The 10 Greatest Songs of Neil Young

by Jeffrey Dale Starr

10. "Look Out For My Love"
Album: Comes A Time

This song perfectly encapsulates the dichotomy and wonder of "Neil Young music". I read a great quote from Lou Reed one time- the interviewer asked him what kind of music he made, and he replied "I make Lou Reed music." Which is an apt description of what Neil does. You really can't compare it to anyone else.

The song starts off with acoustic picking that matches the folk-y looking album cover. And then it builds. And builds. And builds. Adding harmonies, distorted guitar, strange sounds. And best of all, very mysterious lyrics that seem to be straightforward at first...but in retrospect, when you try to piece it all together, you realize that it's as unique and bizarre as an ee cummings poem.

This is definitely "Neil Young music".

9. "I Am A Child"
Album: Last Time Around (Buffalo Springfield)

The first time I heard this song when I was in my early teens it had a huge impact on me. I was very much a rock-n-roll guy (like most teen boys) and I was first attracted to Neil Young for his blistering rockers such as "Like A Hurricane".

Then my brother Sean bought the "Decade" album and I first heard this song. I was blown away by how quiet, how soft, it was. This was the most gentle song I had ever heard by anyone...a "Clair de Lune" of rock.

And to address a touchy subject like racism in such a beautiful way. It really opened my eyes to another side of power. I knew the power of rage, but this song taught me the power of beauty.

It would make a nice one-two punch of powerful beauty if paired with "That's The Way" by Led Zeppelin.

8. "Star of Bethlehem"
Album: American Stars 'n Bars

Some die-hard Neil fans might find this to be a curious choice. "Star of Bethlehem" isn't epic like most of the songs on this list, and the lyrics aren't his most poetic.

But this is probably the most soothing song I've ever heard not made by a band called The Innocence Mission.

If you are ever feeling stressed out by anything, pour a glass of Merlot and put on this song, and I guarantee you that all of your anxiety will drift like a whisper out the window.

A combination of minor chords, harmonic guitar highlights, wire brush drums, a harmonica solo and gorgeous harmonies create an atmosphere of complete calm.

Who needs Zoloft? We just need more songs like "Star of Bethlehem".

7. "Down By The River"
Album: Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

I was only 4 years old when this song came out in 1969, but I can't imagine what a shocker it was. This is the first song on my list that I would describe as EPIC.

The song is patient, haunting, and thoroughly believable. Neil has said that when he wrote this song and "Cowgirl in the Sand" he was suffering from a 103° fever. It sounds like someone going through trouble...a precursor of a Cormac McCarthy to come.

Allowing the song to build slowly really creates the vibe of a horrific moment; listening to the song today you feel like you're watching an episode of "Cold Case Files" being played out.

This was also the first time that we were exposed to the unique distorted glory of Crazy Horse.

This song can be traced as a direct link to some of Wilco's darkest stuff like "Sunken Treasure", "She's A Jar" and "Bull Black Nova". Definitely an influence on other bands like Pixies and Kings Of Leon.

An absolute masterpiece.

6. "Thrasher"
Album: Rust Never Sleeps

This one is on the list mainly for the lyrics. The music and singing are very nice, but this is one of Neil's strongest songs lyrically. The greatest lyrics can stand alone as poetry, and "Thrasher" is probably his most poetic song of all.

I was 14 when this album came out, and it had a great impact on me and was quite an education regarding what lyrics could be.

The passage that really grabbed me:

I searched out my companions
who were lost in crystal canyons
when the aimless blade of Science
slashed the Pearly Gates

That whole "aimless blade of Science" bit hit me like a ton of bricks. It still does. And I think it led to an appreciation of words in general, and to a passion for writers like William Faulkner and Joseph Conrad who use language and words like expert musicians and craftsmen in complete control of their utensils.

As a poem, "Thrasher" stands up with the best of Pope and Yeats. It is really a fine example of how great lyrics can transcend the mere primal urges of rock and roll.

5. "The Needle and the Damage Done"
Album: Harvest

A perfect mixture of beautiful words and music.

This song contains some of the trickiest guitar work that Neil has come up with- the picking and runs are simply ethereal.

Again, this song was an education for me. I guess I was used to lyrics matching the songs - Simon and Garfunkle's "Bookends" sounded sad even if you didn't know the lyrics; you would know that The Beatles' "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da" was a fun song even if it had no words.

But "The Needle and the Damage Done" is such a striking contrast. It could actually have happy lyrics about someone relaxing in a meadow; or maybe be a love song.

But using such beautiful, seemingly happy music to be the foundation for a song about heroin addiction killing people is a real punch in the gut.

Especially now that I'm older and have seen the needle do its damage to some close friends.

