‘Harvest Moon’: The song Neil Young calls a personal favourite
There are many reasons why Neil Young is universally regarded as one of the greatest songwriters, primarily his ability to tap into raw human emotion. Although he is revered in the rock community as the ‘Godfather of Grunge’, this title mainly reflects his early use of textural dissonance, drop tunings, and dark themes long before others adopted them. However, his artistic range encompasses much more than these heavier innovations.
While all Young fans love rocking out to classics such as ‘Cinnamon Girl’, ‘Down by the River’, and ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’, people would be lying if they told you that these were his most affecting moments. Young is an absolute master at tender, acoustic-led moments, where his candid lyricism and deep understanding of melody envelop the listener and take them on wistful voyages into the songwriter’s mind and their own.
Although most of the world is familiar with Young due to his popular acoustic hits such as ‘Heart of Gold’, beneath classics such as it, there are so many other, even more profound emotive moments. Notably, the sprawling, slow-burning electric moment ‘On the Beach’ from the 1974 album of the same name is one of his bleakest, utterly depressing cuts. Still, there are many other even more heart-wrenching ones that are led by his wandering voice, sincere lyricism and penetrating acoustic guitar.
These stripped-back, naturalistic elements delve deeper into the soul than those showcasing his electric guitar wails. Arguably, this rawness is what the Canadian artist has always excelled at. Just listen to ‘My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)’—the song Kurt Cobain referenced in his suicide note—or his sincere reflection on his past, ‘Ambulance Blues’. These tracks possess an emotional depth rarely found in popular music.
Another track in this vein of Young’s ranks among his very best; ‘Harvest Moon’, the title track of the 1992 album of the same name. While no one knows what the song is really about, its mention of the titular moon and lines such as “Because I’m still in love with you / I want to see you dance again” classify it as a love song. It is due to this deeply romantic nature, featuring the expressive sweeps of the broom, that it has appealed to so many.
When speaking to AXS TV’s Dan Rather in 2016, Young was asked if there was a particular story behind ‘Harvest Moon’. While he didn’t answer the question, he explained why it was one of his compositions he loves the most. He said: “That’s one of my favourite songs, because it’s a real song about real feelings. I kinda remember when I first started writing the melody and everything.”
He recalled being on his boat in the Caribbean when he started writing the song, and soon after, it all came to him, including the words. He explained that what “really touched me about the song”, more than the enjoyable recording process and the addition of Linda Ronstadt’s serene backing vocals, was how it resonated with listeners. Since its release, many people have told Young that it was played at their wedding or was playing when they first met. He noted there’s an extremely “romantic atmosphere of the song” and that it’s really nice to witness this effect.
Tapping into the agricultural aspects of the track, Young likened himself to a farmer throwing seeds onto the ground, only to look up and see a herd of happy cows grazing. He doesn’t know the individual differences between the members of the herd, but the fact that they’re happily lapping up his sonic treats was just “perfect” for him as an artist. He also maintains that he doesn’t know how it transpired, but this resonance is what strikes him about ‘Harvest Moon’.
