In the morning
when I wake up and Listen to the sound
Of the birds outside on the roof
I try to ignore what the paper says
And I try not to read all the news
And I'll hold you if you had a bad dream
And I hope it never comes true
'Cause you and I been through so many things together
And the sun starts climbing the roof
It's a dream
OnIy a dream
And it's fading now
Fading away
OnIy a dream
Just a memory
without anywhere
You come here to make a record, and you got great musicians...
you know, and I always gather my own friends around...
that I pick, you know, to pIay.
I don't really go for the studio musician guys that much.
You know, I don't come in and say, "Get me this," and "Get me that."
But I have my own band.
And I like to play on the road with the same band I use in the studio.
I've been working with Neil for 35.... Since '70.
And we cut Harvest here in Nashville. He was doing The Johnny Cash Show...
and he showed up at that studio, Quadrafonic...
down on Grand Avenue, I think.
And he wanted to do some music...
that he'd written recently, and this was in the '70s.
And he stopped....
One of the engineers stopped a bass player...
who was walking down the street...
and said, "You wanna come in and do some music with Neil Young?"
And he said, "Sure." So he came in.
It was Tim Drummond, was the bass player's name.
And they asked him if Neil wanted a steel guitar player...
and I lived about two blocks down the street.
And so he called me up, and I came down...
and they were aIready recording at the time...
and I set up my steeI and kind of snuck in there...
and started pIaying.
And we did five songs before we ever stopped and introduced ourseIves.
My family used to drive up from Birmingham, AIabama area.
And we would go....
Try to make it up at least once a month...
but a lot of times we made it up twice a month...
to come to the Ryman to see the Grand Ole Opry...
and have "breakfast with the stars" as they said down on Broadway back then.
It was a little radio show that...
the people that was gonna go to the Ryman that night...
could go down and eat breakfast with all the people...
that were sober enough the next morning...
to have breakfast.
I've performed at the Ryman one time...
with my songwriting friend Dan Penn.
And we were invited to play with....
They called it the Legendary Songwriter's Series or something...
and that was a lot of fun, you know.
And that place has great acoustics, I think.
You know, it's just....
You can crank it out without trying too hard.
A lot of, you know, the volume carries reaI well there, seem like.
The Ryman Auditorium, there's such a vibe in there.
There's this sound in there that is unlike any other place.
And that's really nice because some places...
you come, and they sound like a big tin can.
And there is something about it.
Obviously, there's a lot of stories in this building.
And I'm sure glad they didn't tear it down.
They were apparently gonna tear it down.
But now they're building a high rise...
on the side where those beautifuI stained gIass windows are.
It's gonna block out the light.
And I don't know how anybody could....
That should be illegal.
You know, like, the artistic police or the aesthetic police should...
if there was such a thing, should come and arrest them.
On this last project, I mean, he made a statement to me...
and I didn't believe it.
He said, "It's been two years since I've wrote something, right?"
And when he got to the hotel around his old buddies again...
you couldn't get him from writing.
You couldn't stop him from writing, you know.
That's just how it comes.
-I had no idea that there was. -But there was a little, to be honest...
there was a little bit of, kind of....
We just picked up on a little bit of, like...
something's going on. We don't know what's going on, exactIy.
When he made this record, it was right after he found out he had the aneurysm.
And I think of it as like, his life flashing before his eyes.
And just remembering all these things, and wanting to say these things.
'Cause, you know, you don't....
We didn't really know what was gonna happen.
He said, "I got this brain aneurysm."
And, I mean, the world stopped. To me, it was just like, "You what?"
And he said, "Yeah. I've got this brain aneurysm...
"and I'm gonna go to New York next Tuesday...
"and they're gonna.... You know, they're gonna do this thing."
He goes, "And it's really wild, what they're gonna do."
I said, "Well, what are they gonna do?"
He said, "Well, they're gonna go in there...
"and they're gonna put these little bitty springs in there...
"and they're biodegradabIe. And what that does is, that makes...
