A World of Constant Strangers: The Neil Young Results Thread

I don't mind "Cortez" as a jam, but the lyrics really kill it for me.

I LOVE Cortez as a jam but yeah the lyrics are dumb

songs from my ballot that didn't make it

9) The Losing End (When You're On)
14) If I Could Have Her Tonight
15) Down To The Wire
17) Burned
18) Human Highway
22) Oh, Lonesome Me
23) The Emperor of Wyoming
28) Till The Morning Comes
30) Round & Round (It Won't Be Long)

there were 4-5 songs that did make the top 75 that I would have voted for if i had not thrown my ballot together so haphazardly

ok i'm gonna look like an idiot here maybe or maybe i'm regurgitating conventional wisdom but how do ppl read 'cortez'? do they read it as a straightforward song about cortez? not saying this is wrong, it very probably isn't, this is neil young, but the way i've read it the dumbness of the first 6 verses is intentional and maybe neccessary, that those first 6 verses are a daydream or digression and the song only moves into present tense and the actual protagonist is revealed in the 'and i know she's living there' verse, that the song is a variation on 'by the time i get to phoenix' sorta w/ the protagonist thinking of cortez conquering and destroying this paradise and how that mirrors how he destroyed his paradise (and it's not hard to believe, guy's a dumbass, cf. his take on the aztecs), w/ the final 'cortez, what a killer' the narrator hanging his head in shame. why do i keep fuckin up etc.

it could be also that 'cortez is about regret' cuz so many of my fave neil young songs (including my top two) are basically about regret.

it could be also that I THINK 'cortez is about regret' rather

neil shrugs enough about it that there isn't any wrong way to read it

i always thought cortez was neil being maybe a lil too upfront about how much he romanticizes native america and the first nations? like pocahontas rides the line, and manages it, but cortez was what neil did instead of hanging up a dreamcatcher and getting a kokopelli tattoo, i dunno

i'd like to be wrong though!

an innaresting reading

POWDERFINGER

actually, now that i think about it, that reggae-ified coda on Live Rust might have been the wrong way to read it

but yeah any take that involves yearning, regret, wistfulness, etc is plenty right

still wish i could find that quote from erstwhile ilxor stormy davis (grumpier than morbs, even, bless 'im) that said something like "powderfinger is the most important song ever recorded". totally had a moment where i read that, put on powderfinger, and then thought "damn."

the reggae-fied coda on LR is probably a singer trying to keep boredom at bay afte 2000 performances

haha here's where i confess i've never actually listened to live rust (which is doubly weird cuz i LOVE neil young live albums - big year of the horse stan, etc) and you dudes tossing words like 'reggae' around in the context of neil young is not exactly doing anything to change that.

the reggae part is akin to Neil burping midsong

A friend said this in an e-mail today in reference to "Cortez": "unlike that fabled Franco government, I am a Spaniard who feels this song tells my own story quite accurately."

Having said that, I think it's a dead-end trying to analyze the song too closely as words on a page. (Nothing wrong with that, and the stuff above is interesting.) I know it's more literal than mid-'60s Dylan stuff like "Desolation Row" or "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues," but I do think it's Neil's version of that. He's got a song floating around in his head, and he's just attaching some words...against interpretation and all that.

Or maybe a bunch of words setting up the one line: "I still can't remember when or how I lost my way." Coming out of the '73-75 period, that line seems very straightforward.

balls, skip to 6:05 for a taste

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSj5yOK_mt4

or you can start at the beginning and let the majesty unfold

when I saw Bryan Ferry perform "A Song For Europe" in 2010 he mimicked a southern accent. What's weirder?

Haven't listened to Live Rust in ages...would have been happier without that reminder! (The reggae schtick, I mean.)

Mine that didn't place:

Pardon My Heart
Hangin' On A Limb
Stringman
Country Girl: Whiskey Boot Hill/Down, Down, Down/Country Girl (I Think You're Pretty)
Ride My Llama
The Bridge
After The Garden (I'm fond of this, and snuck it in at #30, but I suspect it might have been its only vote!)

I screened the Rust... movie during the voting process, and as the version of CTK unfurled into the reggae coda, I thought, "Hey, at least he didn't try to shove a Crazy Horse reggae album down Geffen's throat."

I know Neil has said that the real Weld experience was the long-form video/laser disc. You could make a similar argument for Rust Never Sleeps (the movie) vs. Live Rust. All that kooky atmosphere (the giant props, "Road Eyes") adds just the right amount of wtf? to the proceedings.

ok that's not so bad, i don't think david byrne can go 30 seconds on the name of this band w/o some similar move going on.

^ that post is like chum for clem i think

actually it's surprising there isn't at least one more prominent example of ras neil out there

xpost and now my own unintentional avoidance of the name of this band is given weight

It was the only "After the Garden" vote, yes...Outdoor Miner: let me know if you want your ballot posted.

Another thing about CTK: in the old AMG review of Zuma, the writer mentioned that the song was the lone holdover from an abandoned concept album of historical-oriented songs. That is the only place I've heard of this concept lp. Total bullshit, or is there something to it?

after This Note's For You the VV's critic wondered whether "Neil Sings Nelson Riddle!" was next. Why not "Neil Sings Lee 'Scratch' Perry"?

Jah Rastafari Believe In You

is le noise the closest thing to a neil young dub album we have? also: neil young + crazy horse in everybody's dubsteppin -> yes, sign me up

the real Weld experience

this was intentional right? if so: ~knucks~

knucks anyway

can-knucks joke goes here

neil young + crazy horse in everybody's dubsteppin -> yes, sign me up

"kinda fonda wubwubwub"

I know Neil has said that the real Weld experience was the long-form video/laser disc.

