Open Mike: Ten Best Neil Young Songs

1. Fontainebleau

2. Cinnamon Girl

3. Ohio (with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)

4. The Needle and the Damage Done

5. Old Man

6. L.A. (never reissued)

7. On the Beach

8. Change Your Mind

9. Pardon My Heart (one of my five or ten favorite NY electric guitar solos)

10. _____________________

•     •     •

It's possible to construct a NY 10 Best that has none of these songs on it, but these are some of my faves. Today.

Mike

ADDENDUM: I will say that it's easy to be misunderstood as a Neil Young fan. For one thing, he has a love-it-or-hate-it voice, and it rubs a lot of people the wrong way, and I get that. I don't like very many voices in popular rock and roll, and the ones I hate just disqualify the music for me. I understand those who feel that way about Neil. (I even feel that way about some of his songs myself—for a while he was into poor recording quality, for reasons which are as inexplicable as many of the other things he does, and his voice can get very nasal and hard in some recordings.) Secondly, you really have to be competely prepared to utterly ignore great big swatches of his output, because the man has no filter, bless his heart. He just churns out the records, great, good, indifferent, or inspiredly awful. It's often not about us. It's about where he is and what he feels like doing. I mean, this is a guy who put out a whole album of feedback.

There are actually about four different Neils (if not more), and you can be a fan of any one of them and not care all that much about the others. I like Dark Hippie Neil. Then there's Goofy Experimental Restless Neil; Hard-Rockin' Grungey Neil; and Sweet Gentle Melodic Country-Folkie Neil. Each Neil has a history that has evolved over long periods of time and across multiple albums, such that each can be defended as "the real" Neil. If you're unfamiliar with NY and you want to find out which one you like, go download four tracks: "Speakin' Out," "Union Man" (although experimental Neil is really tough to pin down, for obvious reasons), "Over and Over," and "Hangin' on a Limb." If you like one of those songs a lot more than the other three, you'll be on your track.

Not only is it possible to misread who he is based on listening to the first 90 seconds of a few cuts, it's also quite possible to have heard a dozen of his records all the way through and still not know why he's a genius and why some other people think he's great. Which is why I wrote this for Amazon a handful of years ago. However, I long ago reconciled to the fact that "my" Neil Young is not necessarily "the" Neil Young.

P.S. I think #10 has to be "Don't Be Denied."

"Open Mike" is a series of off-topic posts by Yr. Hmbl. Ed. that appear only, but not always, on Sundays. Today's was suggested by the title of the previous post.

Send this post to a friend

Please help support TOP by patronizing our sponsors B&H Photo and Amazon

Note: Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. More...
Original contents copyright 2012 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Featured Comment by Elisabeth: "Great list. My top ten would have to include 'Like a Hurricane,' as well as 'Southern Man' and 'Heart of Gold,' but I'm not sure I could easily narrow my list to just 10! I've really enjoyed looking up some of the songs on your list that I haven't heard in a long, long time, and discovering at least one I don’t think I’ve ever heard ('Change Your Mind' from 1994).

"As I think about it, Neil Young's music reminds me very much of the photos I find most satisfying and memorable—those that tell a story and/or have an especially strong point of view, those with multiple layers not always apparent on first encounter, and those with technical imperfections that actually increase the work's emotional impact. In comparison, so much of today's music (and photography) seems to have had all of those imperfections airbrushed out, so to speak, with no story or substance beneath the thin veneer of polished 'perfection' and superficial content. I think maybe I should queue up some Neil Young on my iPhone the next time I'm out with my camera; I can only hope that a tiny bit of his aesthetic will rub off."

Featured Comment by Hernan Zenteno: "Many thanks for let me know 'On the Beach.' I like lyrics and music of this theme a lot."

Mike replies: The album of the same name is possibly my all-time favorite album, albeit for nostalgic and personal as well as artistic and musical reasons.

