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!"
For recent news see: http://www.neilyoung.com/
El Dorado
Neil Young Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The gypsy sees the villa
The riders on the hill
The fire in the fields
She sees the mission bell
Swinging in the silence
Now the shooting starts
The bullets pierce the hearts
Up in the Gold Hotel
The money hits the table
The heavies all are there
That's why the deal's goin' down
Beautiful women all dressed in
Diamonds and sable
Down upon the street
Beside a garbage heap
A Mariachi band begins to play
Somewhere a blues guitar
Plays echoes in the alleyway
The Tijuana dawn
Claims another day
The golden sun
Rises on the runway
The pilot understands
The money changes hands
Inside the jet the briefcase snaps, goodbye
In Eldorado town
There lives a great bullfighter
His eyes are screaming blue
His hair is red as blood
And when the gate goes up
The crowd gets so excited
And he comes dancin' out
Dressed in gold lame
He kills the bull and lives another day
The lyrics of "Eldorado" by Neil Young speak about different locations and situations that all have a sense of contrast between them where on one part, there is opulence and richness, and on the other end, there is chaos and misery. The beginning of the song talks about a gypsy predicting the future through a crystal ball. The descriptions given indicate that the battle is about to begin, and bloodshed will follow. The next few lines are dark and describe the crying senoritas near the well after a shooting.
The second verse describes two extreme sides of society where on the one hand, there is the Gold Hotel where all the rich people are involved in a deal, and on the other side, there are people dressed in sable and diamond picking through the trash, and the Mariachi band there to make their lives brighter. The last verse talks about a bullfighter, the bull, and the spectators. Again, there is a contrast painted between the bullfighter dressed in gold lame and the bull who is about to be killed.
Line by Line Meaning
In the crystal ball
A gypsy can see the future in it
The gypsy sees the villa
The gypsy sees a Spanish villa in her crystal ball
The riders on the hill
The horsemen are seen on the surrounding hills
The fire in the fields
Fields are on fire
She sees the mission bell
Gypsy sees a bell that calls the town to worship
Swinging in the silence
The bell is heard clearly since all sound is muted in the crystal ball
Now the shooting starts
At that moment, guns began to fire
The bullets pierce the hearts
Bullets hit their targets
The senoritas crying at the well
Women are crying at the well in despair
Up in the Gold Hotel
In the luxurious Gold Hotel
The money hits the table
A large sum of money is put on the table
The heavies all are there
All the tough guys are there
That's why the deal's goin' down
Because heavy players are present, the deal is going through
Beautiful women all dressed in
Alluring women are elegantly dressed in
Diamonds and sable
Diamonds and fur coats
Down upon the street
On the street below
Beside a garbage heap
Beside a pile of trash
A Mariachi band begins to play
A group of Mexican musicians starts to play music
Somewhere a blues guitar
A blues guitar is being played somewhere
Plays echoes in the alleyway
Its sound bounces off the walls of the narrow street
The Tijuana dawn
The day breaks in Tijuana
Claims another day
Another day starts with sunrise
The golden sun
The bright sun
Rises on the runway
Rises over the airport runway
The pilot understands
The plane's captain knows the rules of the game well
The money changes hands
Money is exchanged between the buyer and the seller
Inside the jet the briefcase snaps, goodbye
As the cash is delivered, the briefcase snaps shut, marking the deal's conclusion and its success
In Eldorado town
In the town of Eldorado
There lives a great bullfighter
There is a famous bullfighter living there
His eyes are screaming blue
His intensely blue eyes suggest enthusiasm and joyfulness
His hair is red as blood
He has red hair like blood
And when the gate goes up
When the gate to the bullring is opened
The crowd gets so excited
The audience becomes extremely excited
And he comes dancin' out
He comes out dancing
Dressed in gold lame
He is wearing a suit made of a thin fabric woven with metallic threads
He kills the bull and lives another day
He kills the bull and lives to perform another day
Lyrics ยฉ Peermusic Publishing
Written by: DONOVAN LEITCH, EDGAR ALLAN POE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
M J Harding
As #100, I want to say to you Uncle Neil that you got me thru Jr. High w
Harvest & After the Gold Rush...
