“A legendary demonstration”: Julia Holter’s favourite Neil Young song
From ambience to elements of classical to facets of baroque, art and chamber pop, there is no limit to the spectrum of sounds that Julia Holter‘s music spans.
The Wisconsin-born, Los Angeles-based artist conceptualises her music into an art form of her own, parsing inspiration from a wide range of subjects: film, poetry, Greek mythologies and more. She leans into the avant-garde, imaging how music can turn into an immersive experience with a surrealist tone.
Fittingly, when prompted by Stereogum to choose her favourite Neil Young tune, ahead of the musician’s 80th birthday in 2025, Holter chose a Buffalo Springfield classic that showed a similar penchant for experimentation that she holds in her own work. “Neil Young’s ‘Expecting to Fly’ is a legendary demonstration to me of melancholy in songwriting and production, the sweetness and sadness,” Holter expressed.
Released as a single in 1967, Young wrote ‘Expecting to Fly’ during one of the times when he had left Buffalo Springfield, and therefore, the final version of the song does not feature any other band members besides himself. He had booked studio time at Sunset Sound in Hollywood to record the song with outside musicians, bringing along producer Jack Nitzsche, who provided the orchestral string section and an English horn. Young would continue working with Nitzsche, once he decided to go solo in the early 1970s, bringing the producer along for his debut album and Harvest, and having him join his backing bands, Crazy Horse and The Stray Gators.
‘Expecting to Fly’ is included on the 1967 album Buffalo Springfield Again, an album that, while celebrated as a classic from the psychedelic rock era, was made during a time fraught with tension. As Young did, each member largely produced their own material independently over a nine-month period. But, in turn, Young was able to embrace the experience of being in the studio and immersing himself in the production process, and the result was fruitful.
“I love the mysterious and floral string arrangement and the classic ‘60s reverbed-out drums, dreamy and psychedelic,” Holter continued – indeed, the song opens with a low hum that builds into a swell of strings, immediately setting the tone for the song’s sombre story, with Young singing, “While I laughed, I wondered whether / I could wave goodbye… Knowing that you’d gone.” He mourns what once was, attempting to laugh through the tears that inexplicably continue, despite the time that has passed.
Holter described, “His voice conveys a tender vulnerability and sense of loss, the way the vocal melody in the chorus flows up and down, portamento sliding, wandering and swaying in the wind like the feather in the lyrics.”
Young’s voice fluctuates from high-pitched to mellowed tones, as though his hope is outweighed by the reality of reckoning with what he has lost, with him reflecting and later proclaiming, “All the years we’d spent with feeling / Ended with a cry, babe… If I ever lived without you / Now you know I’ll die.” ‘Expecting to Fly’ harnesses the little hope that Young has left, turning the song into a final expression of love.
“But also, there is a sense of wonder in this romantic instrumental arrangement that feels green and wistful,” Holter said. “It has an overall magical cohesion in performance, writing, arranging, and production. A beautiful ballad, and it always stays with me.”
‘Expecting to Fly’ is one of those gems of psychedelia that perfectly capture the dual lament and hope from Young’s mind, becoming a standout of his discography and a precursor to the brilliance of his solo work.
