Thursday, April 18, 2013

Music: Heart of Gold

Album cover for Neil Young's 1972 album Harvest.  Photo by bigcityal. (Creative Commons licensed.)
You all have started sharing music that is important to you. So today, I am not sharing a song because I'm trying to teach something (though there are many examples of rhyme in the lyrics!).  I'm sharing a song from the most important record in the world to me, when I was 19.

 When I was an undergraduate student, I lived away from my parents for the first time in my life.  This was a scary and exciting time.  I was only about a 30 minute drive from my parents' home, but my university was in a big city, so different from the suburbs.  Coming home was a "big deal."  

 When I came home to visit my family and friends, I stayed in my childhood bedroom.  It hadn't changed much.  There were still Pink Floyd posters on the walls, my baseball trophies, and school awards that my mom proudly hung on the walls.  There was one change though.  I had found my parents' old record player, and it now lived on my bedroom dresser.  
Photo by Great Beyond. (Creative Commons licensed.)
I grew up with CDs, so playing a record was always an event. My mom has an amazing collection of rock and soul albums.  But there was one album that I kept in the record player.  And one album that I listened to every time I came home.  That was Neil Young's Harvest.  I would close my bedroom door, and play the album over and over.  Things were different with my friends from home.  We weren't as close. I was making new friends at the university.  Things were different with my parents.  We weren't as close either. I was making my own decisions.  

 It's hard to say exactly why this record resonated so strongly with me.  But it seems to celebrate loneliness.  And growing up can feel really lonely.

 -Eric, NYC, USA   

 Video: Heart of Gold, by Neil Young



Lyrics: Heart of Gold, by Neil Young

I want to live,
I want to give
I've been a miner
for a heart of gold.
It's these expressions
I never give
That keep me searching
for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.
Keep me searching
for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.

I've been to Hollywood
I've been to Redwood
I crossed the ocean
for a heart of gold
I've been in my mind,
It's such a fine line
That keeps me searching
for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.
Keeps me searching
for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.

Keep me searching
for a heart of gold
You keep me searching
for a heart of gold
And I'm growing old.
I've been a miner
for a heart of gold.
Posted by at
Labels:

3 comments:

  1. 4/18/2013 2:57 PM

    Hello Eric,

    What a great story...! I hope you are not lonely at all! I understand how much this song means to you. Yeah, it reminds you of your past...a lot of great memories that always gather around you. I do love the song so much. Thanks for sharing.

    Hakim, Bejaia, Algeria

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Eric4/20/2013 12:41 AM

      Hakim,

      You know, I was a little concerned about ending my little story on such a sad note. And I considered writing a little more, something more positive, to lift the tone. But that felt ingenue. Stories can share happiness, or sadness, and all of those wonderfully complicated feelings in between. Neil Young's music, even when he's singing a "pop" song, are always still a little melancholie or bittersweet. And maybe that's why I like it.

      I'm really glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed writing it. I've never tried to write about this particular experience before and it was a fun challenge. It was especially difficult trying to explain why this music meant so much to me. And I'm still looking for the words.

      -Eric, NYC, USA

      Delete
    2. Eric4/20/2013 12:45 AM

      So I misspelled a word there: "ingenue." I meant to write ingenuine. And apparently, "ingenuine" is not a word! I was trying to express the opposite of genuine. So, I'll replace that with "insincere," which is close enough.

      Delete

Thanks for reading. Tell us what you think! Please write your name after your comment, so the author of the post knows who to reply to. You don't need to use your full name: first name only is fine.

-Eric, NYC

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)