The song Neil Young calls his favourite recording and why it took decades to perform live
I recently interviewed Graham Nash, and it’s pretty hard to resist the temptation to ask him about his former band members, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young. Nash gave a very honest answer when talking about Young, essentially saying that he’s an excellent songwriter committed to his craft but also has a selfishness that impacts others.
“I think Neil is very smart,” he said, “I do respect his connection with what he calls ‘the muse’ of his music. He follows that intently, and I understand that, and I respect that. One of the things I don’t quite like is all the people who surround him, all the stage technicians, all the sound technicians, all the lighting technicians, to have a tour for six weeks in the summer all of a sudden cancelled because of whatever reason Neil wants to cancel it, all of those people can’t find a job, because the rest of the touring family are already out and running.”
Nash continued, “Now what do they do? That’s one of the things about him being associated with the muse that I don’t respect at all. But he is an incredible musician, and I’ve always enjoyed being on stage with him.”
Essentially, Neil Young has a strong connection with his music, and he is selfish in the creation of it. He feels connected to his craft, and therefore, he has to act in whatever way his art dictates. This means that if a tour doesn’t feel right, he will be able to cancel it last minute and not feel too bad about it. He also won’t play a song live if he doesn’t feel as though he would be able to do it justice in the set.
This is what happened with Neil Young’s song ‘My Boy’, a track he was a huge fan of but refused to play live because of the fact he didn’t think he would be able to do it justice, and it was an emotional song. He played it recently in 2025, and that was the first time the track had been played live in decades.
“Practicing for Lakefield, I was playing ‘My Boy’ [and] thinking about my own Dad,” wrote Young in a blog post. His father had passed away in 2005, and he believed that he “must have heard the song.” Young later confirmed, “I think ‘My Boy’ is my favourite recording of all the ones I have done.”
The song is certainly a deep cut for Neil Young fans, as it was released on the 1985 album Old Ways, and it wasn’t a single from the album. It’s a beautiful song, though, and after 40 years, Young finally felt ready to play it on stage. This will likely have been a result of the fact that he felt as though he was in the right headspace to play it, but also because he had band members he knew could play the song right.
Playing the song with him was the steel guitar player Ben Keith and the pianist Spooner Oldman. He also said that he enjoyed playing with “All the others on it,” adding, “They are soulful musicians. I have really been so lucky!”
