Crazy Horse has also released 5 albums of its own. They have received inconsistent critical reaction, partially due to the band's frequent and radical lineup changes; though bassist Billy Talbot and drummer Ralph Molina appear on every album, few other musicians have appeared on more than one. The band's first and best-received self-titled album also featured Jack Nietzsche, Nils Lofgren, and Danny Whitten, who became the topic of various Neil Young songs after his heroin overdose in late 1972. On Crazy Horse's 1972 album, "Loose," they were all replaced with John Blanton, Greg Leroy, and George Whitsell, who was a member of Crazy Horse's predecessor The Rockets. Crazy Horse's third album also released in 1972, "At Crooked Lake," replaced those three with Rick and Mike Curtis.
Later that decade in 1978, Crazy Horse released another album under its own name entitled "Crazy Moon." This would feature, along with the steady Billy Talbot and Ralph Molina, some guest work by Neil Young and guitarist Frank Sampedro, who had joined the band in 1975 for Young's album "Zuma." This lineup would be used for many of Crazy Horse's albums with Neil Young through the rest of the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. In the late 1980s, Young used Frank Sampedro in his R&B-styled Bluenotes backing band, but did not use Molina or Talbot as he thought their style was unfitting. Now without Sampedro, Crazy Horse recruited Sonny Mone and Matt Piucci for their most recent album, "Left For Dead," released 1989. Piucci would later play on Billy Talbot's 2006 solo release. The album's title track is a pointed remark about their frustrating relationship with Young in the late 1980s, and included a number of other references to Neil Young and his work.
Rocking the Free World
Crazy Horse Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Red, white and blue
People shufflin' their feet
People sleepin' in their shoes
But there's a warnin' sign on the road ahead
There's a lot of people sayin' we'd be better off dead
Don't feel like Satan, but I am to them
So I try to forget it, any way I can.
Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world.
I see a woman in the night
With a baby in her hand
Under an old street light
Near a garbage can
Now she puts the kid away, and she's gone to get a hit
She hates her life, and what she's done to it
There's one more kid that will never go to school
Never get to fall in love, never get to be cool.
Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world.
We got a thousand points of light
For the homeless man
We got a kinder, gentler,
Machine gun hand
We got department stores and toilet paper
Got Styrofoam boxes for the ozone layer
Got a man of the people, says keep hope alive
Got fuel to burn, got roads to drive.
Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Keep on rockin' in the free world.
The song "Rockin' in the Free World" by Crazy Horse is a political commentary on society and its issues. The first verse brings up the diverse range of people with colors of red, white and blue on the street. The line "people shufflin' their feet, people sleepin' in their shoes" implies that the people are struggling to survive. The warning sign on the road ahead is a symbol of the future and its uncertainty, and the people who say "we'd be better off dead" are those who have lost hope. The singer doesn't feel like Satan, but to them, he might be one of the bad guys. He just wants to forget about everything that is happening and live his life the best way he can.
The second verse introduces a woman with a baby, who is struggling with addiction and hate towards her life. She abandoned her child to get a hit, and this child will not have the chance to go to school, fall in love or be cool. The line reflects the bleak future of children in society that are born into such despair. The song ultimately is about the environment and society that is broken, leading to people's unhappiness, struggles and pain.
Line by Line Meaning
There's colors on the street
The streets are lively and filled with people and things
Red, white and blue
The colors of the American flag are present
People shufflin' their feet
The people are just going through their routine and not making any changes
People sleepin' in their shoes
The people are not able to take their shoes off even when they sleep, which means they are always on the move or working hard
But there's a warnin' sign on the road ahead
There are signs that something bad is going to happen in the future
There's a lot of people sayin' we'd be better off dead
Many people feel hopeless and think that life is not worth living
Don't feel like Satan, but I am to them
I don't intentionally hurt people, but some people just seem to see me as a bad person
So I try to forget it, any way I can.
I try to move on and forget the negative things people think about me
Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Despite all the problems and darkness in the world, keep moving forward
I see a woman in the night
I witnessed something sad and tragic
With a baby in her hand
A young mother is struggling to survive
Under an old street light
This depressing scene is happening in a poor area with poor lighting
Near a garbage can
The nearby garbage can gives even more depth to this scene of despair
Now she puts the kid away, and she's gone to get a hit
The baby is tucked away somewhere safe while the mother goes to do drugs
She hates her life, and what she's done to it
Despair and hopelessness have taken over the mother's life
There's one more kid that will never go to school
This child may never have the opportunity to get an education
Never get to fall in love, never get to be cool.
This child will never have a chance to have a normal life like other children their age
We got a thousand points of light
There is some hope in the world, represented by the many points of light
For the homeless man
There is help available even for the homeless
We got a kinder, gentler,
The world is becoming more compassionate and understanding
Machine gun hand
However, there is still violence and destruction in the world
We got department stores and toilet paper
The world is advancing and becoming more modern
Got Styrofoam boxes for the ozone layer
However, some advancements are actually detrimental to the environment
Got a man of the people, says keep hope alive
There are still people who inspire hope and optimism
Got fuel to burn, got roads to drive.
There is still progress and innovation happening in the world
Keep on rockin' in the free world,
Despite all the flaws and challenges, keep striving and pushing forward
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
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