"the body produce the scar tissue, which then negates the aneurysm."
I'm sitting there going, "What?" You know.
And, "Why are you sitting here right now?
"How is that?" You know.
"How can it be that you're going there next Tuesday...
"and we're sitting here recording?"
I'm just going, "What's...."
Prairie wind blowing through my head
We don't use a tenor saxophone, we use two baritone parts instead...
so that the part of the tenor has a lot of bite to it.
Trying to remember what Daddy said
B45. Heart of Gold, written and recorded. Old Man....
Check. One, two.
You wanna come out?
Check. One, two. Check. One, two.
All right. Just keep this with you all night.
Every time you come outside you need it to get back in. Thanks.
I just wanna play well and I wanna...
you know, share the stage with my friends...
give the best I can.
We're gonna get in there and let the muse have us.
Take a shot.
Send it out.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Ryman.
And the world premiere of Neil Young's Prairie Wind.
The painter stood
Before her work
She looked around everywhere
She saw the pictures and she painted them
Picking colors from the air
Green to green
Red to red
Yellow to yellow In the light
Black to black When the evening comes
Blue to blue Through the night
It's a long road
Behind me
It's a long road
Ahead
If you follow every dream
You might get lost
If you follow every dream
You might
Get
Lost
She toed the line
She heId her end up
She did the work of two men
But in the end She fell down
Before she got up again
I have my friends eternally
We Ieave our tracks in the sound
Some of them are with me now
Some of them can't be found
It's a long road
Behind me
And I miss you now
If you follow every dream
You might get lost
If you follow every dream
You might
Get
Lost
Green to green
Red to red
Yellow to yellow In the light
BIack to bIack When the evening comes
BIue to bIue Through the night
See the bIuebird fly
easy as a dream
Dipping and bobbing in the sun
CouId she be the one
I saw so long ago
CouId she be the one to take me home
This pasture is green
I'm waIking in the sun
It's turning brown I'm standing in the rain
My overcoat is worn
The pockets are all torn
I'm moving away from the pain
Tick-tock
The clock on the wall
No wonder we're losing time
Ring, ring
The old church bell
The bride and her love
Seeking guidance from above
Amber waves of grain bow in the prairie wind
I'm hearing Willie singing on the radio again
That song from 9/1 1 keeps ringing in my head
I'll always remember something Chris Rock said
Don't send no more candIes
No matter what you do
Then Willie stopped singing
And the prairie wind bIew
The green kept rolling on For miles and miles
Fields of fuel rolling on for miles
Tick-tock
The clock on the wall
No wonder we're losing time
Toll, toll
The fallen soldier bell
The old church on the hill
Still standing when so many fell
Back when I was young the birds blocked out the sun
Before the great migration south
We onIy shot a few They Iast the winter through
Mother cooked them good and served them up
Somewhere a senator sits in a Ieather chair
Behind a big wooden desk
The caribou we kill mean nothing to him
He took his money just like all the rest
Tick-tock
The clock on the wall
No wonder we're losing time
Ring, ring
Ring the wedding bells
The bride takes the ring
And the happy peopIe sing
I just want to thank you
For all of the things you've done
I've been thinking about you
I just want to send my love
I send my best to you
That's my message of love
For all the things you did I never thank you enough
Feel like I'm falling
Falling off the face of the Earth
I just want to tell you
You sure mean a lot to me
It may sound simpIe
But you are the worId to me
It's such a precious thing
The time we shared together
I must apologize
For the troubIed times
Feel like I'm falling
Falling off the face of the Earth
Feel like I'm falling
Falling off the face of the Earth
Feel like I'm falling
Falling off the face of the Earth
This is a song here....
When I first started pIaying guitar...
I was a chicken farmer at the time...
I was about seven or eight years oId or something and....
Maybe a little older than that.
But my daddy brought me an Arthur Godfrey ukuIeIe...
a little plastic one.
And, now, I didn't know what to do with it or anything...
but he said, "You might need this."
