The Line That Really Did It For Me

Readers of this blog, especially those that have been around these parts for a while, are aware that I am what one would call a "fan" of the music of Neil Young.

From my childhood days, I recall hearing his songs on FM radio. I was seven in 1977, and recall vividly drowning in the meandering, stinging guitar licks of "Like A Hurricane" in the back seat of my dad's car. You know how the car stereo is usually about 3 times louder in the back seat than the front? That was especially true in the '70s when none of our cars had the "fade" feature to balance between front & back. Anyway...

Another early favorite was "Southern Man." Oh, yeah, and "Ohio." Is there a more distinctive introductory guitar riff than the one in "Ohio?" Well, is there? [Say "Layla," motherf*ckers. I dare one of you rat bastards to say "Layla."] I know it buries the needle on the "balls-out"-o-meter. That's for sure.

But, all that said, it wasn't until sophomore or junior year in high school that I really started collecting all of Neil's albums. The line that really got me hooked was from "Old Man." It's a simple enough line, "Doesn't mean that much to me/To mean that much to you." I thought that was the coolest line ever. As a student in high school, a place where it means everything to mean something to everyone possible, that just captured a cooler-than-thou attitude I could only dream of cultivating. Little did I know, all I needed to do was grow up. It's pretty easy not to give a shit about what strangers and casual acquaintances think about me now. As a 15 year old...not so easy.

By the time I was in college, my favorite line had become "I was thinking about what a/Friend had said/I was hoping it was a lie/Thinking about what a/Friend had said/I was hoping it was a lie" from "After The Gold Rush." Enough reminiscing...back to work.