Neil Young – Everybody’s Rockin’ [1983]

029

Year Released:  1985
Record Company: Geffen

 

1. The Wayward Wind (3:13)
2. Get Back to the Country (2:50)
3. Are There Any More Real Cowboys? (3:04)
4. Once an Angel (3:55)
5. Misfits (5:08)
6. California Sunset (2:56)
7. Old Ways (3:07)
8. My Boy (3:37)
9. Bound for Glory (5:49)
10. Where Is the Highway Tonight? (3:05)

 

  THE WAYWARD WIND

In the lonely shack by the railroad track
I spent my younger days
And I guess the sound of the outward bound
Made me a slave to my wanderin’ ways

And the wayward wind is a restless wind
A restless wind that yearns to wander
And I was born the next of kin
The next of kin to the wayward wind

Oh, I met him down in the border town
He vowed we’d never part
Though he tried his best to settle down
Now I’m all alone with a broken heart

And the wayward wind is a restless wind
A restless wind that yearns to wander
And I was born the next of kin
The next of kin to the wayward wind

(repeat chorus)

 

    GET BACK TO THE COUNTRY

When I was a younger man
Got lucky with a rock ‘n’ roll band
Struck gold in Hollywood
All that time I knew I would …

Get back to the country
Back where it all began
Get back to the country
Back in the barn again

Now when we hit the road
Big buses and trucks unload
After the curtain falls
Load up and then we all …

Get back to the country
Back where it all began
Get back to the country
Back on the road again

 

ARE THERE ANY MORE REAL COWBOYS?

Are there any more real cowboys
Left out in these hills?
Will the fire hit the iron
One more time?
And will one more dusty pick-up
Coming rolling through down the road
With a load of feed before the sun gets high?
Well I hope that working cowboy never dies.

Not the one that’s snortin’ cocaine
When the honky-tonk’s all closed
But the one that prays for more rain
Heaven knows
That the good feed brings the money
And the money buys the clothes
Not the diamond sequins shining on TV
But the kind the working cowboy really needs.

Are there any more country families
Still working hand in hand
Trying hard to stay together
And make a stand?
While the rows and rows and rows of houses
Come creepin’ up on the land
Where the cattle graze and an old grey barn still stands
Are there any more real cowboys in this land?
Are there any more real cowboys in this land?

 

ONCE AN ANGEL

Once an angel
Always an angel
You’re as close to heaven
As I’ll ever be
It’s been six years now
Since my ring slipped on your finger
And those years have made
A better man out of me

[CHORUS]
Once an angel
Always an angel
You’re as close to heaven
As I’ll ever be

There’ve been times when
I’ve treated you so badly
I’ve done things I know
You’ll never understand
But you take me back
Turn your eyes towards the window
Where you hide the tears
You don’t want me to see

[CHORUS]
Once an angel
Always an angel
You’re as close to heaven
As I’ll ever be
You’re as close to heaven
As I’ll ever be

 

MISFITS

Up in that new space station
Living Kennedy’s dream
There was an automatic camera
Shooting elephantine

Well the crew was relaxing
Before the video screen
Watching old re-runs
Of Mohammed Ali

The voice of Houston callin’
Brought them back to the scene
Except the sky is fallin’
Do you know what that means?

Out on that Texas sidewalk
Through the hotel mezzanine
There walked a see-thru’ hooker
To a suite with two TVs

But by the elevator
She began to sneeze
With an attack so uncontrolled
It brought her to her knees

And the hotel doctor
With nurse and stethoscope
Announced the worst is over
But for her there is no hope

Way down in South Dakota
On the Needles Highway
There’s a lone red rider
On the road today

And though his war is over
He’s fightin’ on anyway
Although he’s seldom sober
He’s drinking whisky all day

Down in that old box canyon
Where only misfits can go
He rides with no companion
But saloon and rodeo.

Up in that new space station
Living Kennedy’s dream
There’s an automatic camera
Shooting elephantine

Well the crew is relaxing
Before the video screen
Watching old re-runs
Of Mohammed Ali

The voice of Houston callin’
Brought them back to the scene
Except the sky is fallin’
Do you know what that means?