And then he sang me a song...
which I never heard him sing before, or anything.
And then he got this funny grin on his face and he was looking at me.
And I was watching him.
Then I had to go feed the chickens.
One, two, three....
When I was a growing boy
Rocking on my daddy's knee
Daddy took an old guitar and sang
Bury me on the lone prairie
UncIe Bob sat at the piano
My girI cousins sang harmony
Those were the good old family times
That Ieft a big mark on me
Bury me out on the prairie
Where the buffalo used to roam
Where the Canada geese once filled the sky
And then I won't be far from home
Yeah, bury me out on the prairie
Where the buffalo used to roam
You won't have to shed a tear for me
'Cause then I won't be far from home
Out on the Trans-Canada Highway
I was taIking to a firefly
Trying to make my way to Nashville, Tennessee
When another car passed me by
Some day I'm gonna make big money
And buy myseIf a big oId car
Make my way on down to the Promised Land
And then I'm gonna really go far
Bury me out on the prairie
Where the buffalo used to roam
Where the Canada geese once filled the sky
And then I won't be far from home
Just bury me out on the prairie
Where the buffalo used to roam
You won't have to shed a tear for me
'Cause then I won't be far from home
You know, to look around Nashville today...
there's a lot more cars, there's a lot more new buildings.
I often wonder what Hank Williams wouId have thought...
if he stepped out of that stage door...
on his way to Tootsie's, and looked up...
and saw the Gaylord Entertainment Center sitting there.
So things have changed, I think. But the spirit's still here...
and that's a beautifuI thing.
In the morning
when I wake up and listen to the sound
Of the birds outside on the roof
I try to ignore what the paper says
And I try not to read all the news
And I'll hold you if you had a bad dream
And I hope that it never comes true
'Cause you and I been through so many things together
And the sun starts climbing the roof
It's a dream
It's onIy a dream
Just a memory
Fading away
It's onIy a dream
Just a memory
without anywhere
to stay
Red River still flows through my hometown
Rollin' and tumblin' on its way
Swirling around the old bridge pylons
Where a boy fishes the morning away
A bicycle leans on an oak tree
While the cars rumble over his head
An airplane leaves a trail in an empty bIue sky
And the young birds call out to be fed
It's a dream
It's onIy a dream
And it's fading now
Fading away
It's onIy a dream
Just a memory
without anywhere
to stay
An oId man waIks along on the sidewaIk
With sungIasses and an oId Stetson hat
The four winds blow the back of his overcoat away
As he stops with a policeman to chat
And a train rolls out of the station
That was really something in its day
Picking up speed
on the straight prairie rails
As it carries its passengers away
It's gone
It's onIy a dream
And it's fading now
Fading away
It's onIy a dream
Just a memory
without anywhere
to stay
It's a dream
It's onIy a dream
And it's fading now
Fading away
It's onIy a dream
Just a memory
without anywhere
to stay
It's a dream
It's onIy a dream
And it's fading now
Fading away
Thank you, Nashville.
Well, it sure is great to be here tonight with all of you.
You know, getting to be about that time, some of us are...
starting to lose our parents and stuff.
My daddy passed away a coupIe of months ago...
and in the last part of his life, he had dementia.
And that's....
I know some of you know what that's like...
and it's something else to see your loved ones living in the moment.
But...
when he passed, we had a nice service for him...
and my little cousin, or niece...
she was about this high, and she came up to me, said, you know:
"Daddy was okay. He knew what was going on.
"Once a police car pulled up behind him...
"right behind him, there was this police car...
"and he said, 'Cop.'
"So I know he was okay."
