Born in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, Neil was one of the songwriters who for a time worked out of New York City's famous Brill Building. He has often been called a pioneer of the folk rock & singer-songwriter musical genres; his most frequently cited disciples are Tim Buckley, Harry Nilsson, and the Jefferson Airplane, but his most prominent descendants have been Stephen Stills, James Taylor, Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell. In concert appearances, as well as the liner notes for his 2003 album, Meet Me In Margaritaville: The Ultimate Collection, Jimmy Buffett called Neil "one of my heroes." Some of Neil's early compositions were recorded by Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison; he played as a session guitarist on hits by Bobby Darin and Paul Anka. In 1968, Nilsson recorded a cover version of Neil's song "Everybody's Talkin'," which became a huge hit a year later when it was featured in the film Midnight Cowboy.
Neil was an accomplished professional musician atypically inclined to a very modest frugality. "Candy Man", his first of two Top-40-hit compositions, substantially introduced him to a sufficient income stream for life in his early 20's; he became increasingly disinclined to work if he did not feel like it. Consequently his two fully realized albums (see next paragraph) are remarkable for their singularly unpretentious authenticity. His combination of baritone vocal and 12-string guitar remains unusual, and his combo recordings provide his shimmering melodies with muscular grooves; but his exemplarity is that of resolving the apparent opposition between aesthetic integrity and commercial value almost entirely in favor of aesthetic integrity, which gives all of his recordings a unique historical resonance.
He had debts to previous singer-songwriters such as Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, Chuck Berry and Hank Williams (Senior); but his approach to melody was more in the manner of Cole Porter and to rhythm very much in the school of Ray Charles. His popularly acclaimed albums are "Bleecker & MacDougal" (also known as A Little Bit of Rain) without drums (1965) and "Fred Neil" (also known as Everybody's Talkin') in (1966), made during his residences in the Greenwich Village section of lower Manhattan in New York City and in Coconut Grove, Florida, respectively.
The reigning web expert in (October) 2005 has been Richie Unterberger. The Rick O'Barry interview at the dedicated website (fredneil.com) claims that a third fully realized album, Neil's "Stuff Sessions" of 1978, was never released by Columbia. The unreleased "Walk on the Water" album was recorded at Bayshore studios in Coconut Grove, with a second set of sessions taking place in NJ with the group Stuff.
After the mid 1970s he ceased to maintain a residence in Woodstock, New York, and spent his remaining decades enjoying life on the shores of southern Florida. His last public performance was in 1981 coffeehouse concert in Coconut Grove where he joined Buzzy Linhardt onstage.
Fred Neil died of natural causes in 2001.
Prettiest train
Fred Neil Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Cuando quiera llamarme le colgare
Cuando necesite besarme yo le dire
Que busque otros labios que ya no es mi bebe
Primero me dejo tirao en mi habitacion
Luego me llamo diciendo que fui yo
Y despues de unos dias ya me estaba hablando
Pidiendo conmigo seguir conversando
Y no no no sigas jugando
Cuando venga a buscarme ya no estare
Cuando quiera llamarme le colgare
Cuando necesite besarme yo le dire
Que busque otros labios que ya no es mi bebe
Ieieie ieieie ieieiee ieieie
Ieieie ieieie ieieiee ieieie
Y pasa una semana sigue enfadada y al final me manda un mensaje de texto
Diciendo que quiere quedar que hay cosas que hablar que ya no puede mas
Que me echa demenos
Uoo
Que me echa demenos
Uoo
Cuando venga a buscarme ya no estare
Cuando quiera llamarme le colgare
Cuando necesite besarme yo le dire
Que busque otros labios que ya no es mi bebe
Ya no es mi bebe esto se acabo
Ya no es mi bebe esto se acabooouo
Y es que ya no es mi bebe o no
Ya no la quiero tan cerca quiero que se vaya de aqui
Sergi gil
Poniendo sentimiento poniendo sentimiento a la musica
Ieie ieie o noo uo
The lyrics to Fred Neil’s song Prettiest Train depict a situation where the singer is no longer interested in their partner’s advances. The opening lines, “Cuando venga a buscarme ya no estare, cuando quiera llamarme le colgare” (When he comes looking for me, I won’t be there, when he wants to call me, I’ll hang up) show that the singer is choosing to cut off their former lover from their life. The verse continues with the singer telling their lover to find someone new, and warning them not to play games. The singer has moved on, and is not interested in continuing the relationship.
The second verse mentions the lover trying to contact the singer repeatedly after breaking up with them. However, the singer is still firm in their decision to move on. The final verse concludes the song by reiterating that the relationship is over, and the singer no longer has any feelings for their partner. The chorus repeats the same lines, “Cuando venga a buscarme ya no estare, cuando quiera llamarme le colgare, cuando necesite besarme yo le dire, que busque otros labios que ya no es mi bebe,” emphasizing that the singer has no interest in rekindling the romance.
Overall, the song portrays a clear message about the importance of standing up for oneself and moving on from toxic relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
Cuando venga a buscarme ya no estare
I won't be there anymore when he comes looking for me
Cuando quiera llamarme le colgare
I'll hang up if he tries to call me
Cuando necesite besarme yo le dire
I'll tell him to find another pair of lips since I'm not his baby anymore
Que busque otros labios que ya no es mi bebe
He should look for somebody else since I'm not his sweetheart anymore
Primero me dejo tirao en mi habitacion
He abandoned me in my room
Luego me llamo diciendo que fui yo
Then he called me pretending to be me
Y despues de unos dias ya me estaba hablando
And after a few days, he was already speaking to me again
Pidiendo conmigo seguir conversando
Asking me to keep talking to him
Y no no no sigas jugando
Stop playing games with me!
Cuando venga a buscarme ya no estare
I won't be there anymore when he comes looking for me
Cuando quiera llamarme le colgare
I'll hang up if he tries to call me
Cuando necesite besarme yo le dire
I'll tell him to find another pair of lips since I'm not his baby anymore
Que busque otros labios que ya no es mi bebe
He should look for somebody else since I'm not his sweetheart anymore
Ieieie ieieie ieieiee ieieie
Musical refrain
Ieieie ieieie ieieiee ieieie
Musical refrain
Y pasa una semana sigue enfadada y al final me manda un mensaje de texto
A week goes by and she's still mad, and finally, she sends me a text message
Diciendo que quiere quedar que hay cosas que hablar que ya no puede mas
Saying that she wants to meet to talk about things and that she can't take it anymore
Que me echa demenos
That she misses me
Uoo
Musical interjection
Que me echa demenos
That she misses me
Uoo
Musical interjection
Cuando venga a buscarme ya no estare
I won't be there anymore when he comes looking for me
Cuando quiera llamarme le colgare
I'll hang up if he tries to call me
Cuando necesite besarme yo le dire
I'll tell him to find another pair of lips since I'm not his baby anymore
Que busque otros labios que ya no es mi bebe
He should look for somebody else since I'm not his sweetheart anymore
Ya no es mi bebe esto se acabo
He's not my baby anymore, it's over
Ya no es mi bebe esto se acabooouo
He's not my baby, it's all over now
Y es que ya no es mi bebe o no
And it's true, he's not my baby anymore
Ya no la quiero tan cerca quiero que se vaya de aqui
I don't want him so close, I want him to leave
Sergi gil
Name drop of someone, unclear meaning
Poniendo sentimiento poniendo sentimiento a la musica
Putting emotion, putting emotion into the music
Ieie ieie o noo uo
Repeating musical refrain
Writer(s): Fred Neil
Contributed by Alexis J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.