Thursday 30 June 2011

Britain is a country where yesterday's young men have, like Neil Young, become his 'Old Man'



Neil Young wote and sang 'Old Man' in 1971 when he and I were both young men, he at 26 and I at 24. Now we are the old men in his song. He at 66 and me at 64.

Neil said of the song :

" About that time when I wrote 'Heart of Gold' and I was touring, I had, being a rich hippie for the first time, purchased a ranch. There was a couple living on it that were the caretakers, an old gentleman named Louis Avala and his wife Clara. And there was this old blue Jeep there, and Louis took me for a ride in this blue Jeep. He gets me up there on the top side of the place, and there's this lake up there that fed all the pastures, and he says, "Well, tell me, how does a young man like yourself have enough money to buy a place like this?" And I said, "Well, just lucky, Louie, just real lucky." And he said, "Well, that's the darndest thing I ever heard." And I wrote this song for him."


Louis Avala



Old Man :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVC2cszdTao

Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.
Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.

Old man look at my life,
Twenty four
and there's so much more,
Live alone in a paradise,
That makes me think of two.

Love lost, such a cost,
Give me things
that don't get lost.
Like a coin that won't get tossed,
Rolling home to you.

Old man take a look at my life,
I'm a lot like you.
I need someone to love me,
the whole day through.
Ah, one look in my eyes,
and you can tell that's true.

Lullabies, look in your eyes,
Run around the same old town.
Doesn't mean that much to me,
To mean that much to you.

I've been first and last,
Look at how the time goes past.
But I'm all alone at last,
Rolling home to you.

Old man take a look at my life,
I'm a lot like you.
I need someone to love me,
the whole day through.
Ah, one look in my eyes
and you can tell that's true.

Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.
Old man look at my life,
I'm a lot like you were.

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