And you almost single handedly
got me thru 2020 lockdown w my
83 yr old mom in an rv while I was discovering she was a covert narcissist...now dealing w the
psychological trauma. But you were
there...on my little phone...w videos of songs I only knew by heart. It was
so good to SEE you on stage. I really
love you Uncle Neil & I hope I can
one day hang w y'all one day. Thanx.
JK YouTube
Had to translate this, so my apologies if it doesnโt come out exactly correct.
Paroles (en franรงais):
Dans la boule de cristal
Le gitan voit la villa
Les cavaliers sur la colline
Le feu dans les champs
Elle voit la cloche de la mission
Se balancer dans le silence
Maintenant le tournage commence
Les balles transpercent les coeurs
Les senoritas pleurent au puits
Lร -haut ร l'hรดtel d'or
L'argent touche la table
Les lourds sont tous lร
C'est pourquoi l'affaire est en train de tomber
Belles femmes toutes habillรฉes
Diamants et martre
Dans la rue
A cรดtรฉ d'un tas d'ordures
Un groupe de Mariachi commence ร jouer
Quelque part une guitare blues
Joue des รฉchos dans la ruelle
L'aube de Tijuana
Revendications un autre jour
Le soleil d'or
Monte sur la piste
Le pilote comprend
L'argent change de mains
A l'intรฉrieur du jet la mallette se casse, au revoir
Dans la ville d'Eldorado
Il vit un grand torero
Ses yeux crient bleu
Ses cheveux sont rouges comme du sang
Et quand la porte se lรจve
La foule est tellement excitรฉe
Et il sort en dansant
Vรชtu de lamรฉ d'or
Il tue le taureau et vit un autre jour
Paul Blakey
Neil Young is the best music maker ever. Iโm 70 and Iโve listened to him all my life through all the varied styles of music heโs presented to us over the yearsโFrom Heart of gold, Southern man and all the other great great songs too numerous to mention and now to this amazing new current music to enjoy now! Hoping you have many more years of great music. You have brought much joy and happiness to many many people over the years-Thank you Neil.
Paul Berry
Agree ..... always an argument about is it Neil or Bruce who's best ....BOTH will be LEGENDS forever .....as will half a dozen others ...ALL from OUR days .....the last 50 years will NEVER see the likes again .... puerile crap is 50% of todays music and peace and any harmony in LIFE , those days have gone..as for Neil and Bruce ... for me , Neil tips it , because he's played with more bands and various people than Bruce , who has remained almost with the same band ...and even Nils Lofgrin , another genius in his own right and plays guitar like neither aforementioned , tho part of the E Street Band , returns , frequently , to play with Neil. Alleluia !!!!! ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ
Mirela Mustafic
And over the seas...agree, totally...
One 60 y old neil's fan from bosnia ๐๐
Joseph Herron
Ditto on that! As far as Neil vs Bruce itโs Neil all the way for me. Just my view, but Neilโs music goes so much deeper in Lyrics and sound.He Painted a thousand pictures &Movie scenes throughout the years! From Powder finger to this great tune where I see an old western coming to life! Thanks for all of it Neil!๐
2003Cpayne
This song has a masterful use of dynamics. It has a vibe that's hard to beat.
Jesus Hermoso
Nunca dejas de sorprenderte con este genio de ONTARIO.Tengo 65 aรฑos y desde los 16 lo sigo.EL MEJOR.
billenplum
What a gem ! One of my very favorites ! It's a shame Neil just didn't play it more often. It's very nice to release it again.
Gonzo Express
Could tell from the opening beat of Eldorado it was gonna be great. Though Time Fades Away, Neil Young is still the man. God bless you, Neil.
Theresa LP 4Life
I LOVE THIS!๐๐ผ๐๐ถ
ron freeman
Agree