The ultimate Bob Dylan song, according to Neil Young
In an exclusive interview with Graham Nash, the legendary musician revealed the things that he respects and doesn’t about his former bandmate Neil Young.
They both stem from the same idea, which is Neil Young’s pursuit of honesty and authenticity within his music. Whenever he puts pen to paper and starts writing something, he does so with the intention of creating a song which follows a specific muse and is an accurate reflection of how he feels in that moment. He doesn’t compromise on his approach to creativity, and won’t be forced into doing anything.
“I think Neil is very smart,” said Nash, “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.”
However, when following that muse means cancelling shows at the last minute and creating creative friction in studios, that’s where Nash begins to draw the line. He said, “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.”
This is just who Neil Young is as an artist, always looking to correctly portray his thoughts and feelings in every single piece of work that he does. This applies not only to his lyrics but also in the way that he performs. An example of the latter can be seen in his cover of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’. Obviously, it’s not a Neil Young original, but the way he sings conveys pain in a very moving way.
The context of his performance explains his vocal tone throughout the song. Young was playing as part of the televised tribute programme, America: A Tribute To Heroes, which was broadcast after the attacks on September 11th, 2001, and all of the money raised during went to victims’ families. Young delivered a tribute to not only the victims but also to a country still in shock that was both sympathetic and hopeful.
Young has always been a fan of artists who are able to convey emotion and soul not only with the words they write, but also with the means in which they portray them. Perhaps another artist who was always happy to dismiss the world around him in pursuit of his muse was Bob Dylan. He never worried about what people thought about him, or what kind of music his audience was expecting; the product of his being the art that he makes. Go to Bob Dylan at a different moment in time, and you’ll see someone built entirely anew, but this inconsistency and truth to himself is what has led to the creation of such great music.
Young was particularly a fan of Bob Dylan’s ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ because it captured both of these parts of the musician. They’re arguably some of the best words that he’s ever written; however, he also sings in a way which embodies soul and emotion more than any other musician. Young always said that this was the ultimate Dylan song because of how well it epitomises him as an artist. When describing his love for the song, he recounted the time someone pulled up in a car next to him and was performing it.
“He’s blasting ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ and singing at the top of his lungs,” said Young, “And I can hear Bob’s voice, this is Bob, this is the essence, you know? Of his feeling and everything when he was delivering that song. And I went, ‘Wow, that is so powerful’. You can’t keep that, that comes and goes, you can’t strive to be that, there’s no way you own it.”
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