he’s been called The Godfather of Grunch
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top 10
Neil Young songs keeps me searching for
this list we’ve chosen our entries based
on a combination of the artists fan
favorites and their most commercially
successful songs this notes for you
we’re also considering songs from other
projects such as Crosby Stills Nash &
Young and Buffalo Springfield
number ten southern men there have
always been two very distinct sides to
Neil Young and this song is a perfect
example smacked in the middle of an
otherwise laid-back and mellow acoustic
set this hard rocking jamfest
let Neil stand out from his
singer-songwriter peers this song as
well as Alabama from the harvest album
also made young a friendly enemy of
sorts with southern rockers Lynyrd
Skynyrd who even named checked him in
their signature song Sweet Home Alabama
don’t get that with James Taylor
number nine the needle and the damage
done
although known to enjoy a beer a bit of
pot or to otherwise indulge himself
young also bore witness to many musical
friends destroying themselves with drug
use watch the knee
god
released in February of 72 this tune was
written about Crazy Horse guitarist and
heroin user
Danny Witten young was forced to fire
Witten from his touring band later that
year as he was unable to properly
perform sing song because out
I know the son
understand
recorded live the folk rock tune has
been covered multiple times and is often
referenced in pop culture unfortunately
Witten died the night of his dismissal
from a mixture of alcohol and Valium at
the age of 29
number eight like a hurricane
backed by his trusty Crazy Horse Neel
couldn’t quite get the song to gel
properly until coke guitarist Pancho San
Pedro laid down his Les Paul in favor of
a UNIVAC organ
producers scrambled to get the recording
equipment on caching the song already in
progress and several minutes later a
classic was born
known for its multiple epic lengths
guitar solos
like a hurricane was also re-recorded on
pump organ for Young’s appearance on MTV
Unplugged kids
number seven helpless there is a written
by young and recorded during a stint
with CSNY the lyrics of helpless call
back to his childhood in small-town
Ontario the young family moved to the
sleepy community when Neil was four big
birds flying across the sky when
recording the track with the supergroup
young felt that the song was being
played too quickly and pushed the
recording session to 4 a.m.
with everyone too tired to play any
faster the singer finally got the sound
he was looking for
a folk rocker that’s one of the album’s
highlights and a live staple number six
old men
get my love
though this acoustic numbers title might
have made you and Neil Young’s father
sports writer and novelist Scott young
think it was about him old man is
actually about someone else love loss
such a cost give me things that don’t
get lost like a coin I won’t get tossed
rolling home
when Neil bought his Broken Arrow ranch
for the princely sum of three hundred
and fifty thousand dollars the ranches
caretaker Luis Avila was confused about
how the 25 year old could afford it take
a look at my life
Neal told him he was just lucky real
lucky
young was luckier still when the song’s
parent album harvest recorded on the
property hit number one on the Billboard
album chart
number five rockin in the free world
80s were an interesting time for young
as he jumped from genre to genre for
most of the decade
including experimenting with electronic
music and since down-home country
old-school rock and roll
and the blues notes but you so when he
capped the decade with freedom and this
straight-up hard rocker it was seen as a
return to form
and was his most successful period since
rust never sleeps
with its mix of anti-establishment
politics social commentary and frantic
guitar lines
this is classic Neal and classic rock
number four cinnamon girl
a hard-charging rift rocker from Young’s
first album with his backing band Crazy
Horse the song topped out at only number
55 on the Billboard Hot 100 but has yet
to drop off the radio waves
like several other songs from everybody
knows this is nowhere Cinnamon Girl was
written while Neel was bedridden with a
103 degree fever
the album also marked the debut of his
main guitar old black on which he played
cinnamon girls iconic OneNote guitar
solo
number three hey hey my my into the
black
while young also recorded an acoustic
take which opens the parent album here
to stay
it’s the electric version and it’s back
crazy guitar solos that grabs our
attention
written at a time when traditional rock
was slipping and punk was gaining
serious ground the song granted Neal a
stay of execution and a level of street
credibility among his younger peers
this appreciation eventually earned him
the title the godfather of grunge
and even led to this song being quoted
in Kurt Cobain’s suicide note
number two heart of gold
I wanna lose
I wanna give I’ve been a miner for heart
go unable to play electric guitar due to
a back injury Neal made the best of
being mellow and enlisted Linda Ronstadt
James Taylor and a host of country music
session players to record this track and
its parent album Heaton is searching
heart of gold became his only number-one
hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and his
first big brush with Fame
but Jung would later say this song put
him in the middle of the road and led to
his following experimental albums in the
Hollywood
I’ve been the red
I cross the ocean for
regardless the song has endured as a fan
favorite although young wouldn’t quite
cover the same ground again until he
released the spiritual sequel to harvest
Harvest Moon in 1990 to keep me
searching
before we unveil our top hip here are a
few honorable mentions
ooh
yeah
ah
people work together
number one after the gold rush
saying so
like much of its parent album this song
was written as a soundtrack to an unmade
film also of the same title
in the nineteen
young was inspired by a script penned by
friend and neighbor Dean Stockwell an
actor best known for his role as Al on
quantum leap
but as for what the song is about even
Neil doesn’t know
what we do know is the song and album
established young as a songwriting force
to be reckoned with
with it’s dreamy lyrics and the use of
just two instruments other than Jung’s
boys after the gold rush is neil young
at his folk rocky best
do you agree with our list
what’s your favorite Neil Young song
for more free world rocking top 10s
published every day be sure to subscribe
to watchmojo.com
you
