 6 of 20 so far, I'll consider myself lucky if I get to 50%.

12/30 for me. I'm guessing another 11 or so will show up by the end. Lots of classics on my ballot.

I've only had 6 of 40 so far. Obviously I'll have a number show up tomorrow, but I imagine my ballot would be towards the bottom, percentage-wise, in terms of placing songs on the list.

Playing catchup:

"Thrasher" -- I love this song, and also the whole '70s mini-genre of "I'm done with all that stuff" that a lot of '60s dudes did. Lots of Blood on the Tracks is like that, Lennon's "God," "Solsbury Hill," etc.

"Winterlong" -- Love this, like I said on the voting thread. The Ronettes comment is otm, it's basically Neil's Phil Spector song. (The Ramones stole the verse melody for "Bye Bye Baby," but probably not on purpose.)

"Walk On" -- My #2. I love it on its own, as this sort of weathered-but-sprightly affirmation, and some great axiomatic lines ("sooner or later, it all gets real"). But I also love it in context, as the opener on an album that feels like a walk away from things. It's kind of a mission statement for the record.

"Old Man" -- Here's where I get to be grumpy. Never liked this, it's one of the few songs where I understand complaints about his whiny voice. I know the song is aiming for empathy, but it reads as solipsism to me.

Oh, and I voted for "Sugar Mountain," too, it's sweet and nails that end-of-the-'60s thing without being too maudlin.

11/32 so far

The worst thing about this poll is that it made me realize that I heard all the Buffalo Springfield stuff before I heard any solo Neil -- i.e., I am very old.

Old man, take a look at this poll.

I think Neil's probably one of those people who knows yearly car models thoroughly.

Yeah, he'd appreciate any vehicle discussion.

I saw the Buffalo Springfield reunion show at Bonnaroo last year, it was fine but the volume was too low. It was sort of poignant to be in a field full of 20-somethings shouting "TURN IT UP" at the 60-somethings on stage.

"Don't Be Denied" was my #1. I know (from Shakey) that song was written on the day of Whitten's death.

h8 "Old Man". Hope "Heart of Gold" places tho.

I had "Don't Be Denied" next to "Hitchhiker" on my ballot. The latter is like Part II: The Drug Years.

12/30 so far.

I can think of 20 obvious songs that are sure to place. Which leaves a few good mystery songs.

h8 Old Man too. My most cringey moment ever was being treated by a drunken colleague to an acapella version, complete with air guitar and teary eulogy to his dad, with colleagues in the bar at my first-ever work Christmas night out. I'd wager I was the only other person there who knew the song.

The guy in question is now a mid-ranking partner with the same firm and boasts a ftse100 company as his big client.

wow, that sounds awkward.
i voted for old man, tho, i like when the drums come in and ben keith's pedal steel. let's hear it for ben keith. piano on it is nice too, kind of buried, but blends nicely w/ neil's guitar.

Ben Keith is welcome whenever he pops up on a Neil song.

yeah he's a perfect fit for neil in the 70s. kind of wish there was some unreleased solo pedal steel album from 1974 in the archives.

I believe I'm 11 out of 40 so far

Shakey is good on the circumstances around "Old Man," but the lyric has always kind of ruined that one for me.

I'm 10/40, but my ballot was heavy on the canon, so I expect the percentage will go up in the last third.

http://www.thecoolgroove.com/ben.html

Just learned that Ben Keith recorded a solo album in 1984 and apparently has unreleased solo material from 1997.

And a Christmas album.

I'm 10/40, but my ballot was heavy on the canon, so I expect the percentage will go up in the last third.

ditto, though i'm wondering if any post-rust could crack the top 25 at this point. i remember clemenza spoiling early on nothing was past 30 or so, and i could see the ragged glory hits all canceling each other out, but "rockin' in the free world" has yet to show up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX2zTw7Krs0

Up to 12/30 now (I think) and about another 10 should make it...will be kind of bummed if "Natural Beauty" and "Journey Through the Past" don't place though.

I thought "Razor Love" would be a shoe-in, guess not?

'Danger Bird' and 'Out on the Weekend' were both in my top 10, great to see them here.

I heard Decade long before On The Beach so it was weird hearing 'Walk On' as a taste of what I'd heard was such a downer of an album.

I can really hear the 'Winterlong'/Big Star comparisons, it's in the guitar sound.

compositionally it bears a lot of resemblances to Big Star as well, imho - the chiming, ascending guitar line, complimented by the descending "come back now, come back now, whoah" vocal melody at the end of the phrase - Chilton totally used that trick.

I heard Decade long before On The Beach so it was weird hearing 'Walk On' as a taste of what I'd heard was such a downer of an album.

yeah i doubt it really was an "a&r wants a single" situation but that's how it feels on OTB after knowing it far longer from decade

i know you guys are all really interested my prairie wind liveblog

but this album is pretty damn slight

it's all a dream is nice

i'll revisit Prairie Wind before Silver & Gold and Are You Passionate but I'm not in a rush

yeah prairie wind has a nice sound, but there's something lacking in the songwriting.

Haven't seen Hawks & Doves mentioned...how is it generally regarded among Neilophiles?

has its fans, but i don't think there's a consensus fave track (if there is I know it's not the one i voted for)

i voted for little wing, almost voted for lost in space.

I like Hawks & Doves quite a bit, - picked it as one of my fave album covers and voted for "Little Wing." "Union Man" is pretty great too. "The gentleman said ... bumper stickers should be issued!"

i've had the theory that had neil taken the first side of hawks n doves and the best tracks from reactor, he'd have a rust-like masterpiece. maybe?

I've been listening to H&D a lot the last few days. "This Old Homestead" is a weird lyric set to "For The Turnstiles"-OTB chords.