Trying to remember what my daddy said
Before too much time took away his head
He said we're gonna go back and I'll show you what I'm taIking about
Back to Cypress River back to the oId farmhouse
Prairie wind blowing through my head
Trying to remember what Daddy said
Prairie wind blowing through my head
Well, I tried to tell the people but they never heard a word I said
They say there's nothing out there but wheat fieIds anyway
Just a farmer's wife hanging laundry in her back yard
Out on the prairie where the wind blows long and hard
Prairie wind blowing through my head
Trying to remember what Daddy said
Prairie wind blowing through my head
Late at night lights dancing in the northern sky
Just the Indian spirits trying to show me how to fly
You can see into the future but it may be a mirage
Like a new car sitting there in your oId garage
Prairie wind blowing through my head
Well, there's a place on the prairie where evil and goodness play
Daddy told me all about it but I don't remember what he said
Well, it may be afternoon
and it may be the dead of night
But you'll know when you see it 'cause it sure is a hell of a sight
Prairie wind blowing through my head
Trying to remember what my daddy said
Prairie wind blowing through my head
Before too much time took away his head
Prairie wind blowing through my head
So we're gonna go back and I'll show you what I'm talking about
Prairie wind blowing through my head
Going back to Cypress River back to the oId farmhouse
Prairie wind blowing through my head
Thank you.
You know, I got a beautifuI young girI.
She's just turned 21 .
She's going back for her last year of college pretty soon.
She'd probabIy be embarrassed if I said anything more about her.
You know how that is? Can't say much.
Anyway, there was a time I used to write these kind of songs...
for girIs my own age.
-You still got a few good years. -Yeah. I got a few left in me.
So this is what you might call kind of an empty-nester song.
It's a new genre...
and they might even have a new kind of radio station for them.
When your summer days come tumbling down
And you find yourseIf alone
You can come back
and be with me
Just close your eyes and I'll be there
Listen to the sound
Of this oId heart
beating for you
Yes, I miss you
But I never want to hoId you down
You might say
I'm here for you
When the winter comes to your new home
And snowflakes are falling down
You can come back
and be with me
Just close your eyes and I'll be there
Listen to the sound
Of this oId heart
beating for you
Yes, I miss you
But I never want to hoId you down
You might say
I'm here for you
In the spring protective arms surrounded you
In the fall, we let you go your way
Happiness I know will always find you
And when it does, I hope that it will stay
Yes, I miss you
But I never want to hoId you down
You might say
I'm here for you
Yes, I miss you
But I never want to hoId you down
You might say
I'm here for you
I'll always be
here for you
Thank you.
You know...
one of my favorite guitars in the world is Willie Nelson's guitar...
and the way it looks.
And this guitar here...
my friend Grant, Grant Boatwright...
found this guitar for me about 30 years ago...
and I bought it from Tuck Taylor.
And this is Hank's oId guitar.
It was here in 1951 , I think, and that was Hank's Iast show here.
Maybe, I think it was....
Maybe he got back. He got fired, I know that.
But maybe he came back one more time, I'm not sure but...
don't think so. So I'm gIad to see it back here...
and I'm gIad....
Anyway, here's a tune for you.
This oId guitar ain't mine to keep
I'm taking care of it now
It's been around for years and years
Just waiting in its oId case
It's been up and down the country roads
It brought a tear and a smile
It's had its share of dreams and hopes
It never went out of style
The more I play it, the better it sounds
It cries when I Ieave it alone
Silently it waits for me
Or someone eIse I suppose
This oId guitar
This oId guitar has caught some breaks
But it never searched for goId
It can't be bIamed for my mistakes
It onIy does what it's toId
It's been a messenger in times of troubIe
In times of hope and fear
When I get drunk and seeing doubIe
It jumps behind the wheeI and steers
This oId guitar ain't mine to keep
It's mine to play for a while
This old guitar ain't mine to keep
It's only mine for a while
This old guitar
Was he thinkin' about my country
Or the color of my skin?
Was he thinkin' about my religion
And the way I worshipped him?
Did he create just me in his image
Or every living thing?
When God made me
Was he planning only for believers
Or for those who just have faith?
Did he envision all the wars
That were fought in his name?
Did he think there was only one way
To be close to him?
When God made me
Did he give us the gift of love
To say who we couId choose?
When God made me
Did he give me the gift of voice
So some could silence me?