Featured Comment by Robin Dreyer: "I'm not sure how this list could not include 'After the Gold Rush,' but last night I heard someone sing 'Cortez the Killer' so well that it made a pretty good case for that song having a place as well."

Mike replies: Yeah, Elisabeth is right, it's essentially foolish to narrow the list down to just ten songs.

Featured Comment by Svein-Frode: "Man, that's just too difficult, or more like impossible! I think it's easier to find the records and songs that stink, because Neil Young seems to be binary. Either his work is divine or just pure garbage (his early 1980s period being so bad that everybody buying Trans, Landing on Water and Everybody's Rockin' should get a refund from the record companies). That said, if I were to own just one NY record it would be Harvest Moon. Talk about perfect record!"

Featured Comment by Hugh Crawford: "I just remembered that I once got involved with some programming for steam locomotive sound effects to simulate both the speed and load on the engine based on the electrical load on a circuit to determine torque and I forget how we determined speed. I think there was supposed to be different amounts and periods of reverb for different sections of track so as to create a scale model of the acoustics. Later on I found out that Mr. Young was the client by way of George Lucas. He had quite the layout from what I heard."

Mike replies: He helped keep Lionel Trains, once the world's largest toymaker, from going under, and still owns a big chunk of it as far as I know. He's got a huge layout—I believe one of the Kalmbach magazines did a feature on him as a toy or model train fan. He's a hobbyist himself but partly (I hear) it's for his two sons who have cerebral palsy—it's something they enjoy and can participate in.

Featured Comment by Michel Hardy-Vallée: "The Onion A.V. Club has done a superb job of putting together a comprehensive list of headways into Neil Young's catalog. They're like TOP for the rest of pop culture: learned, historically-aware, critical and multifaceted.

"My songs, in no particular order: 'Everybody Knows This is Nowhere,' 'Winterlong,' 'Hey Hey My My,' '(See the Sky) About to Rain,' 'Revolution Blues,' 'On the Beach,' 'Ambulance Blues.'"

Comments

[David Mantripp]

Wait!!! Wait!!!!! We've forgotten "Southern Pacific"!!! Especially the International Harvesters versions. Sends a chill down my spine everytime.....

[Jim Rohan]

Can I include Buffalo Springfield songs? Because I am.
"Expecting to Fly".

[christian]

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon:

http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/video/neil-young-and-bruce-springsteen-whip-my-hair-111610/1260532/

:)

[Ann]

Great post. Could list 10 favourite albums...Rust Never sleeps, On the Beach, Heart of Gold..etc

I saw Neil at Bonnaroo last year when he got together with Crosby, Stills and Nash and they did Rocking in the Free World...they were on fire! It was grea.

Also saw Ray Lamontagne...is he popular in the US...lovely voice.

Anyway tonight I am going to have a Neil Young night and play my favourites..thanks Mike.

Ann

[Desi Baytan]

Harvest Moon is my personal favorite. With it's swaying melody and gentle lyrics, I can listen to it over and over again.

[Albert Erickson]

This was a great post but I didn't see "Cowgirl in the sand" mentioned anywhere. Clearly one of his best.

[Gary Morris]

Neil Young & Crazy Horse LIve at Fillmore East. The wife and I regularly commute between Albuquerque and So. Cal on the I-40 and a trip wouldn't be complete without at least one listen to this album off the iPod (once for each direction). Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere is so fitting as we pass through the high desert on the way to and from Flag. And Cowgirl in the Sand on the 700 Watt Sony in our truck -- magic!

[Dillan K]

I'm dating myself here, but I remember watching Neil Young on "Austin City Limits" when I was quite young. On the show with him was Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. My parents were watching for Waylon and Willie, but I was stunned by Neil Young. His vocals, to me, were fascinating. He showed me that there was a whole world out there beyond the world of country music (which I was not all that impressed by). I remember asking "who is this guy?" and I asked because I was enthralled. My mom took it like I was impatient for the next act.

