"Don't Let It Bring You Down" is a song written by Canadian singer-songwriter and the original American Idol, Neil Young, and is the seventh track on his 1970 album After the Gold Rush. The song also appears on the 1971 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young live album Four Way Street as well as Young's 2007 album Live at Massey Hall 1971, which was recorded in 1971.
While some have said that the song is about the cold hearted attitude of a city (New York) and the unwillingness of people to listen to someone who they see as inferior, others see it as a commentary on urban decay, the decline of a society, and of emotional isolation, with Neil seeing the end of the American empire on the horizon but urging the listener to stay hopeful regardless.
Whatever the critics say, it ultimately stands as a beautiful song where Young reminds the listener (as he does in many of his songs) of how things we which expect in life and hold true don't turn out as planned, but everything is OK and it is no reason to give up hope, etc:
Old man lying
By the side of the road
With the lorries rolling by,
Blue moon sinking
From the weight of the load
And the building scrape the sky,
Cold wind ripping
Down the allay at dawn
And the morning paper flies,
Dead man lying
By the side of the road
With the daylight in his eyes.
Blind man running
Through the light
Of the night
With an answer in his hand,
Come on down
To the river of sight
And you can really understand,
Red lights flashing
Through the window
In the rain,
Can you hear the sirens moan?
White cane lying
In a gutter in the lane,
If you're walking home alone.
Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning,
Just find someone who's turning
And you will come around.
Not only was the song covered by Last Exit – better known as the early-70’s British jazz fusion band which gave us tantric bass-man Sting of The Police – as part of their 1974 Impulse Studio Demos, other notable recordings of the song include one by Academy Award-winning Scottish musician, vocalist, songwriter, lead singer of the musical duo Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, on her 1995 Medusa album and which also appears in the 1999 movie American Beauty, as well as a memorable performance by British soul singer Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel, or, as we know him, Mr Seal Heidi Klum.
See you backstage at Tuck Shop this Wednesday at 9.00 pm as The Bandits introduce Redneck Friends, an evening of 70s folk-country-rockabilly tunes on vinyl. No show on Thursday (10 April).
While some have said that the song is about the cold hearted attitude of a city (New York) and the unwillingness of people to listen to someone who they see as inferior, others see it as a commentary on urban decay, the decline of a society, and of emotional isolation, with Neil seeing the end of the American empire on the horizon but urging the listener to stay hopeful regardless.
Whatever the critics say, it ultimately stands as a beautiful song where Young reminds the listener (as he does in many of his songs) of how things we which expect in life and hold true don't turn out as planned, but everything is OK and it is no reason to give up hope, etc:
Old man lying
By the side of the road
With the lorries rolling by,
Blue moon sinking
From the weight of the load
And the building scrape the sky,
Cold wind ripping
Down the allay at dawn
And the morning paper flies,
Dead man lying
By the side of the road
With the daylight in his eyes.
Blind man running
Through the light
Of the night
With an answer in his hand,
Come on down
To the river of sight
And you can really understand,
Red lights flashing
Through the window
In the rain,
Can you hear the sirens moan?
White cane lying
In a gutter in the lane,
If you're walking home alone.
Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning,
Just find someone who's turning
And you will come around.
Not only was the song covered by Last Exit – better known as the early-70’s British jazz fusion band which gave us tantric bass-man Sting of The Police – as part of their 1974 Impulse Studio Demos, other notable recordings of the song include one by Academy Award-winning Scottish musician, vocalist, songwriter, lead singer of the musical duo Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, on her 1995 Medusa album and which also appears in the 1999 movie American Beauty, as well as a memorable performance by British soul singer Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel, or, as we know him, Mr Seal Heidi Klum.
See you backstage at Tuck Shop this Wednesday at 9.00 pm as The Bandits introduce Redneck Friends, an evening of 70s folk-country-rockabilly tunes on vinyl. No show on Thursday (10 April).
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