I consider myself a pretty big Neil Young fan. And I always knew this song was about Neil's feelings of becoming obsolete in the era of punk and New Wave, but I never knew the specific story. It's pretty interesting, so allow me to crib it from Wikipedia.
The song "Hey, Hey, My, My..." and the title phrase of the album, "rust never sleeps" on which it was featured sprang from Young's encounters with Devo and in particular Mark Mothersbaugh. Devo was asked by Young in 1977 to participate in the creating of his film Human Highway. A scene in the film shows Young playing the song in its entirety with Devo, who clearly want little to do with anything "radio-friendly". ( Of note is Mothersbaugh changing "Johnny Rotten" to "Johnny Spud" ) Also, the famous line, "It's better to burn out than it is to rust" is credited to Young's friend Jeff Blackburn of The Ducks.It's a pretty interesting irony that his fear of obsolescence led to him becoming a progenitor of a new new movement. Incidentally I saw Young on the tour that on which Social Distortion and Sonic Youth opened up for him and, well, let's just say most of his fans didn't exactly embrace the lineage.
Some reviewers viewed Young's career as skidding after the release of American Stars 'N Bars and Comes a Time. With the explosion of punk in 1977, some punks felt that Young and his contemporaries were dinosaurs, and that such artists now seemed too content to rest on their laurels and release halfhearted material. Young worried that these punks were right. The death of Elvis Presley that same year seemed to sound a death knell for rock, as The Clash gleefully cried, "No Elvis, Beatles or The Rolling Stones in 1977!," in the song 1977.
From Young's fear of becoming obsolete sprang an appreciation of the punk ethic, and the song was born, initially an acoustic lament that became "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)". Upon embarking on a tour with his backing band Crazy Horse, the song took on new life in a rock arrangement, punctuated by Young's guitar solos that would go on to inspire players of the proto-grunge scene, including Sonic Youth, The Meat Puppets, Pixies and Dinosaur Jr. - who in turn begat Nirvana.
The Beatles - "Your Mother Should Know"
Willie Nelson - "When I Was Young And Grandma Wasn't Old"
Kings Of Leon - "My Party" (live)
Beirut - "St. Apollonia"
Joy Division - "Passover"
The Flying Burrito Brothers - "High Fashion Queen"
Aimee Mann - "Put Me On Top"
Uncle Tupelo - "Graveyard Shift"
The Beatles - "Good Day Sunshine"
And then I got to work.
Today's Stats
Total songs listened to: 10
Total minutes of music (approx.): 34
Song with the most previous plays: "Put Me On Top" - 7
How I Rate Today's Playlist (1-10): 7
Miscellaneous factoid about my trip to work today: The coffee cake muffin obsession continues.
3 comments:
Just saw Neil Young last night--he performed here in Vancouver. Great show, did all the favourites (including Hey Hey, My My). Everest and Death Cab opened, and most of the, ah, older fans in the audience seemed to barely tolerate them.
Thanks for stopping by, CBJ. Glad Neil can still bring it. How is that band Everest, btw?
I also saw Neil Young with Sonic Youth and Social Distortion at the Providence Civic Center. The arena was barely 1/4 full when SY took the stage...and I think I remember the house lights still being on...anyway, there were *some* of us appreciated the lineage and SY played an incredibly noisy and out-there set that closed with a terrifying "Kill Yr Idols."
Neil Young and Crazy Horse were truly awesome.
Post a Comment