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top 10
Neil Young songs keeps me searching for
this list we’ve chosen our entries based
on a combination of the artists fan
favorites and their most commercially
successful songs this notes for you
we’re also considering songs from other
projects such as Crosby Stills Nash &
Young and Buffalo Springfield
number ten southern men there have
always been two very distinct sides to
Neil Young and this song is a perfect
example smacked in the middle of an
otherwise laid-back and mellow acoustic
set this hard rocking jamfest
let Neil stand out from his
singer-songwriter peers this song as
well as Alabama from the harvest album
also made young a friendly enemy of
sorts with southern rockers Lynyrd
Skynyrd who even named checked him in
their signature song Sweet Home Alabama
don’t get that with James Taylor
number nine the needle and the damage
done
although known to enjoy a beer a bit of
pot or to otherwise indulge himself
young also bore witness to many musical
friends destroying themselves with drug
use watch the knee
god
released in February of 72 this tune was
written about Crazy Horse guitarist and
heroin user
Danny Witten young was forced to fire
Witten from his touring band later that
year as he was unable to properly
perform sing song because out
I know the son
understand
recorded live the folk rock tune has
been covered multiple times and is often
referenced in pop culture unfortunately
Witten died the night of his dismissal
from a mixture of alcohol and Valium at
the age of 29
number eight like a hurricane
backed by his trusty Crazy Horse Neel
couldn’t quite get the song to gel
properly until coke guitarist Pancho San
Pedro laid down his Les Paul in favor of
a UNIVAC organ
producers scrambled to get the recording
equipment on caching the song already in
progress and several minutes later a
classic was born
known for its multiple epic lengths
guitar solos
like a hurricane was also re-recorded on
pump organ for Young’s appearance on MTV
Unplugged kids
number seven helpless there is a written
by young and recorded during a stint
with CSNY the lyrics of helpless call
back to his childhood in small-town
Ontario the young family moved to the
sleepy community when Neil was four big
birds flying across the sky when
recording the track with the supergroup
young felt that the song was being
played too quickly and pushed the
recording session to 4 a.m.
with everyone too tired to play any
faster the singer finally got the sound
he was looking for
a folk rocker that’s one of the album’s
highlights and a live staple number six
old men
get my love
though this acoustic numbers title might
have made you and Neil Young’s father
sports writer and novelist Scott young
think it was about him old man is
actually about someone else love loss
such a cost give me things that don’t
get lost like a coin I won’t get tossed
rolling home
when Neil bought his Broken Arrow ranch
for the princely sum of three hundred
and fifty thousand dollars the ranches
caretaker Luis Avila was confused about
how the 25 year old could afford it take
a look at my life
Neal told him he was just lucky real
lucky
young was luckier still when the song’s
parent album harvest recorded on the
property hit number one on the Billboard
album chart
number five rockin in the free world
80s were an interesting time for young
as he jumped from genre to genre for
most of the decade
including experimenting with electronic
music and since down-home country
old-school rock and roll
and the blues notes but you so when he
capped the decade with freedom and this
straight-up hard rocker it was seen as a
return to form
and was his most successful period since
rust never sleeps
with its mix of anti-establishment
politics social commentary and frantic
guitar lines
this is classic Neal and classic rock
number four cinnamon girl
a hard-charging rift rocker from Young’s
first album with his backing band Crazy
Horse the song topped out at only number
55 on the Billboard Hot 100 but has yet
to drop off the radio waves
like several other songs from everybody
knows this is nowhere Cinnamon Girl was
written while Neel was bedridden with a
103 degree fever
the album also marked the debut of his
main guitar old black on which he played
cinnamon girls iconic OneNote guitar
solo
number three hey hey my my into the
black
while young also recorded an acoustic
take which opens the parent album here
to stay
it’s the electric version and it’s back
crazy guitar solos that grabs our
attention
written at a time when traditional rock
was slipping and punk was gaining
serious ground the song granted Neal a
stay of execution and a level of street
credibility among his younger peers
this appreciation eventually earned him
the title the godfather of grunge
and even led to this song being quoted
in Kurt Cobain’s suicide note
number two heart of gold
I wanna lose
I wanna give I’ve been a miner for heart
go unable to play electric guitar due to
a back injury Neal made the best of
being mellow and enlisted Linda Ronstadt
James Taylor and a host of country music
session players to record this track and
its parent album Heaton is searching
heart of gold became his only number-one
hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and his
first big brush with Fame
but Jung would later say this song put
him in the middle of the road and led to
his following experimental albums in the
Hollywood
I’ve been the red
I cross the ocean for
regardless the song has endured as a fan
favorite although young wouldn’t quite
cover the same ground again until he
released the spiritual sequel to harvest
Harvest Moon in 1990 to keep me
searching
before we unveil our top hip here are a
few honorable mentions
ooh
yeah
ah
people work together
number one after the gold rush
saying so
like much of its parent album this song
was written as a soundtrack to an unmade
film also of the same title
in the nineteen
young was inspired by a script penned by
friend and neighbor Dean Stockwell an
actor best known for his role as Al on
quantum leap
but as for what the song is about even
Neil doesn’t know
what we do know is the song and album
established young as a songwriting force
to be reckoned with
with it’s dreamy lyrics and the use of
just two instruments other than Jung’s
boys after the gold rush is neil young
at his folk rocky best
do you agree with our list
what’s your favorite Neil Young song
for more free world rocking top 10s
published every day be sure to subscribe
to watchmojo.com
you
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