On top of it, it's one of Neil's shortest songs...so we'll never be satisfied, never tire of it.

4. "Campaigner"
Album: Decade

Another lyrical masterpiece.

I know Neil Young had a beef against Richard Nixon, and I really don't care about that. To me this isn't a song about politics...it's about human frailty and the fight against ourselves.

This song has so many lines that have affected me as a writer; things I have aspired to after being shown what words can be.

The section that had the strongest impact on me:


Roads stretch out like healthy veins
And wild gift horses strain the reins


I have always been amazed at that collection of words. Not only the poetic imagery, but the rhythm of the complementary lines. Getting goosebumps just writing this. "Strain the reins". Man, it gets no better than that.

3. "Powderfinger"
Album: Rust Never Sleeps

In my mind, I always think that "Powderfinger" is a movie. I know it's not a movie, but it is so vividly spelled out in the song that I feel like I've experienced it visually.

I used to play this song with my band, and I eventually had to quit performing it because I would choke up while singing the last couple of verses. Don't really know why, but this song has tremendous power to me.

Plus, it's probably the best example of the Crazy Horse/melodic-crunch-distortion sound. I called "Down By the River" epic...but these top 3 choices are positively Wagnerian.

Side note: It's my personal theory that Alt-Country bands like Wilco and The National exist specifically due to this song.

2. "Cortez the Killer"
Album: Zuma

I can't believe I'm not listing this song at #1, but the top slot could go to no other.

That being said, "Cortez the Killer" is such an epic masterpiece and transcendent work of art that maybe it could be considered a tie.

What makes this song so amazing? Three things: 1) the music is a symphonic tour-de-force the equal of the great classical composers, 2) each line of the lyric is pure poetry and 3) it has a plot twist worthy of M. Night Shyamalan.

The music is so patient as the lazy chords lay a foundation for beautiful, flowing leads that seem to be painting an impressionistic setting for what will come.

Once the singing starts, the individual lines tell a story of Montezuma and an idyllic past reminiscent of Xanadu and Shangri-la.

Then comes the twist...the greatest twist I've ever heard in a song.

After spending 7+ minutes talking about Cortez and Montezuma, Neil suddenly says:


and I know she's living there
and she loves me to this day
I still can't remember when
or how I lost my way


Chills.

It's like finding out that Norman Bates is his mother.

Neil is Cortez. Is the killer.

100% work of art.

1. "Will To Love"
Album: American Stars 'n Bars

My favorite movie of all time is Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life".

"Will To Love" is Neil Young's 'Tree of Life'.

I'm sure a lot of people hate it. At the same time, I know there are a lot of people out there who love it as much as I do (probably Neil himself among them).

The music is strange and slow. The recording makes you feel like you're wandering through some underground cavern with a dripping pool and a crackling fire.

Neil's singing is like a whisper through a flanger...everything has the feeling of waves or being under water.

Which is fitting...because this is a song where the singer is comparing himself and his love to two salmon swimming upstream.

If you think that is strange, you then get to the ending when the two fish leave off this mortal coil and go swimming off into space with each other (I actually did a painting depicting this part of the song).

Like I said, I know this song isn't for everyone.

But this opus, clocking in at over 7 minutes, is such a courageous statement of creativity, it wins my heart for first place.

Just missed the list: Hey Hey My My, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Harvest Moon, Shots, After The Goldrush

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Jeffrey Dale Starr is a Dallas-based Expressionist oil painter who concentrates on themes of Japan, Dreams, Europe, Texas and California. His work can be found in private and public collections around the world.

http://www.jeffreydalestarr.com/

[Poem]: The Life-Bit is of the Change

by Jeffrey Dale Starr

The Life-Bit is of the Change

My friend said he was comfortable
In his untilled-soil
In his stagnant pool
In his stale air
I suppose there is a measure
of comfort
Like the mesmerizing angler fish
Like the hair-stroking Venus fly trap
Like the Black Angel's soft dark wings
"Every seven years!"
says I
"Every seven years!"
Till the soil
Run the oxygenating waterfall
Rush the cleansing breeze
The life-bit is of the change
The death-bit is of eternal same.

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Jeffrey Dale Starr is a Dallas-based Expressionist oil painter who concentrates on themes of Japan, Dreams, Europe, Texas and California. His work can be found in private and public collections around the world.

http://www.jeffreydalestarr.com/

Caravaggio Exhibit at the Kimbell

by Jeffrey Dale Starr

Yesterday we finally got out to Fort Worth to see the exhibit "Caravaggio and His Followers in Rome" at the Kimbell. There were quite a few Caravaggios on display but even more paintings by artists who learned from him and imitated his style.