Did he give me the gift of vision
Not knowing what I might see?
Did he give us the gift of compassion
To help our fellow man?
When God made me
I am a child
I'll last a while
You can't conceive
of the pleasure in my smile
You hold my hand
rough up my hair
It's lots of fun to have you there
I gave to you now you give to me
I'd like to know what you've learned
The sky is blue and so is the sea
What is the color
when black is burned?
What is the color?
You are a man
you understand
You pick me up
then you lay me down again
You make the rules
you say what's fair
It's lots of fun to have you there
I gave to you now you give to me
I'd like to know what you've learned
The sky is blue and so is the sea
What is the color
when black is burned?
What is the color?
Come a little bit closer
Hear what I have to say
Just like children sleeping
We could dream this night away
But there's a full moon rising
Let's go dancing in the light
We know where the music's playing
Let's go out and feel the night
Because I'm still in love with you
I want to see you dance again
Because I'm still in love with you
On this harvest moon
When we were strangers
I watched you from afar
When we were lovers
I loved you with all my heart
But now it's gettin' late
And the moon is climbin' high
I want to celebrate
See it shinin' in your eye
Because I'm still in love with you
I want to see you dance again
Because I'm still in love with you
On this harvest moon
Because I'm still in love with you
I want to see you dance again
Because I'm still in love with you
On this harvest moon
Harvest moon
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 went to Redwood
I crossed the ocean for a heart of gold
I've been in my mind
it's such a fine line
Keeps me searching for a heart of goId
And I'm getting oId
Keep me searching for a heart of goId
And I'm getting oId
Keep me searching for a heart of goId
Keep me searching and I'm growing oId
Keep me searching for a heart of goId
I've been a miner for a heart of goId
Thank you.
About that time when I wrote that song and I was touring...
I had aIso...
just, you know, being a rich hippie for the first time...
had purchased a ranch.
And...
I still live there today.
And there was a coupIe living on it...
that were the caretakers and....
OId gentIeman named Louis AveIa...
and his wife, CIara.
And there was this oId bIue jeep there.
And Louis took me for a...
took me for a ride...
in this bIue jeep.
And 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, I'm just lucky, Louis. Just real lucky."
He said, "Well, that's the darnedest thing I ever heard."
And then I wrote this song for him.
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 in the same oId town
Doesn't mean that much to me
To mean that much to you
I've been first and Iast
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
I caught you knockin' at my cellar door
I love you, baby can I have some more
Oh, the damage done
I hit the city and I lost my band
I watched the needle take another man
Gone, gone, the damage done
I sing the song because I love the man
I know that some of you don't understand
Milk-blood
to keep from running out
I've seen the needle and the damage done
A little part of it in everyone
But every junkie's like a settin' sun
King went a-runnin' after deer
Wasn't scared of jumpin' off the truck in high gear
King went a-sniffin' and he wouId go
Was the best oId hound dog I ever did know
I had a dog and his name was King
I toId the dog about everything
There in my truck, the dog and I
Then one day the King up and died
Then I thought about the times we had
Once when I kicked him when he was bad
Old King sure meant a lot to me
But that hound dog is history
King went a-howlin' after deer
Wasn't scared of jumpin' off the truck in high gear
King went a-sniffin' and he would go
Was the best old hound dog I ever did know
That old King was a friend of mine
Never knew a dog that was half as fine
I may find one, you never do know
'Cause I still got a long way to go
I had a dog and his name was King
I told the dog about everything
Old King sure meant a lot to me
But that hound dog is history
King went a-howlin' after deer
Wasn't scared of jumpin' off the truck in high gear
King went a-sniffin' and he would go
Was the best old hound dog I ever did know
Is there a guitar player in the house?
This song here, I recorded here in Nashville...
and Nicolette Larson sang this song with me.
I'd really like to do this one for her.
