End of the Trip

Neil Young Greatest Hits

I have to be honest here. I can hardly look at Neil Young without getting sick. There’s something about that greasy hair and the emaciated body. I just don’t think the dude looks right. A life of heroin, I guess, although I can’t say that with certainty. But, those looks I’m sure about. If my sister had decided to date him I’d have said, “What are you thinking!” Until I heard his music.

One of the best ways to get acquainted with Young is to buy Neil Young’s Greatest Hits, which includes 16 of his best songs, ranging in release dates from 1969 through 1991. This collection rolls off the stereo like a dream and Young’s wavering voice delivers his wistful message like a piece of soft candy. In Helpless, that message is this subtle:

There is a town in north Ontario
Dream comfort, memory to spare
In my mind I still need a place to go
All my changes were there
Blue blue windows behind the stars
Yellow moon on the rise
Big birds flying across the sky
Throwing shadows on our eyes
Leave us helpless, helpless, helpless

I never mastered poetry so when I listen to that song I have absolutely no idea what it all means. But I do know this: I can’t decide whether to smile at the beauty or cry for the pain. Most of Young’s songs are like that, well-written and delivered with perfection. If there weren't true words in his songs and Young just made vocal sounds I'd still listen to him—there's power in his delivery and it usually penetrates at the heart.  I'm betting that you would listen to him, too—the dude is cool. My cousin's wife cooked for him in a hunting camp one time and said he fit right in.

Young has stood the test of time. More people are listening to his words today than in the 1970s. In the year 2050, if any of us make that date, he’ll still reign as one of rock’s superstars. This collection is a great introduction if you’ve never done much Young. For die-hard fans it’s a must-have, one more for the collection. For fishing trips, this is a good one when you've thrown a couple thousand casts for steelhead and haven't hooked up and you're feeling more wind-down than party, trying to figure out why there's an inferiority complex knot in your stomach and why life is so unfair and where, exactly, it all went wrong. There's strength in numbers when any of us feel so depraved, and Young is a true partner for introspection and lament.

Thomas