Neil Young – Freedom [1989]

035

1989 Reprise Records

1. Rockin’ in the Free World [Acoustic] (3:37)
2. Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero Part I) (8:44)
3. Don’t Cry (4:16)
4. Hangin’ on a Limb (4:19)
5. Eldorado (6:04)
6. The Ways of Love (4:28)
7. Someday (5:40)
8. On Broadway (4:58)
9. Wrecking Ball (5:07)
10. No More (6:05)
11. Too Far Gone (2:49)
12. Rockin’ in the Free World (Electric) (4:40)
 

 

Rockin’ in the Free World

There’s colors on the street
Red, white and blue
People shufflin’ their feet
People sleepin’ in their shoes
But there’s a warnin’ sign on the road ahead
There’s a lot of people sayin’
We’ed be beter off dead
Don’t feel like Satan
But I am to them
So I try to forget it, any way I can

CHORUS
Keep on rockin’ in the free world
Keep on rockin’ in the free world
Keep on rockin’ in the free world
Keep on rockin’ in the free world

I see a girl 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

That’s one more kid
That will never go to school
Never get to fall in love
Never get to be cool

CHORUS

 

            Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero Part 1)

Well  the cop made the showdown
He was sure he was right
He had all of the lowdown
>From the bank heist last night
His best friend was the robber
And his wife was a thief
All the children were killers
They couldn’t get no relief
The bungalow was surrounded
When a voice loud and clear
Said, “Come on out with your hands up
Or we’ll blow you out ofhere.”
There was a face in the window
The TV cameras rolled
Then they cut to the announcer
And the story was told

The artist looked at the producer
The producer sat back
He said, “What we have got here
Is a perfect track
But we don’t have a vocal
And we don’t have a song
If we could get these things accomplished
Nothin’ else could go wrong.”
So he balanced the ashtray
As he picked up the phone
And said, “Send me a songwriter
Who’s drifted far from home
And make sure that he’s hungry
Make sure he’s alone
Send me a cheeseburger
And a new Rolling Stone.”
Yeah

“There’s still crime in the city,”
Said the cop on the beat,
“I don’t know if I can stop it
I feel like meat on the street
They paint my car like a target
I take my orders fromools
Meanwhile some kid blows my head off
Well I play by their rules
That’s why I”m doin’ int my way
I took the law in my hands
So here I am in the alleyway
A wad of cash in my pants
I get paid by a ten year old
He says he looks up to me
There’s still crime in the city
But it’s good to be free.”
Yeah

Now I come from a family
That has a broken home
Sometimes I talk to Daddy
On the telephone
When he says that he loves me
I know that he does
But I wish I could see him
I wish I knew where he was
But that’s the way all my friends are
Except maybe one or two
Wish I could see him this weekend
Wish I could walk in his shoes
But now I’m doin’ my own thing
Sometimes I’m good, then I’m bad
Although my home has been broken
It’s the best home I ever had
Yeah

Well I keep gettin’ younger
My lie’s been funny that way
Before I ever learned to talk
I forgot what to say
I sassed back to my mom
I sassed back to my teacher
I got thrown out of Bible school
For sassin’ back to the preacher
Then I grew up to be a firemaan
Put out every fire in town
Put out anything smokin’
But when I put the hose down
The judge sent me to prison
He gave me life without parole
Wish I never put the hose down
Wish I never got old

 

  Don’t Cry

Don’t cry my sweet girl
Nothin’ I say is written in stone
Don’t cry my sweet love
You won’t really be alone
Woa oh
I’ll help you pack your things
I’ll walk with you out to the car
I’ll hold on to the ring
I won’t forget the way things are
Woa oh
My sweet love…

Your disappointed eyes
Are haunting me like my big lies
I see you glaring now
I see you ustaring in the fire
Woa oh
My sweet love…

Don’t cry my sweet girl
Nothin’ I say is written in stone
Don’t cry my sweet love
You won’t really be alone
Woa oh
My sweet love my sweet love…
Ahhh

Don’t cry my sweet girl
You won’t really be alone
Don’t cry my sweet girl
You won’T really be alone
Don’t cry my sweet girl
You won’t really be alone

 

Hangin’ on a Limb

Though the river flows
Gently to the sea
He was on the shore
Rooted like a tree
She was here and there
Riding on the waves
Through it all she heard his call
And gave it all she gave

CHORUS
And though their love was hangin’ on a limb
She taught him how to dance and start again
And thoug their love was hangin’ on a limb
She taught him how to dance

When the melody
Through the window called
It echoed in the courtyard
And whispered in  the halls
He played it through the night
She knew he had to go
There was something about freedom
He thought he didn’t know

CHORUS

Though the river flowed
Gently to the sea
He was on the shore
Rooted like a tree
She was here and there
Riding on the waves
Through it all she heard his call
And gave it all she gave

CHORUS

 

Eldorado

In the crystal ball
The gypsy sees the villa
The riders on the hill
The fire in the fields
She sees the mission bell
Swinging in the silence
now the shooting starts
The bulles pierce the hearts
The senoritas crying on the wall

Up in the Gold Hotel
The money hits the table
The heavies are all there
That’s why the deal’s goin’ down
Beautiful women all dressed in
Diamonds and sable
Down upon the street
Beside a garbage heap
A mariachi band begins to play

Somewhere a blues guitar
Plays echos in the alleyway
The Tijuana dawn claims another day
The golden sun rises on the runway
The pilot understands
The money changes hands
Inside the jet the briefcase snaps
Goodbye

In Eldorado town
There lives a great bullfighter
His eyes are screaming blue
His hair is red as blood
And when the gate goes up
The crowd gets so excited
And he comes dancin’ out
Dressed in gold lame
He kills the bull
And lives another day

