Neil Young – Tired Eyes

Koko Tonight’s the Night levy kaikessa surumielisyydessään on seurausta Youngin bändin kitaristin ja roudaajan yliannostuskuolemista useiden biisien käsitellessä aihepiiriä tavalla tai toisella.

Tired Eyes on karu kuvaus diilaustilanteesta kun hommat ei mene ihan putkeen.

”Well he shot four men
in a cocaine deal
And he left them
lyin’ in an open field
Full of old cars
with bullet holes
in the mirrors.
He tried to do his best
but he could not.

Please take my advice,
please take my advice
Please take my advice.
Open up the tired eyes,
Open up the tired eyes.

Well, it wasn’t
supposed to go
down that way.
But they burned his brother,
you know,
And they left him lying
in the driveway.
They let him down with nothin’.
He tried to do his best
but he could not.

Please take my advice,
please take my advice
Please take my advice.
Open up the tired eyes,
Open up the tired eyes.

Well tell me more,
tell me more,
tell me more
I mean was he a heavy doper
or was he just a loser?
He was a friend of yours.
What do you mean,
he had bullet holes
in his mirrors?
He tried to do his best
but he could not.

Please take my advice,
please take my advice
Please take my advice.
Open up the tired eyes,
Open up the tired eyes.”

Neil Young – Hitchhiker

”When I was a hitchhiker on the road
I had to count on you
But you needed me to ease the load
And for conversation too
Or did you just drive on through.

You didn’t see me in Toronto
When I first tried out some hash
Smoked some then and I’ll do it again
If I only had some cash
Only had some cash.

Then I tried amphetamines
And my head was in a glass
Taped underneath the speedometer wires
Of my ’48 Buick’s dash.
But I knew that wouldn’t last.

Then came California
Where I first saw open water
In the land of opportunity
I knew I was getting hotter
I knew I was getting hotter.

But the neon lights
And the endless nights
The neon lights
And the endless nights
The neon lights
And the endless nights
The neon lights
And the endless nights
They took me by surprise
The doctor gave me valium
But I still couldn’t close my eyes
I still couldn’t close my eyes.

Then came paranoia
And it ran away with me
I couldn’t sign my autograph
Or appear on TV
Or see or be seen
See or be seen
Or see or be seen.

Living in the country
Sounded good to me
Smoking grass while the summer lasts
In the real organic sea
Where everything was green
Everything was green.

Then we had a kid and we split apart
I was living on the road
A little cocaine went a long long way
To ease that different load
But my head did explode
My head did explode.

I wish I was an Aztec
Or a runner in Peru
I would build such beautiful buildings
To house the chosen few
Like an Inca from Peru.

When I was a hitchhiker on the road
I had to count on you
But you needed me to ease the load
And for conversation too
Or did you just drive on
Did you just drive on
Did you just drive on through.

Or did you just drive on
Did you just drive on
Did you just drive on through.”

Neil Young – Rockin’ in the Free World

Neil Youngin klassikko ei varsinaisesti ole huumebiisi (pikemminkin taitaa kritisoida Amerikkalaista yhteiskuntaa noin ylipäänsä), joskin myös tässä rallissa niitäkin sivutaan:

”I see a woman in the night
With a baby in her hand
Under an old street light
Near a garbage can
Now she puts the kid away, and she’s gone to get a hit
She hates her life, and what she’s done to it
There’s one more kid that will never go to school
Never get to fall in love, never get to be cool.”

Neil Young – Tonight’s the Night

Bruce Berry oli Neil Youngin roudari, joka kuoli yliannostukseen aivan kuten Youngin kitaristi Danny Whitten hieman aiemmin.

”Bruce Berry was a working man
He used to load that Econoline van.
A sparkle was in his eye
But his life was in his hands.

Well, late at night
when the people were gone
He used to pick up my guitar
And sing a song in a shaky voice
That was real as the day was long.

Tonight’s the night, yes it is,
tonight’s the night
Tonight’s the night, yes it is,
tonight’s the night.

Early in the mornin’
at the break of day
He used to sleep
until the afternoon.
If you never heard him sing
I guess you won’t too soon.

’Cause people let me tell you
It sent a chill
up and down my spine
When I picked up the telephone
And heard that he’d died
out on the mainline.”

Neil Young – Cocaine Eyes

Neil laulaa siitä, kuinka kavereita hiipuu pois kokaiinin käytön myötä. Biisi löytyy EP:ltä, joka on julkaistu vain Japanissa.

”It’s a long hard road
when your friends start
to leave you behind
It’s a long hard road
when you try to find peace of mind
Some might go for poison
And some go for too much stuff
Some just go to sleep at night
And forget to wake up

Cocaine eyes
Can’t hide your face
It’s no surprise
You lose the race again”

Neil Young – White Line

Neil Young diggailee autoista ja hänen biiseissään on usein tiehen liittyviä metaforia. Valkoinen viiva voisi viitata tässä kyllä kokaiiniinkin.

”That old white line
is friend of mine
And it’s good time
we’ve been making
Right now I’m rolling down
the open road
And the daylight
will soon be breaking.

I was adrift
on a river of pride
It seemed like such a
long easy ride
You were my raft
but I let you slide
I’ve been down but
I’m coming back up again.”

Neil Young – Homegrown

Luomutuotteiden puolesta… voip viitata myös kannabiksen kotikasvatukseen.

”Homegrown’s all right with me.
Homegrown is the way it should be.
Homegrown is a good thing.
Plant that bell and let it ring.

The sun comes up in the morning,
Shines that light around.
One day, without no warning,
Things start jumping up from the ground.

Well, homegrown’s all right with me.
Homegrown is the way it should be.
Homegrown is a good thing.
Plant that bell and let it ring.”

Neil Young – The Needle and the Damage Done

”I caught you knockin’ at my cellar door
I love you, baby, can I have some more
Ooh, ooh, the damage done.

I hit the city and I lost my band
I watched the needle take another man
Gone, gone, the damage done.”

Neil Young kirjoitti tämän yhden tunnetuimmista ja koskettavimmista kappaleistaan kitaristinsa Danny Whittenin heroiinikoukusta, joka johti ensin potkuihin bändistä ja sitten yliannostukseen.