Only Neil Young can explain why he named this set after his unreleased 1977 album. True, there is some recycling: the opening three songs date from the 1980s. Beautiful Bluebird is deceptively sweet, but also addresses a dead friend; Boxcar is an existential train song. Ordinary People is a monster of a tune in which the squalling guitars do battle with streamroller horns, while Young narrates a tale of a “Michelob night” in Vegas. But the title is a feint. The album is a powerful exploration of faith, with Young circling his own mortality. He does it quietly (Ever After) and noisily (the crackling mini-epic No Hidden Path). He writes a hymn (Shining Light). On The Believer, he offers his own simple philosophy. “Though the seas may rise/Until they do/I keep doin’ the things I’m doin’.” It’s almost enough to excuse the children’s choir. ALASTAIR McKAY
Only Neil Young can explain why he named this set after his unreleased 1977 album. True, there is some recycling: the opening three songs date from the 1980s. Beautiful Bluebird is deceptively sweet, but also addresses a dead friend; Boxcar is an existential train song. Ordinary People is a monster of a tune in which the squalling guitars do battle with streamroller horns, while Young narrates a tale of a “Michelob night” in Vegas.
But the title is a feint. The album is a powerful exploration of faith, with Young circling his own mortality. He does it quietly (Ever After) and noisily (the crackling mini-epic No Hidden Path). He writes a hymn (Shining Light). On The Believer, he offers his own simple philosophy. “Though the seas may rise/Until they do/I keep doin’ the things I’m doin’.” It’s almost enough to excuse the children’s choir.
ALASTAIR McKAY
