Song of the Day

"Without Rings" is a simple song that typifies what Neil Young does best. Musically, it's a repetitively hypnotic acoustic guitar riff. Lyrically, it combines many elements one loves in Neil's songs in order to express the evanescence of a past but ambiguously ongoing relationship. This popped up on shuffle today and it reminded me how many great songs Neil has penned--this gem is stuck at the end of a mediocre album.

Surprises abound in the words:
"fighting drugs with pain", the distinction between "mind" and "brain" in stanzas 3 & 4, and the general perspective in stanza 1 that gives way to the first person in the rest of the song. Finally, there is the triplet of "without's" in the final stanza that simply blows me away when followed by the passage of time illustrated by the final lines.

Someone's hiding out,
Who can't forget about
Things that people do
when they're free.
Like visitors from space,
It's hard to find a place,
To blend in and go unrecognized.

I'm waiting for a sign,
I'm standing on the road,
With my mind outstretched to you.
I'm picking something up,
I'm letting something go,
Like a dog I'm fetching
this to you.

Pictures in mind:
Rows of poppy fields,
Harmony entwined,
Changing gears that grind.
Pictures in my mind.

Pictures in my brain:
Electrical energy,
Fighting drugs with pain,
There's a war inside.
Pictures in my brain.

I'm looking for a job,
I don't know what I'm doing,
My software's
not compatible with you.
But this I can't deny,
I know that you can fly,
'Cause I'm here
on the ground without you.

Angel without wings,
Owner without things,
Sharpshooter
without rings around you.
The road we used to ride,
Together side by side
Has flowers pushing
through the dotted line.