I'd hate to think the real Weld experience is close-ups of audience members singing along.

1. Powderfinger
2. The Needle And The Damage Done
3. Cortez the Killer
4. Sugar Mountain
5. Down By The River
6. After the Gold Rush
7. Alabama
8. Pocahontas
9. Revolution Blues
10. South-ern Pac-i-fic
11. Comes A Time
12. The Loner
13. Don't Be Denied
14. Don't Let it Bring You Down
15. Tonight's the Night
16. Will To Love
17. Cowgirl In The Sand
18. Rap-id Tran-sit
19. Harvest Moon
20. Coupe De Ville
21. Safeway Cart
22. The Bridge
23. Love To Burn
24. For The Turnstiles
25. Kinda Fonda Wanda
26. My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)
27. Homegrown
28. Captain Kennedy
29. Fuckin' Up
30. Silver And Gold

Upper 10 = 15
Middle 10 = 10
Bottom 10 = 5

Placed 20 of 30. Kind of surprised "Four Strong Winds" didn't make it.

27 of 30 placed. Would have loved to see Flying on the Ground is Wrong make the list. That one's come on strong for me lately. Tyler had the Kendra Smith / Rainy Day cover posted earlier this year ... so good.

For 15 points each:
Tell Me Why
Down by the River
Powderfinger
Pocahontas
Helpless
Expecting to Fly
On the Way Home
Ohio
The Old Laughing Lady
Sedan Delivery
For 10 points each:
Out on the Weekend
Long May You Run
Comes a Time
Winterlong
Flying on the Ground is Wrong
Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing
Like a Hurricane
Rockin' in the the Free World
Cowgirl in the Sand
Hey Hey, My My
For 5 points each:
See the Sky About to Rain
Birds
Till the Morning Comes
Thrasher
Dreamin' Man
Cortez the Killer
Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Albuquerque
Walk On
After the Gold Rush

1.) Don't Be Denied - 24
2.) Tell Me Why - 20
3.) Keep On Rockin in the Free World - 15
4.) For the Turnstiles - 14
5.) Powderfinger - 14

12 points:
Down by the River
Thrasher
Winterlong
Albuquerque

10 points:
Pardon My Heart
I Believe in You
Sedan Delivery
On the Beach
Birds
Sleeps with Angels

7 points:
Revolution Blues
Cinnamon Girl
World on a String
Hangin on a Limb
Slip Away
Time Fades Away
Like a Hurricane
Pocahontas
The Old Homestead
Barstool Blues

5 points:

Walk On
LA
Don't Let it Bring You Down
Fuckin Up
Heart of Gold
Ambulance Blues
Driveby
Crime in the City
Hitchhiker
Yonder Stands the Sinner

2 points:

Lookout Joe
Welfare Mothers
Safeway Cart
Comes a Time
Harvest

0 points ;_;

Coupe de Ville
Words Between the Lines of Age
Change Your Mind

I don't think complex readings of "Cortez" are wrong, exactly, but they also don't really obviate the problems with the noble savage imagery and all that. Even as allegory, it's pretty dicey. (And "Desolation Row" is a good analog, in that the last verse recontextualizes the song, but that's a particular trick that I think Dylan does a whole lot better.)

Anyway, I listened to "Powderfinger" in the car on the way home tonight, with the windows down, and it really seemed like a perfect song. It wasn't my number 1, but I'm happy it landed there. It's about so much -- war and loyalty, the confusion of being young, the drastic consequences of not knowing what you're doing. It's a Vietnam song dressed up as "Deliverance," but it's also about growing up and finding out that everything you've learned won't help, nothing will really protect you, you're on your own.

I was out last night so missed the finale but thanks clemenza, this was a total delight from start to finish. I had Powderfinger as my #1 and Cortez at #3.

Songs from the bottom third of my ballot that didn't make it:

Everybody's Alone
Journey Through the Past
Love and War
War Song
Bad Fog of Loneliness
Burned

My ballot (unranked):

Cowgirl In The Sand
Don't Let It Bring You Down
Ohio
Cinnamon Girl
Down By The River
Oh, Lonesome Me
Heart Of Gold
Old Man
The Needle And The Damage Done
Walk On
See The Sky About To Rain
For The Turnstiles
Tonight's The Night
Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown
Tell Me Why
Tired Eyes
Like A Hurricane
Spirit Road
No Hidden Path
The Loner
After The Goldrush
Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Till The Morning Comes
Birds
When You Dance I Can Really Love
I Believe In You
Cripple Creek Ferry
Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)
Rockin' In The Free World
Burned

was I the only voter for No Hidden Path and Spirit Road? Guess I rate Chrome Dreams II more highly than most.

Did you see the Chrome Dreams II tour? Great show but I remember resenting No Hidden Path for gibbling up 15-20 minutes of prime setlist real estate.

i'm sorry cripple creek ferry didn't make it, always thought it would've been a perfect song for him to perform w/ the muppets (NOT a diss!)

Gobbling. I don't know what gibbling is but I'm sure I'd have resented that too.

yes saw that tour, no resentment! found the 15-minute NHP pretty transcendent actually... also kind of enjoyed the fact that he was prepared to do that, it seemed a very "Neil Young" move.

"Dirty Old Man" is a good 'un.

xp Yeah, it's true. It would be weird to go to a Neil Young concert and not have a few quixotic moments. It was still a tremendous set. Looking at other setlists from the 90s and 00s, that show had more of my favourites than any other - six songs out of this poll's Top 10 in fact. This whole process has made me desperate to see him again.

I have tickets to see him in Philadelphia in November. Ridiculously excited even though I'm afraid half the set will be Americana and new unreleased stuff.