Having success on his own for a bit, he later joined the folk rock supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash as a fourth member in 1969, thus forming Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. He forged a successful and acclaimed solo career, releasing his first album in 1968. His career has since spanned over 40 years and 34 studio albums, with a continual and uncompromising exploration of musical styles; his musical vision is notably referred to by his autobiographical tune"The Loner". Music critics have often called him one of the best single artists of all time, and several tunes such as "Heart of Gold" and "Rockin' in the Free World" remain popular on rock radio.
According to the Don't Be Denied Songfacts, the 16-year-old Neil was raising chickens and selling the eggs, with plans to go to Ontario Agricultural College and be a farmer. Only his leisure activities foretold his future, when he would hide from his family problems in his room with his transistor radio playing local station CHUM. From this, Young experienced a growing admiration for rock n roll originators such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and, of course, Elvis Presley. In 1958, his father bought Neil his first music instrument, a plastic ukulele. His father would later recall, "He would close the door of his room... and we would hear plunk, pause while he moved his fingers to the next chord, plunk, pause while he moved again, plunk."
In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Neil started his professional music career in the mid-60s with a number of bands in Canada, including the Squires and later the Mynah Birds, which also included fellow future Buffalo Springfield bassist Bruce Palmer and future funk star Rick James. When the Mynah Birds broke up, Young and Palmer headed to California to meet Stephen Stills, whom he had met in Thunder Bay, and the result was Buffalo Springfield. That band split up after releasing three critically acclaimed albums, particularly achieving international fame for their tune "For What It's Worth".
Showing his strengths as a cynical yet experimental songwriter in the group, he also sung prominently in some of the band's songs such as the biting satire of 'rock star' life "Mr. Soul". Neil soon started his solo career with the release of 'Neil Young' on November 12, 1968. The album did not do very well commercially, but it included several strong tracks, including "The Loner", said to be a portrait of Stephen Stills but also being deeply auto-biographical.
On May 14, 1969, he recruited members of Crazy Horse and made the critically acclaimed 'Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere'. This was a much more consistent album, being the first to introduce longstanding collaborators Crazy Horse and beingbuilt around the balanced interplay between the guitar playing of Young and the talented Danny Whitten. The album also featured two lengthy classics, "Down by the River" and "Cowgirl in the Sand". The critically acclaimed solo album "After the Gold Rush" came out in 1971, featuring such classic songs as "Southern Man'", "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" and "Don't Let it Bring You Down". Harvest followed in 1972 with the hit"Heart of Gold".
During this time he also enjoyed considerable success as a quarter of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
Neil's subsequent work has zig-zagged across genres - dabbling in country rock on "Old Ways"; electronics on "Trans"; hooking up with the Shocking Pinks in a homage to old-time Rock 'n' Roll on "Everybody's Rockin'"; creating a wall of feedback on the live Arc-Weld; and cementing his status as Godfather of Grunge when collaborating with Pearl Jam on Mirror Ball.
His idiosyncratic approach to genre even led to him being sued by his record company (Geffen) in the 80s for making "uncharacteristic" music.
Young has also dabbled in film, most recently on the album/concert series/dvd Greendale.
Young is often known by the nickname "Shakey." According to his biographer Jimmy McDonough, the name was given by his friends after noticing very unsteady results holding a camera for home movies.
Young founded Pono Music, whose mission was to bring a digital player, download store, and streaming service devoted to hi-res music. It was a commercial flop and was shut down in 2016. Young has stated that the labels would not agree that "All songs should cost the same, regardless of digital resolution."
The film Canadian Bacon includes the line "Canadians are always trying to figure out a lot of ways to ruin our lives. The metric system, for the love of God! Celsius! Neil Young!"
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Deep Forbidden Lake
Neil Young Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The deep forbidden lake,
The old boats go gliding by,
And the leaves
Are falling from the trees
And landing on the logs and I
See the turtles
Heading for the bog
They make the water splash,
And feeling no backlash,
They climb the happy banks.