Little did I know, my dad had a few Neil Young albums just waiting for me to discover. And more! Bob Dylan too! This was the gateway to the music that I love.

[Bill]

Top 10? Sorry, couldn't stop at 10! In no particular order...

- Everybody Knows This is Nowhere
- Walk On
- Helpless
- Expecting to Fly
- After the Gold Rush
- Harvest Moon
- Lookout Joe
- Tired Eyes
- Thrasher
- Sail Away
- Powderfinger
- Walk On
- Ambulance Blues
- On The Beach
- Long May You Run

[Gunny]

If not 'Harvest Moon', then you have no soul.

[Wayne Morrison]

For years I thought the snotty guy from the Mynah Birds I had words with was Neil Young. Turns out he and Bruce Palmer had already split for LA after selling the bands PA to finance their trip. Explains the snotty guy's crankiness. Some years later I played with the Mynah Birds drummer. I never asked him if he was a fan of Neils music but I know he wasn't a fan of Neil the person.

[Mike Johnston]

"If not 'Harvest Moon', then you have no soul."

I don't care for "Harvest Moon" (although I don't hate it). Too slick and smooth for me. Gives me the feeling like I have to go get all the maple syrup off me after I hear it. [g]

If you like it, you'll like "Midnight on the Bay" too. And "Hangin' on a Limb." And J.J. Cale's "Magnolia." And you'll like Dylan's "Nashville Skyline" better than most other Dylan. And....

Mike

[Ian]

Possibly Ambulance Blues...

For me, the CD reissue of 'On The Beach' was the most important cultural event of the last decade!

[Tom Swoboda]

I could never narrow a "list of best of Neil Young" down to ten songs. Neil was second only to Bob Dylan as the best lyricist of the second half of the twentieth century. Rock had changed the focus of music from melody to rhythm and accompaniment but Neil composed beautiful melodies. It took a little time for me to get past his voice but that also happened for me with Dylan and Fagen.

The only artist that I have more songs from in my music collection than Neil Young is Van Morrison but Van is all about mood and isn't in the same class as Neil Young as a Lyricist.

Geffen Records sued Young because the albums Young was submitting to Geffen didn't sound like Neil Young music. Young counter sued saying his contract promised no creative interference from the label. David Geffen later apologized to Young and the suit was dropped.

[Art B]

Picked-up a used copy of "Sugar Mountain-Live at the Canterbury House 1968", at the Princeton Record Exchange. The album was recorded live at Michigan University Ann Arbor, MI in 1968 and released in 2008. My favorite is "Broken Arrow". It's very hard to pick the ten best, as I have so many favs mostly from the early years.

[David Jacobs]

Admittedly late to the party but I've just gotta add my top eleven. (We're talking Neil Young here; ten would be too neat and concise!)
In chronological order, 'cuz it's already tough enough narrowing down the vast field without also having to rank 'em:

Cowgirl In the Sand
I Believe In You
Don't Be Denied
World On A String
*Mellow My Mind/Roll Another Number (For the Road)/Albuquerque
Revolution Blues
Barstool Blues
Long May You Run
**Four Strong Winds
Powderfinger
White Line
Harvest Moon

*I consider this a suite -- they're thematically of a piece, hang out next to each other on the record and, c'mon, can you really stop listening after one or even two of these tracks? That said, if I had a gun to my head I'd have to pick Albuquerque.
**Didn't you say fave Neil Young songs? Well, this is "merely" a cover so can't possibly toward my quota, right...?

[Carlos Ferreira]

Oh, Neil Young - what a vexed theme. While my #10 would be Sounthern Man, I recognise it does not work for a lot of people. At the same time, a good friend used to be really fond of Harvest Moon, which simply failed to register with me.

Interestingly, if you listen to some of the older stuff put out by the Drive-By Truckers, they are really keen in following the idea (if not necessarily the music) of Neil Young.