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About This Track
“Old Man” is a song written and performed by Neil Young on his 1972 album Harvest.
The song was written for the caretaker of the northern-California Broken Arrow Ranch, which Young purchased for $350,000 in 1970. The song compares a young man’s life to an old man’s and shows that the young man has, to some extent, the same needs of the old one. James Taylor played six-string banjo (tuned like a guitar) and sang on the song, and Linda Ronstadt also contributed vocals.
In the movie Heart of Gold, Young introduces the song as follows:
“ About that time when I wrote that song , and I was touring, I had also — just, you know, being a rich hippie for the first time — I had purchased a ranch, and I still live there today. And 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.”
He tells a similar story when introducing the song at a February 23, 1971 performance broadcast by the BBC (in which he says that he purchased the ranch from “two lawyers”).
Covers
Bob Dylan regularly covered this song at a number of concerts on his 2002 tour, including one at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Dylan played the keyboard on his arrangement of the song.
The song was written for the caretaker of the northern-California Broken Arrow Ranch, which Young purchased for $350,000 in 1970. The song compares a young man’s life to an old man’s and shows that the young man has, to some extent, the same needs of the old one. James Taylor played six-string banjo (tuned like a guitar) and sang on the song, and Linda Ronstadt also contributed vocals.
In the movie Heart of Gold, Young introduces the song as follows:
“ About that time when I wrote that song , and I was touring, I had also — just, you know, being a rich hippie for the first time — I had purchased a ranch, and I still live there today. And 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.”
He tells a similar story when introducing the song at a February 23, 1971 performance broadcast by the BBC (in which he says that he purchased the ranch from “two lawyers”).
Covers
Bob Dylan regularly covered this song at a number of concerts on his 2002 tour, including one at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Dylan played the keyboard on his arrangement of the song.
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Albums featuring this track
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Harvest
Neil Young
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Greatest Hits
Neil YoungBuy- Download Album
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Decade
Neil Young Buy- Download Album
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Decade (disc 2)
Neil YoungBuy- Download Album
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Shouts
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supersteveme wrote:
I like the track and Im an old man,what more could you ask for
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listentothewarm wrote:
I ♥ this~
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KeithandLor wrote:
too short
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creepingdeathv2 wrote:
you listen to this song ... carefully ... and suddenly its underlying meaning dawns in your intellect ... thats neil young ... explaining one of the many facets of life in a simple sounding folk song ... but the simplicity of the song is where his genius lies.
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BlueOclock wrote:
Wonderful song.
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MIKEH3875 wrote:
read his book Shakey that he put out a few years back and i have to say he has had a very interesting life and career.
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bernlin2000 wrote:
This is the end of the road for brilliant song writing and storytelling: he already knew the meaning of life in his 20s.
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ravenclaw94 wrote:
This is a good one. Haven't heard it in ages.
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bojay wrote:
No, Neil Young did not use me as inspiration for the title of this great track...
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VivaBobbyJoe wrote:
Neil - sheer genius!
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greendreamz wrote:
neil.vast.saw him w crazy horse and sonic youth w social distortion.yup.
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lammasabacthani wrote:
&
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MANSHOWBOY wrote:
A good track indeed.
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kiteo wrote:
The Young never think they'll be old.
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Widowsboy wrote:
I think he was talking too me about me.... mus.
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Jac1990 wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVC2cszdTao
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Jac1990 wrote:
The first time I heard this song it was Neil on stage on his own. I simply listened with my mouth wide open, I found it so hauntingly beautiful. The album version is great, but I'll always prefer his solo version.
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Siffiona wrote:
I love^
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Deshart wrote:
...really a great song!
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scientist4u wrote:
this is me lol
Track Stats
1,530,293 Scrobbles
287,699 Listeners
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