On the boats,
The old and creaky boats,
The shoreline goes gliding by,
And the wind,
There was a dying breeze,
Is making the banners fly.
See the colors,
Floating in the sky,
The pride of the captain's eye,
As he glides
His slender craft inside
And opens up the door.
On the coast,
The long and tempting coast,
The cards on the table lie,
And a speech,
So eloquent in reach,
Was made by a passerby,
Passing by the way between
Here and left behind.
And it ripples through the crowds
Who run and cast their doubts
In the deep forbidden lake.
Yes, it echoes through the crowds
Who run and cast their doubts
In the deep forbidden lake.
Neil Young's Deep Forbidden Lake is a haunting and contemplative song that evokes a sense of wistfulness and nostalgia for a time and place that is long gone. The song's lyrics describe the scene of a deep, dark, and untouchable lake, surrounded by falling leaves, creaky old boats, and ripe with the colors of floating banners. It is a place where the turtles make the water splash, and the wind brings out the pride of the captain's eye as he glides his slender craft inside and opens up the door.
The song's lyrics are beautifully poetic and can be interpreted in multiple ways. Some see the deep forbidden lake as a metaphor for lost love or lost innocence that can never be regained. Others see it as a representation of the inevitable change that comes with time, the kind that we can only observe from a distance, unable to touch or affect.
The final lines of the song, "And it ripples through the crowds/ Who run and cast their doubts/ In the deep forbidden lake," suggest that the deep forbidden lake may also be a symbol for the shared human experience of loss and longing, and how we all connect and empathize with each other through this experience. In this regard, the song's concluding lines take on a hopeful and uplifting tone, suggesting that despite our individual sorrows and fears, we are all connected by a shared humanity.
Line by Line Meaning
On the lake,
The singer is on a lake.
The deep forbidden lake,
The lake is forbidden and possibly dangerous.
The old boats go gliding by,
Old boats are moving across the lake smoothly and swiftly.
And the leaves
Are falling from the trees
And landing on the logs and I
The leaves are falling from the trees and landing on the logs in the water that the artist can see.
See the turtles
Heading for the bog
And falling off the log.
The artist notices turtles heading towards the bog and falling off the logs in the water.
They make the water splash,
And feeling no backlash,
They climb the happy banks.
The turtles are making a splash in the water and easily climbing onto the banks without any resistance.
On the boats,
The singer has now moved to observing boats on the lake.
The old and creaky boats,
The boats are old and make a creaking sound as they move.
The shoreline goes gliding by,
The shoreline is moving by as the boats continue to glide across the lake.
And the wind,
There was a dying breeze,
Is making the banners fly.
The dying breeze is still strong enough to make the banners on the boats fly in the wind.
See the colors,
Floating in the sky,
The pride of the captain's eye,
The colors of the banners are visible and are of great importance to the captain of the boat.
As he glides
His slender craft inside
And opens up the door.
The captain is smoothly navigating his slender boat and opening up the door (metaphorically or literally) to new possibilities.
On the coast,
The singer has now moved to observing the coast.
The long and tempting coast,
The coast is long and inviting.
The cards on the table lie,
Cards are lying on the table, possibly indicating a game or a gambling scene.
And a speech,
So eloquent in reach,
Was made by a passerby,
A passerby made a very eloquent speech.
Passing by the way between
Here and left behind.
The passerby is walking between here and a past that has been left behind.
And it ripples through the crowds
Who run and cast their doubts
In the deep forbidden lake.
The speech is having a ripple effect on the crowds who are running and casting their doubts into the deep forbidden lake.
Yes, it echoes through the crowds
Who run and cast their doubts
In the deep forbidden lake.
Repeating that the speech is continuing to have an effect on the crowds who are running and casting their doubts into the deep forbidden lake.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC
Written by: NEIL YOUNG
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind