HARVEST MOON by NEIL YOUNG Advice by Sophia Irvine

Here and there. Now and then.

“Why are you crying?”​

“Oh, I was just listening to Neil Young.”​

Whisky and razor blade music.

Not every time you listen and not every single song but it basically fits the build of one of the greatest musicians of all time.

Now to clarify, I am a hard core Neil Young fan, whether it’s his hard rock or full on country tunes or his work with Buffalo Springfield.

Neil Young is the dude.

The dude you do not listen to while even remotely depressed.

The Canadian native who conquered the country/folk/rock world deserves an A-plus in how to make music so beautiful that you want to cry.

That if you are affected by even the most mundane of woes, you will, a 100 per cent, cry.

Harvest Moon is almost poetic and otherworldly in its lyrics and melody.

But it got me thinking about that guy who dumped me when I was 14.

And now I will be alone forever, because if a man doesn’t dedicate Harvest Moon to me then what is the point of dating?

You know, Heart of Gold is going to fuck you up as soon as that harmonica starts to play.

In the lyrics, Young is searching for a heart of gold. Ah, aren’t we all? Even if you’re married, three kids in, white picket fence and all that jazz. Does your partner really have a heart of gold? Because you are growing old. Neil reminds us that.

Speaking of growing old. If you have a dad, don’t have a dad, like your dad, hate your dad, heard a story about a dad once … DO NOT EVEN TOUCH Old Man.

It evokes every thought you’ve ever had about your relationship with the males in your family. Good, bad, sick and twisted. Also the lyric Twenty four and so much more makes everyone over that age feel like a piece of shit. Sorry, it just does. And you want to know what the real joke is? It isn’t even about Neil Young’s dad! It’s about the caretaker of the cattle ranch Young bought in the 1970s.

We know Neil Young doesn’t intend to hurt us this way. In fact, if life is going just swell, by all means, play those tunes, imagine yourself on a porch with some moonshine, kicking back and enjoying the sunset.

However, keep in mind, the lyric It’s better to burn out, then to fade away from the classic hit My, My, Hey, Hey (Out of the Blue) was written in Kurt Cobain’s suicide note.

His death is clearly and obviously not Young’s fault. His lyrics just have this power of being seared into your brain, and when you’ve got the blues, his music can carry you to the most beautiful but also deeply dark places of one’s mind.

So if you’re feeling sad, listen to White Wedding by Billy Idol.

I can’t say how you will feel after listening, but I can’t imagine it would make your situation any worse.

Sophia Irvine

Sophia Irvine is a freelance writer living and working in Sydney. Sophia works and blogs for the clothing label The Naked Tiger and has been published by Independent Australia, Monster Children and others. Sophia strongly believes she should have been working for Rolling Stone magazine in the 1970s.