Comes a time
when you're driftin'
Comes a time when you settle down
Comes a light
feelin's lifting
Lift that baby right up off the ground
Oh, this old world
keeps spinning round
It's a wonder tall trees
ain't Iayin' down
There comes a time
You and I
we were captured
We took our souIs and we flew away
We were right we were giving
That's how we kept what we gave away
Oh, this old world
keeps spinnin' round
It's a wonder tall trees
ain't Iayin' down
There comes a time
Oh, this old world
keeps spinnin' round
It's a wonder tall trees
ain't Iaying down
There comes a time
Comes a time
Thank you.
This song here was written by Ian Tyson.
He's a Canadian.
He's living out in Calgary, on his ranch, right now....
But when I was just a kid, 16 years or 17 years old...
I went to this place near Winnipeg where I grew up...
and it's called Falcon Lake.
And it's just one of those first times...
when you really got away from home and were on your own.
I was just kind of feeling it for the first time.
And there was this little...
kind of a restaurant place with a jukebox in it that was there...
and I used to go there.
And I think I spent all my money...
playing this next song over and over again.
It was the most beautiful record that I've ever heard in my life...
and I just could not get enough of it.
And so, I don't have the record with me here...
but I'm gonna sing it with my friends, and we'll see what we can do.
Think I'll go out to Alberta
Weather's good there in the fall
I got some friends that I could go
to working for
Still I wish you'd change your mind
If I ask you one more time
But we've been through that a hundred times or more
Four strong winds that blow lonely
Seven seas that run high
All those things that don't change
Come what may
If the good times are all gone
Then I'm bound for moving on
I'll look for you if I'm ever back this way
If I get there before the snow flies
And if things are looking good
You could meet me
if I send you down the fare
But by then it would be winter
Not too much for you to do
And those winds sure can blow cold
way out there
Four strong winds that blow lonely
Seven seas that run high
All those things that don't change
Come what may
If the good times are all gone
Then I'm bound for moving on
I'll look for you if I'm ever back this way
Still I wish you'd change your mind
If I ask you one more time
But we've been through that a hundred times or more
Four strong winds that blow lonely
Seven seas that run high
All those things that don't change
Come what may
If the good times are all gone
Then I'm bound for moving on
I'll look for you if I'm ever back this way
One of these days
I'm gonna sit down and write a long letter
To all the good friends I've known
And I'm gonna try
To thank them all for the good times together
Though so apart we've grown
One of these days
I'm gonna sit down and write a long letter
To all the good friends I've known
One of these days
-And it won't be long -Won't be long
-Won't be long
And I'm gonna thank
That old country fiddler
And all those rough boys
Who played that rock 'n' roll
Well, I never tried
to burn any bridges
But I know I let
some good things go
One of these days
I'm gonna sit down and write a long letter
To all the good friends I've known
One of these days
-And it won't be long -Won't be long
-Won't be long
From down in LA
All the way to Nashville
From New York City
To my Canadian prairie home
My friends are scattered
Like leaves from an old maple
Some are weak
some are strong
One of these days
I'm gonna sit down and write a long letter
To all the good friends I've known
One of these days
-And it won't be long -Won't be long
-Won't be long
One of these days
-And it won't be long -Won't be long
-Won't be long
One of these days
-And it won't be long -Won't be long
-Won't be long
Don't call pretty Peggy
she can't hear you no more
Don't leave no message
'round her back door
They say the old laughing lady
been here before
She don't keep time
She don't count score
Well, you can't have a cupboard
if there ain't no wall
You got to move
there's no time for you to stall
They say the old laughing lady
dropped by to call
When she leaves
she leaves nothing at all
See the drunkard of the village
falling on the street
Can't tell his ankle
from the rest of his feet
He loves his old laughing lady
'cause her taste is so sweet
But the laughing lady's loving
ain't the kind he can keep
There's a fever on the freeway
blacks out the night
There's a slipping on the stairway
just don't feel right
And there's a rumbling in the bedroom
a flashing of light
There's the old laughing lady
everything is all right
It's the old laughing lady
everything is all right
There's the old laughing lady
THE END Subtitles by: Reklame11