Kurt Vile’s favourite Neil Young songs
From grunge to folk, Neil Young has had a mammoth impact on modern music with a career spanning 60 years. Even now, his influence can be found across every genre and generation of musicians, in countless covers of ‘Harvest Moon’ and the original music of those he inspired.
Young has had a particularly potent impact on the soloist and the War on Drugs founder Kurt Vile. His hazy, whimsical sound and quirky songwriting channel the spirit of Young, whom he has previously cited as his hero. Speaking with Hot Press, Vile recalled the honour of opening for Young in Quebec, reminiscing, “And it was wild,” he said. “He’s always gonna do it his way. He’s been doing this for a long time. He can do whatever he wants.”
Vile isn’t wrong – Young has secured himself a permanent place in the history of music and, consequently, earned the freedom to walk his own path. From venturing into film soundtracks to collaborating with Devo to taking a stand against Spotify’s hosting of The Joe Rogan Experience, the music industry is Neil Young’s oyster.
Though Young is “always gonna do it his way”, Vile was once given the opportunity to present his own take on his hero’s catalogue. Curating his favourite Young songs for Neil Young Archives, Vile collated his picks into a playlist titled ‘Stumlin’ with Neil’.
The playlist features hits like ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’, a series of tracks accompanied by Crazy Horse, including ‘Cortez the Killer’ and ‘When Your Lonely Heart Breaks’, and one Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young track. It’s devoid of some of Young’s most popular tracks – ‘Harvest Moon’, for example – showing off Vile’s in-depth knowledge of Young.
The guitarist also contributed an accompanying essay for the playlist, which he found “a piece of cake” to make, in which he stated, “I’m proud. I’m inspired. I can’t fucking believe the good people at Neil Young Archives have presented me with the greatest of honors in a territory uncharted.”
The curator shared his thoughts on one of the tracks he included ‘When Your Lonely Heart Breaks’, enthusing, “The way Crazy Horse harmonize those devastating lyrics with Neil,” he said. “Only adults with some of their wild years behind them could perform something like that with such a chilling sad beauty and perspective, living it right there in front of you,” he added.
From ‘When Your Lonely Heart Breaks’ to ‘Name of Love’, find the full list of Kurt Vile’s favourite Neil Young songs below.
Kurt Vile’s favourite Neil Young songs:
- ‘Albuquerque’
- ‘Ambulance Blues’
- ‘Buffalo Springfield Again’
- ‘Campaigner’
- ‘Cortez the Killer’ (with Crazy Horse)
- ‘Country Home’
- ‘Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero Pt. I)’
- ‘Danger Bird’
- ‘Goin’ Back’
- ‘L.A.’
- ‘Last Dance’
- ‘Little Thing Called Love’
- ‘Little Wing’
- ‘Lotta Love’
- ‘Love to Burn’ (with Crazy Horse)
- ‘Midnight on the Bay’ (The Stills-Young Band)
- ‘My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)’
- ‘Name of Love’ (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)
- ‘New Mama’
- ‘On the Beach’
- ‘Opera Star’ (with Crazy Horse)
- ‘Pardon My Heart’ (with Crazy Horse)
- ‘Razor Love’
- ‘Red Sun’
- ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’
- ‘See the Sky About to Rain’
- ‘Shots’ (with Crazy Horse)
- ‘Transformer Man’
- ‘Western Hero’ (with Promise of the Real)
- ‘White Line’ (with Crazy Horse)
- ‘World on a String’
- ‘When Your Lonely Heart Breaks’ (with Crazy Horse)
- ‘Will to Love’
- ‘Hold On To Your Love’
