Canadian singer and songwriter Neil Young includes his personal garage band… Read Full Bio ↴Canadian singer and songwriter Neil Young includes his personal garage band Crazy Horse ("second best backing band in the world") to make raw and unpolished rock. Their gritty style of rock has influenced countless artists and music styles.

Crazy Horse is best known for its long association with Young, despite having released five albums of its own over a 19-year span. It has been co-credited with Young as Neil Young and Crazy Horse on 15 albums, "Americana" and "Psychedelic Pill" from 2012 being the latest.

The band recorded a concept album entitled "Greendale" (2003) that told the story using metaphors of murder and crime to represent the destruction of a small town community. The final song "Be The Rain" is one of Neil's classic epics, pleading for the world to be like the rain -- recycle and conserve to save our planet.

Discography: the studio albums "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" (1969), "Zuma" (1975), "Rust Never Sleeps" (1979), "Re-ac-tor" (1981), "Life" (1987), "Ragged Glory" (1990), "Sleeps With Angels" (1994), "Broken Arrow" (1996), Greendale (2003), "Americana" (2012), Psychedelic Pill (2012) and live albums "Live Rust" (1979), "Weld" (1991), "Year of the Horse" (1997), "Live at the Fillmore East" (2006)

Hippie Dream
Neil Young & Crazy Horse Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Take my advice
Don't listen to me
It ain't paradise
But it used to be
There was a time
When the river was wide
And the water came running down
To the rising tide

But the wooden ships
Were just a hippie dream
Just a hippie dream.

Don't bat an eye
Don't waste a word
Don't mention nothin'
That could go unheard
'Cause the tie-dye sails
Are the screamin' sheets
And the dusty trail
Leads to blood in the streets
And the wooden ships
Are a hippie dream
Capsized in excess
If you know what I mean.

Just because it's over for you
Don't mean it's over for me
It's a victory for the heart
Every time the music starts
So please don't kill the machine
Don't kill the machine
Don't kill the machine.

Another flower child goes to seed
In an ether-filled room of meat-hooks

It's so ugly
So ugly.

Overall Meaning

Neil Young's song "Hippie Dream" is a reflection of the loss of idealism and the dark side of the counterculture movement of the 60s and 70s. The song begins with the singer advising his listeners to take his advice but not to rely on him since he doesn't have all the answers. He goes on to say that life isn't perfect, but it used to be. There was a time when the river was wide, and the water came running down to the rising tide, but the wooden ships were only a hippie dream.

The second verse talks about the dangers of being too vocal about personal beliefs. The singer warns people not to waste their words or mention anything that could go unheard, because the tie-dye sails are the screaming sheets, and the dusty trail leads to blood in the streets. The wooden ships are a hippie dream, capsized in excess. The third verse encourages people not to give up on the things that make them happy. The singer declares that just because it's over for some people, it doesn't mean that it's over for him. Every time the music starts, it's a victory for the heart, so he pleads with others not to kill the machine.

The final lines of the song talk about the end of the hippie era, where another flower child goes to seed in an ethereal room of meat hooks. It's a somber reflection on the direction that the counterculture movement had taken and the drugs and violence that had infiltrated it, ultimately leading to its demise.

Line by Line Meaning

Take my advice
Listen to what I have to say

Don't listen to me
Don't believe me blindly

It ain't paradise
The world is not perfect

But it used to be
It was better before

There was a time
In the past

When the river was wide
The river was broader

And the water came running down
The water flowed fast

To the rising tide
Toward the increasing water level

But the wooden ships
The ships made of wood

Were just a hippie dream
They were a product of the hippie culture's imagination

Don't bat an eye
Don't be surprised