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Released in 1979, Rust Never Sleeps by Neil Young & Crazy Horse was my very first LP bought on the same year (I know some would have rather thought of the Beatles or the Who, but they would have been all wrong). And to this day I still enjoy it as much. Oddly enough, I was reminded of this song recently after a nasty fit of the blues I thought I'd never overcome. You would think my guardian angel is a musician.
My My, Hey Hey
My my, hey hey
Rock and roll is here to stay
It's better to burn out than to fade away
My my, hey hey
Out of the blue and into the black
They give you this, but you pay for that
And once you're gone, you can never come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black
The king is gone but he's not forgotten
Is this the story of a Johnny Rotten?
It's better to burn out than it is to rust
The king is gone but he's not forgotten
Hey hey, my my
Rock and roll can never die
There's more to the picture than meets the eye
Hey hey, my my
About this song
Featured on the above-mentioned album that kind of resurrected Neil Young's career right up in the midst of punk rock explosion — that old has-been hippie who had completely lost touch with his generation — this track exists both as an acoustic version (the one I chose) and one electric entitled "Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)".
Most notably, the line “It's better to burn out than to fade away” had a great impact on the grunge movement, specially after Kurt Cobain quoted it in his suicide letter which earned Young the unexpected status of “grunge mentor”. Oasis, intentionally — or simply as a proof of good taste as fortunately the legendary bullshit of the Gallagher brothers only affects their personalities — covered this song during their 2000 tour and so did Big Country.
Although not cryptic, some lines of the lyrics have multiple related meanings. Neil Young does express himself both literally and figuratively referring to those previously unknown stars that came “out of the blue” and ultimately left the limelight to go “into the black”. Obviously another possible interpretation would be the transition from depression to suicide as was the case for the late singer of Nirvana.
© La Pensine Mutine. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.
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