 

    The Ways of Love

Yo are my special one
Made my heart come all undone
We’ve been havin’ too much fun
Now someone else
Will sleep with tears
When he hears
What we’ve done

CHORUS
Oh the ways of love
Oh the ways of love

Hear my song and hear my heart
We’ll be gone when the music starts
Then we’ll never be apart
Just you and I
Go flyin’ by
No one to cry
That we’re gone

CHORUS

You are my special one
Made my heart come all undone
We’ve been havin’ too much fun
Now someone else
Will sleep with tears
When hears
What we’ve done

CHORUS

 

Someday

Rommel wore a ring on his finger
He only took it off when he flew his plane
Once he told me why
He said we all have to fly someday
We all have to fly
Someday

TV preacher can’t be bothered
With those pretty things
He stays a step removed so they say
He’s pipin’ music in
We all have to sin someday
We all havve to sin
Someday

Workin’ on that great Alaska pipeline
Many men werre lost in the pipe
The went to felin’ cars
How smog might turn to stars
Someday
Smog might turn to stars
Someday

Hold me baby, put your arms around me
Give me all the love you have to give
Tomorrow won’t be late
We won’t have to wait someday
We won’t have to wait
Someday

 

       On Broadway

They say the neon lights are bright
On Broadway
They say there’s always magic
In the air
But when you7re walkin’ down the street
And you ain’t had enough to eat
The glitter rubs right off
And you’re nowhere

They say the women treat you fine
On Broadway
But lookin’ at them
Just gives me the blues
How ya gonna make some time
When all you got is one thin dime
And one thin dime won’t even
Shine your shoes?

They say that I won’t last too long
On Broadway
I’ll catch a Greyhound bus for home
They all say
But they’re dead wrong
I know they are
‘Cause I can play this here guitar
I won’t quit till I’m a star
On Broadway

On Broadway
On Broadway
Give me that crack
Give me some of that crack
Give me that crack
Ahhhhh
Broadway

 

   Wrecking Ball

My life’s an open book
You read it on the radio
We got nowhere to hide
We got nowhere to go
But if you still decide
That you want to take a ride

CHORUS
Meet me at the wrecking ball
Wrecking ball
Wear something pretty and white
And we’ll go dancin’ tonight
Meet me at the wrecking ball
Wrecking ball
Wear something pretty and white
And we’ll go dancin’ toniht

I see your smokey eyes
Right across the bar
I’ve seen that look before
Shining from star to star
Though I can’t take that chance
If you got time for one dance

CHORUS

The restless line of cars
Goes stretchin’ down the road
But I won’t telephone
‘Cause you might say hello
What is it makes me feel this way?
What is it makes me want to say

CHORUS

 

No More

Livin’ on the edge of night
You know the sun won’t go down slow
You don’t know which drug is right
Can’t decide which way you wanna go
I feel the way you feel
‘Cause not long ago
It had a hold on me
I couldn’t let it go
It wouldn’t set me free
It wouldn’t set me free
No more, no more, no more

Seemed like the easy thing
To let it go for one more day
Like singin’ the same old song
And twistin’ the words
In a different way
Where did the magic go
I searched high and low
I can’t find it no more
I can’t get it back
I can’t find it no more
I can’t find it no more
No more, no more, no more, no more

Searchin’ for quality
Havin’ to have the very best
Now scroungin’ for quantity
Never havin’ time
To do the test
That’s how this story goes
Can’t put it down
Till the last page
I can’t pull it down
I can’t put it down
I can’t put it down

 

Too Far Gone

When I woke up you were gone
and the sun was on the lawn
Empty pillow with perfume on
I smelled it

Well we met in my favorite bar
Took a ride in my old car
But I still don’t know how
We made it home

CHORUS
Was I too far gone
Too far gone
Too far gone
For you

We had drugs and we had booze
But we still had something to lose
and by dawn I wanted
To marry you

With our attitudes by day
And our secret dreams by night
Can we really live our lives
That way

CHORUS

 

Rockin’ in the Free World (2)

There’s colors on the street
Red, white and blue
People shufflin’ their feet
People sleepin’ in their shoes
There’s a warnin’ sign on the road ahead
There’s a lot of people sayin’
We’d be better off dead
Don’t feel like Satan
But I am to them
So I try to forget it, any way I can

CHORUS
Keep on rockin’ in tthe free world
Keep on rockin’ in the free world
Keep on rockin’ in the free world
Keep on rockin’ in the free world

I see a woman in the night
With a baby in here hand
There’s 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

CHORUS

We got a thousand points of light
For the homeless man
We got a kinder, gentler, machine gun hand
We got department stores
And toilet paper
Got styrofoam boxes for the ozone layer
Got a man of the people
Says keep hope alive
Got fuel to burn
Got roads to drive

CHORUS

 

—————————-

 

Neil Young: guitar, vocal
Chad Cromwell: drums
Rick “The Bass Player” Rosas: bass
Frank “Poncho” Sampedro: guitar, keyboards, mandolin
Ben Keith: alto saxophone, pedal steel guitar, keyboards, vocal
Linda Ronstadt: vocal
Poncho Villa: guitar
Tony Marsico: bass
Steve Lawrence: tenor saxophone
Larry Cragg: baritone saxophone
Claude Cailliet: trombone
John Fumo: trumpet
Tom Bray: trumpet
Recorded at Record One, Los Angeles; Redwood Digital, Woodside, CA; and The Hit Factory, New York, July 25, 1988-July 10, 1989, except
Rockin’ In The Free World live at Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY, June 14, 1989

Produced by “The Volume Dealers” (Neil Young & Niko Bolas)