Thursday, July 16, 2009

A Neil Young Mea Culpa?

This post is more of an apology to Brandie than anything else. See, I used to make fun of Neil Young even though I knew Brandie really liked him. But I was making fun of Neil Young based on a COVER VERSION of one of his songs: Castles Burning covered by Annie Lennox. You can hear it in this video. If you listen to it you can imagine why I thought he was total weak sauce. Anyway, I was utterly debased and nihilistically humiliated when I actually heard some of his other stuff. He's pretty great (although I still maintain that Castles Burning isn't that great of a song). So my apologies to Brandie, Hubbel and any other Neil Young fans who had to endure my smug ignorance. Maybe the real shame here is that I made it to 30 without knowing any real Neil Young songs.

9 comments:

  1. What the heck is "Friendly Skies?" Looks kinda lame, though maybe it's just the Annie Lennox music.

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  2. Holmsie, I'm proud of you for being big enough to admit that horrible horrible mistake. I mean, that's the kind of embarassing mix-up that most people would take with them to the grave. Granted, Neil doesn't quite sound like a man, and Annie Lennox doesn't quite sound like a woman, but her voice is far too controlled, too polished, too... I don't know. The way I see it, Neil certainly doesn't have a beautiful voice. But he's got the Right voice.

    That song is really called "Don't Let it Bring you Down." You can see a live version here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU9_Q7PJuNQ

    And for further study, The Needle and the Damage Done:


    and one of my favorites, Harvest Moon

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  3. This one's for you, Jed. Neil playing with the big boys. Jimmy Page never seemed so gracious...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUSj164pwEM

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  4. hi it's erin, yes i follow your blog - surprise! but rob, seriously, i can't believe you didn't like neil until now. yikes! you gotta get the album harvest - it's pure gold.

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  5. Alright, Erin unlurks! It's good to know you're here.

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  6. Thanks for the links Brandie--very good stuff. Erin--seriously where was I? And how did my friends let this happen to me?

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  7. I can understand not liking Neil Young. I didn't for a long time, but then I heard "Legend in Her Time." Any song that glorfies women with long blond hair who ride a Harley Davidson makes my cut.

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  8. Everyone, and I mean everyone, would enjoy 'Neil Young: Heart of Gold', a concert film shot by Jonathan Demme. Really, really great. You've got a dude playing broom in one song for crying out loud!!!

    I'm a bit of a Neil Young Fetishist (Marx fetish, not Fraud Fetish, you pervs) where I like the greatest hits, and some others (like 'Crime In the City') but can't get into the whole catalog, at least not yet, maybe when I'm an old man.

    OLD MAN TAKE A LOOK AT MY LIFE I'M A LOT LIKE YOU!

    That's right! Singing in print form. THAT JUST HAPPENED!

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  9. "Harvest" has always been one of my favorite albums.

    And to think Neil was in his early 20's when he fired that one off.

    It makes me wonder what the heck I was doing in my early 20's.

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