Grapthar's Song of the Day: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - 'Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)'
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)
For some reason, Neil Young is an artist
that I sort of missed out on for a long, long time. When I was younger, I knew the name, as he's such an icon of rock and roll, but for some reason, I always imagined as a glam-rocker of some sort, which definitely wasn't cool to a teenage me. Fortunately, a friend of mine put some of his music on in the car one day, and I loved it, and realized I had totally misjudged Young, remaining a fan ever since. Young began playing music in the '60s in Winnipeg, Canada, before moving to LA and forming the group Buffalo Springfield, where he garnered quite a bit of fame, along with other artists who would later have massive solo careers, like Stephen Stills. When the band broke up in the late '60s, Young embarked on a solo career, and throughout the next decade, had A LOT of massive hits, and toured the globe, sometimes as a solo act, and sometimes with his backing band Crazy Horse. Today's song is the closing track on Young and Crazy Horses 1979 live album Rust Never Sleeps. I was blown away when I first heard this, as its SO heavy, and the lyrics are great. It's actually a 'Part 2', with the first track, titled 'My My, Hey Hey (Into the Blue)' opening the album. That first track is a solo acoustic guitar and Young singing a more positive spin on the same lyrics used here; the heavy, dark closing version is much darker, focusing on the idea of burning out young, rather than fading into old age and obscurity.