Neil Young – Hitchhiker [2017]

[Reprise Records]

01. Pocahontas (3:27)
02. Powderfinger (3:22)
03. Captain Kennedy (2:51)
04. Hawaii (2:38)
05. Give Me Strength (3:40)
06. Ride My Llama (1:50)
07. Hitchhiker (4:37)
08. Campaigner (4:19)
09. Human Highway (3:16)
10. The Old Country Waltz (3:38)

Pocahontas

They killed us in our tepee
And they cut our women down
They might have left some babies
Cryin’ on the ground
But the firesticks
and the wagons come
And the night falls
on the setting sun.

They massacred the buffalo
Kitty corner from the bank
The taxis run across my feet
And my eyes have turned to blanks
In my little box
at the top of the stairs
With my Indian rug
and a pipe to share.

I wish a was a trapper
I would give thousand pelts
To sleep with Pocahontas
And find out how she felt
In the mornin’
on the fields of green
In the homeland
we’ve never seen.

And maybe Marlon Brando
Will be there by the fire
We’ll sit and talk of Hollywood
And the good things there for hire
And the Astrodome
and the first tepee
Marlon Brando, Pocahontas and me
Marlon Brando, Pocahontas and me
Pocahontas.

Powderfinger

Daddy’s gone,
my brother’s out hunting
in the mountains
Big John’s been drinking
since the river took Emmy-Lou
So the powers that be
left me here
to do the thinkin’
And I just turned twenty-two
I was wonderin’ what to do
And the closer they got,
The more those feelings grew.

Daddy’s rifle in my hand
felt reassurin’
He told me,
Red means run, son,
numbers add up to nothin’
But when the first shot
hit the docks I saw it comin’
Raised my rifle to my eye
Never stopped to wonder why.
Then I saw black,
And my face splashed in the sky.

Shelter me from the powder
and the finger
Cover me with the thought
that pulled the trigger
Think of me
as one you’d never figured
Would fade away so young
With so much left undone
Remember me to my love,
I know I’ll miss her.

Captain Kennedy

My father was a sailor
named Captain Kennedy
He lost his wooden schooner
to the Germans on the sea
Exploded on the water
for everyone to see
And humiliate that American
Captain Kennedy.

I saw him in Nassau in 1971
His strength was failin’
but he still ran a run
He worked ’til his fingers
wore to the bone
To buy that wooden schooner
and sail on his own.

He was known in the islands
as hundred foot iron
That steel hull freighter
was passin’ its time
And time flew by faster
with life on the sea
And the days grew shorter
for Captain Kennedy.

I am a young mariner headed to war
I’m thinkin’ ’bout my family
and what it was for
There’s water on the wood
and the sails feel good
And when I get to shore
I hope that I can kill good.

The happier you fly
The sadder you fall
The laughter in your eyes
Is never all.

Give me strength to move along.
Give me strength
to leave my sweetheart.

I’m riding down this wet road
in my old car
The moon is almost full
except for stars.
The party ended
long before the night
She made me feel alive
and that’s all right.

The happier you fly
The sadder you fall
The laughter in your eyes
Is never all.

Give me strength to move along.
Give me strength
to leave while she’s gone.

The happier you fly
The sadder you fall
The laughter in your eyes
Is never all.

Give me strength to move along.
Give me strength to move along.
Give me strength to move along.

I’d like to take a walk
But not around the block
I really got some news
I met a man from Mars.
He picked up all my guitars
And played me traveling songs.

And when we got on ship
He brought out
something for the trip
And said, It’s old but it’s good
Like any other primitive would.

I’m gonna ride my llama
From Peru to Texarkana
I wanna ride him good
In my old neighborhood
I’m gonna ride him good
In my old neighborhood.

And when we got on ship
He brought out
something for the trip
And said, It’s old but it’s good
Like any other primitive would.

You didn’t see me in Toronto
When I first tried out some hash
Smoked some then and I’ll do it again
If I only had some cash
Only had some cash.

Then I tried amphetamines
And my head was in a glass
Taped underneath the speedometer wires
Of my ’48 Buick’s dash.
But I knew that wouldn’t last.

Then came California
Where I first saw open water
In the land of opportunity
I knew I was getting hotter
I knew I was getting hotter.

But the neon lights
And the endless nights
The neon lights
And the endless nights
The neon lights
And the endless nights
The neon lights
And the endless nights
They took me by surprise
The doctor gave me valium
But I still couldn’t close my eyes
I still couldn’t close my eyes.

Then came paranoia
And it ran away with me
I couldn’t sign my autograph
Or appear on TV
Or see or be seen
See or be seen
Or see or be seen.

Living in the country
Sounded good to me
Smoking grass while the summer lasts
In the real organic sea
Where everything was green
Everything was green.

Then we had a kid and we split apart
I was living on the road
A little cocaine went a long long way
To ease that different load
But my head did explode
My head did explode.

I wish I was an Aztec
Or a runner in Peru
I would build such beautiful buildings
To house the chosen few
Like an Inca from Peru.

When I was a hitchhiker on the road
I had to count on you
But you needed me to ease the load
And for conversation too
Or did you just drive on
Did you just drive on
Did you just drive on through.

Or did you just drive on
Did you just drive on
Did you just drive on through.

Traffic cops are all color blind.
People steal from their own kind.
Evening comes to early for a stroll.
Down neon streets the streaker streaks.
The speaker speaks,
but the truth still leaks,
Where even Richard Nixon has got soul.
Even Richard Nixon has got it,
Soul.

The podium rocks in the crowded waves.
The speaker talks of the beautiful saves
That went down long before
he played this role
For the hotel queens and the magazines,
Test tube genes and slot machines
Where even Richard Nixon got soul.
Even Richard Nixon has got it,
Soul.

Hospitals have made him cry,
But there’s always a free way in his eye,
Though his beach just got
too crowded for his stroll.
Roads stretch out like healthy veins,
And wild gift horses strain the reins,
Where even Richard Nixon has got soul.
Even Richard Nixon has got
Soul.

I am a lonely visitor.
I came to late to cause a stir,
Though I campaigned all my life
towards that goal.

I come down
from the crooked mansion
I went lookin’
for the D.J.’s daughter
Since that day
I heard it mentioned
That my name is on the line.
Now, my name is on the line
How could people
get so unkind.

Now, my name is on the line
How could people
get so unkind.

I come down
from the misty mountain
I got lost
on the human highway
Take my head
refreshing fountain
Take my eyes
from what they’ve seen.
Take my head
and change my mind
How could people
get so unkind.

Well, I loved,
and I lost, and I cried
The day that
the two of us died.
Ain’t got no excuses,
I just want to ride
While the band plays the
old country waltz.

Out the window the moon shines
On the roofs of the cars
While I knock down
tequila and salt
And the band plays the
old country waltz.

And we’re playin’ it,
that old country waltz
In this empty bar
echoin’ off the wall.
Ain’t got no excuses,
we just want to play
That good old country waltz.

I ain’t got no excuses,
I just want to play
That good old country waltz.
That good old country waltz.