One of his most famous works was there, "The Cardsharps":



My favorite Caravaggio of the bunch was a painting of John the Baptist in the wilderness. I thought the shadowing (especially on his face) was amazing:




After the Caravaggio exhibit, we wandered to the other half of the museum where some of the Kimbell's permanent collection was on display. I was thrilled to see a Van Gogh, which I was not expecting. They had his "Street in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer":



Near the Van Gogh was a wonderful Cezanne entitled "Peasant in a Blue Smock":




Hands-down, though, my favorite painting on display was the haunting and gorgeous "Portrait of May Sartoris" by Frederic Leighton:




All in all, a magical day of art, food, and friends!

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Jeffrey Dale Starr is a Dallas-based Expressionist oil painter who concentrates on themes of Japan, Dreams, Europe, Texas and California. His work can be found in private and public collections around the world.

http://www.jeffreydalestarr.com/

Oh, How I Despise Foul Language

by Jeffrey Dale Starr

I was just reading an interview with some young actors about a movie they recently finished filming.

As these adolescent thespians expressed themselves, their speech had to be continually bleeped for curse words being used as adjectives and adverbs.


It's one thing to have words you've never uttered come out of your mouth when, say, you slam a car door on your fingers. Even then I don't think it's OK, but it is somewhat understandable.

But these kids were just talking casually about life on the set and what they do in their spare time. And they repeatedly used vulgarity when any number of intelligent words could have been utilized.

It seems to be a common pattern with young actors to spew foul language to somehow legitimize them as serious performers...to give them street cred and gravitas.

Hogwash.

One dictionary defined 'vulgar' this way:
characterized by ignorance of or lack of good breeding or taste

That sums it up nicely. Bad language is lazy, boring, boorish, and tiresome.

Hating foul language does not make one a Pollyanna or prude. It means that you are going to desperately fight for intellectualism and decorum.

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Jeffrey Dale Starr is a Dallas-based Impressionist oil painter who concentrates on themes of Japan, Dreams, Europe, Texas and California. His work can be found in private and public collections around the world.

http://www.jeffreydalestarr.com/

The Slow Death of Elegant English

by Jeffrey Dale Starr

Let me begin by making one thing clear: I have no problem with slang, idioms or colloquialisms.

In fact, I think they can be quite fun and expressive. I have always had a soft spot for the jazzy banter of the Rat Pack - calling someone a "cat", "all that jazz", "chick", etc. And don't even get me started about the Joys of Yiddish.



But the other night when I was reading "Sanctuary" by William Faulkner, it really struck me that a certain kind of poetic English is slowly disappearing.

The passage that had such an effect on me was describing an accused killer as he waited in his jail cell for his punishment to be administered:


The last trumpet-shaped bloom had fallen from the heaven tree at the corner of the jail yard. They lay thick, viscid underfoot, sweet and oversweet in the nostrils with a sweetness surfeitive and moribund, and at night now the ragged shadow of full-fledged leaves pulsed upon the barred window in shabby rise and fall.


How could any lover of language not be enraptured with such gorgeous, elegant prose?

I think I could read that paragraph for the next decade and still discover things to love - "thick, viscid underfoot", "sweet and oversweet", "ragged shadow", "shabby rise and fall". On and on.

And those are two sentences from a 300+ page novel.

Also, with Faulkner you get the sense that he's not showing off - he's not stretching to try to sound erudite. It was simply who he was. This is how the man thought and spoke in everyday life.

This is the sort of elegant English that I think is dying.

And I believe that Pop Culture, to a large extent, is to blame.

As I said in the outset, I don't mind everyday speech being peppered with slang. Language is alive and has been evolving since the beginning of time.

But these days it seems like the form of language taking root is lazier...less structured. If you eavesdrop in on a conversation between two individuals who only communicate via PopSpeak, you'll notice that the interchange doesn't involve any work. In the Faulkner quote above, admittedly it takes some real brainpower and analysis to appreciate what is being said. And that mental stimulation will encourage future lovely speech from the participants and listeners.

In PopSpeak, however, everyday speech becomes very mundane.

"Did you try that new restaurant?"

"Yeah, it was good."

"What did you like about it?"

"I dunno...everything I guess."

This is the kind of unimaginative, stale conversation that has taken hold of the world. If you think about it, this simple interchange offered all kinds of opportunities to be creative, expressive, interesting, passionate (who of us doesn't have strong feelings about food in general and restaurants in particular?)

I also think texting is a contributing factor.

Again, I have no problem with abbreviations and brevity.

But a generation is being raised speaking only in OMGs and TTYLs and ROTFLs.

Like all muscles, when your creative speech center is not challenged it will atrophy, break down and disappear. I fear this is happening before our eyes (and ears).

I do declare.

