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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Winterlong
Neil Young Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You seem to be where I belong
It's all illusion anyway
If things should ever turn out wrong
And all the love we have is gone
It won't be easy on that day
Through the dream light of your way
Is not so easy for me now
Half the time has passed away
Things we thought of yesterday
Come back now, come back now
Waiting to follow
Through the dream light of your way
Is not so easy for me now
Half the time has passed away
Things we thought of yesterday
Come back now, come back now
I waited for you winter long
You seem to be where I belong
The song "Winterlong" by Neil Young is about waiting for love, even though it may not be easy. The lyrics convey a sense of longing and the difficulty of waiting for someone who may not be ready or willing to be in a relationship. The first stanza sets the tone for the song, as the singer waits for his love during the winter. The lyrics "You seem to be where I belong / It's all illusion anyway" suggest that the singer may be imagining a connection that may not be there.
The second stanza is more melancholic, as the singer acknowledges that things may not work out between them. The lyrics "If things should ever turn out wrong / And all the love we have is gone / It won't be easy on that day" suggest that the singer is aware that the relationship may not work out, but he's willing to take the risk anyway. The chorus repeats the first stanza and concludes the song, emphasizing the unresolved longing and uncertainty of the situation.
Overall, "Winterlong" is a poignant and emotional song about the complexity of waiting for love and the uncertainty that comes with it.
Line by Line Meaning
I waited for you, winter long
I have been waiting for you for a very long time, just like how we wait for winter to arrive.
You seem to be where I belong
Being with you feels like my true home and I belong there.
It's all illusion anyway
Everything may just be an illusion, so what's real and what's not doesn't really matter.
If things should ever turn out wrong
In case things go wrong in our relationship,
And all the love we have is gone
and we lose all the love that we have for each other,
It won't be easy on that day
it will be really difficult and painful for us to handle.
Waiting to follow
I am waiting to follow you like a dream,
Through the dream light of your way
and go through the path of your dreams and aspirations.
Is not so easy for me now
However, it's not so easy for me to do that right now.
Half the time has passed away
Half of my life has already gone by,
Things we thought of yesterday
and the things we thought were important yesterday,
Come back now, come back now
seem to come back and haunt us again.
I waited for you winter long
I have been waiting for you for a very long time, just like how we wait for winter to arrive.
You seem to be where I belong
Being with you feels like my true home and I belong there.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Neil Young
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind