Heart of Gold Review
I wanna live. I also wanna GIVE you an insight into this wonderful track by Neil Young titled: "Heart Of Gold". Beginning with the basics, this track was released off of the album Harvest Moon in 1972. The album also includes "Old Man", another highly favored track of Neil Young.
The record commences with a strong strumming pattern and harmonica which exposes the powers it has to reach so many. It tells the story of being a miner for a heart of gold, the motivation to search for a soulmate when time seems to be catching up to him, being unlucky in love and shouting the mantra to keep looking for it. An overall solid message - to never give up and keep searching.
Even though you may be growing old, there’s still time. From him being in Hollywood to Redwood (not in Kalamazoo unfortunately) to thinking he’ll cross the ocean for a heart of gold, the drive to find love was high in this period of time. The story he shares is painfully accurate, turning his struggles into a song. It's incredibly mind-blowing how artists can take a spin on their own lives and write a great tune that reflects it so well. The great blend of country and rock along with folk is solidly founded with the poet and dreamer-like lyrics.
Before I read the details behind this record, I envisioned a totally different message. Having a heart of gold to get you through anything. Incorporating resilience and strong will to complete what is necessary for you in your daily life. Not paying much mind to the things that distract you from doing what you love. It’s so great to have that with music. To interpret it your own way and find out the real source after some research. That’s one component that’s so exhilarating about music like I’ve said many times before.
One of Neil Young’s fans became a rock and roll star himself. You may know him as Kurt Cobain. Kurt was infatuated with Neil Young in his adolescence. Kurt wrote a letter shortly before his passing in April of 1994. One line includes the lyrics of Neil Young’s "Hey Hey Hey, My My": “It’s better to burn out than fade away.” There’s an excerpt of an interview you can find when searching the two names together. Neil had actually tried to get in touch with Kurt shortly before his passing. He heard in a statement that Kurt was tired of playing and doing the same old thing. Young wanted to reach out and tell him something along the lines of, ‘It’s okay. It’s normal to feel like that. Play whatever you want to play.’ It tragically was too late for Young as he was informed on the day when Kurt passed. When Neil found out about his letter, it messed with him. It’s crazy how these two were so connected in finding their hearts of gold, but never got a chance to sit down and talk about it.