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Jeffrey Dale Starr is a Dallas-based Impressionist oil painter who concentrates on themes of Japan, Dreams, Europe, Texas and California. His work can be found in private and public collections around the world.

http://www.jeffreydalestarr.com/

A Few Albums That Are Like Fine Wine

by Jeffrey Dale Starr

Wilco's new album "The Whole Love" came out a few weeks ago and I've been listening to it pretty much non-stop.


And a funny thing has happened - the more I listen to it the more I like it. Some songs that were just fine when I first heard them, are now becoming all-time favorites that I can't get out of my head.

It got me thinking about other albums that have had the same effect on me over the years.






The Cardigans
Super Extra Gravity

This album was a real shift for The Cardigans. Unlike their earlier alt-pop stuff (which I also love), this record has a lot of minor chords and serious themes. It took a little while to get used to, but now songs like "Godspell", "In The Round", and "I Need Some Fine Wine and You, You Need to Be Nicer" have me coming back again and again.






Chris Difford
I Didn't Get Where I Am

I initially bought this album because I was hungry for some new Squeeze material. I always preferred Glenn Tilbrook's singing to Difford's, but I thought I'd give it a shot. I was in a for a big surprise. Chris Difford's three solo albums probably get more play on my iPod now than any other artist. His songs are quite different from Squeeze - they are quiet, thoughtful and mature. A telling indicator of a great album - I feel like he's singing about my life.






Ivan Moravec
Chopin: Nocturnes

People who don't listen to a lot of classical music might find an entire album of solo piano to be a bit daunting. Especially when the album features the work of a single composer. But this can be deceptive. On the first few listens, these works by Chopin did blend together for me a bit. But on repeated listens, the nuances of each individual piece came to the forefront. And I am hooked. This is one of the main albums I listen to while painting.






Them Crooked Vultures
Them Crooked Vultures

This album did not take a while to get used to. I loved it from the start. I raved about it immediately. I thought it was the best album of the year. And now...I love it even more. This record is definitely in my top 5 all time. I think it's the best Queens of the Stone Age record, the best Foo Fighters record, and one of the best Led Zeppelin records (which makes sense, considering its members). Adding to the insanity, I'm finishing up a huge painting of Venice right now called "Gondoliers", and whenever I say the title I immediately think of my favorite song on the album, "Bandoliers". Awesome, awesome, awesome album.

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Jeffrey Dale Starr is a Dallas-based Impressionist oil painter who concentrates on themes of Japan, Dreams, Europe, Texas and California. His work can be found in private and public collections around the world.

http://www.jeffreydalestarr.com/

Weekend in New York

by Jeffrey Dale Starr

This last weekend we went to New York to attend the Gilead graduation.



Patterson was beautiful in its full-foliage, late-summer/early fall green.



We were given the royal treatment by our friends and hosts, Sal and Josefina Cutrona.



After morning worship, Josefina gave us a tour of the Art, Translation Services and Computer departments. Gayle from the Art department showed us the Costume and Prop department, and I tried on this helmet (becoming some weird time-traveling Roman soldier in a modern suit).



When touring the Gilead area, Starr and I were able to sit in one of the class rooms while a graduating couple explained some things they learned to their visiting family members.



After the morning tour, we enjoyed lunch with Sal, Josefina, Ted from Audio/Visual (center) and Matt from the Computer Department (right).



After lunch, Josefina took us to the Brotherhood winery in the nearby town of Washingtonville. It's the oldest winery in the United States.



The next morning was the Gilead graduation. It was a great privilege to not only be invited to attend, but to be able to sit inside the auditorium. The majority of attendees watched the graduation via tv monitor.



One of the graduating couples that Starr and I were able to meet were from Japan. We were able to speak to them for a little while in Japanese and tell them about our Japanese service group in Dallas.



After the graduation we headed into the city to take in a show. Since I love reptiles, I was happy to see this restaurant called Iguana.



Heading over to the theatre, Sal said something that really cracked me up. I can't remember what it was, but it was obviously funny.



Before the show we had dinner at the Carnegie deli, as seen in one of my favorite movies, "Broadway Danny Rose".



We enjoyed their insanely massive sandwiches, as demonstrated by Sal.



After dinner we went to the Gershwin Theatre to watch "Wicked".



The show was great in every way: great songs; funny; and spectacular sets.



The next morning was very relaxed. After sleeping in, Sal drove us to Brooklyn for a nice Thai lunch at Joya and then back to the airport. Surprisingly, for being the 10th anniversary of 9-11, things went very smoothly at the airport.

Can't wait to get back to Patterson to visit our friends the next time!

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Jeffrey Dale Starr is a Dallas-based Expressionist oil painter who concentrates on themes of Japan, Dreams, Europe, Texas and California. His work can be found in private and public collections around the world.

http://www.jeffreydalestarr.com/