 

    CALIFORNIA SUNSET

I remember long ago
How I wondered where I’d go
While the blizzards, cold wind and snow
Pounded outside my window

California sunset
Going down in the West
All the colors in the sky
Kiss another day goodbye

Land of beauty, space and light
Land of promise land of might
You’re my home now and it’s true
California, here’s to you

California sunset
Going down in the West
All the colors in the sky
Kiss another day goodbye

(Repeat chorus)

 

OLD WAYS

Old ways, it sure is hard to change
Come what may
It’s hard to teach a dinosaur a new trick
Lately I’ve been finding out
I’m set in my ways
Old ways, can be your ball and chain

Oh, I’m gonna stop that grass
And give up all this drinking
Really gonna make my life last
Clean up my whole way of living
Up until the party last night
I was a different man
But old ways got in the way again

The economy was getting so bad
I had to lay myself off
Well working was a habit I had
So I kept showin’ up anyway
Then one day things turned around
I got my back pay
Old ways comin’ through again

I got old ways
I got old ways
Old ways
I got old ways …

 

  MY BOY

Why are you growin’ up so fast
My boy?
Oh, you’d better take your time
Why are you growin’ up so fast
My son

Almost time to live your dream
My boy
Oh, you’d better take your time
Almost time to make some plans
My son

Vacation gone school is out
Summer ends year in year out

Oh, you’d better take your time
My boy
I thought we had just begun
Why are you growin’ up so fast
My son

Vacation gone school is out
Summer ends year in year out

Why are you growin’ up so fast
My boy?
Why are you growin’ up so fast
My son

 

BOUND FOR GLORY

Out on the trans-Canada highway
There was a girl hitchhiking with her dog
Fireflies buzzin’ round her head
Like candles in the fog

He was three miles down the road
Tryin’ to stay up but he knew that he couldn’t
She was looking for a ride through the night
But out there who wouldn’t

They were bound for glory
Bound for living on the edge
They were bound for each other
Like two comets heading for the bed

She had a new way of living
New way of looking at life
He had an ’84 International and two kids
He left back home with his wife

He was tired of writin’ letters to himself
And living in the dark
She was open to suggestions
And some say she had a broken heart

He had everything he wanted
‘Til it all turned out to be a job
One fallen asleep trucker
And a girl hitchhiking with her dog

They were bound for glory
Bound for living on the edge
They were bound for each other
Like two comets heading for the bed

She had a new way of living
New way of looking at life
He had an ’84 International and two kids
He left back home with his wife

Out on the trans-Canada highway
The sun came climbing up the cab
By the time it hit the window they were up
>From what little sleep they had

When the heat hit the blankets
They were looking for love at second sight
Just starin’ in each others’ eyes
Findin’ it in the early mornin’ light

They were bound for glory
Bound for living on the edge
They were bound for each other
Like two blankets layin’ on the bed

She had a new way of living
New way of looking at life
He had an ’84 International and two kids
He left back home with his wife

 

   WHERE IS THE HIGHWAY TONIGHT?

I would be feelin’ so low
She’d have a new place to go
She’d take me in her arms
And show me all her charms
Until my troubles were gone

Then when I left her behind
Never a tear could I find
Just a haunting melody
Comin’ back to me
Where is the highway tonight?

[CHORUS]
Where is the highway tonight?
Where are those old days and crazy nights?

Now the house is all quiet and still
Coyote house on the hill
How far did I go
Before we said hello
Where is the highway tonight?

Darlin’, you’ll always be mine
I’ll never treat you unkind
But a haunting melody
Keeps comin’ back to me
Where is the highway tonight?

[CHORUS]
Where is the highway tonight?
Where are those old days and crazy nights?

A haunting melody
Keeps comin’ back to me
Where is the highway tonight?

 

———————————–

 

Neil Young: guitar, banjo-guitar, harmonica, vocal
Waylon Jennings: guitar, vocal
Willie Nelson: guitar, vocal
Rufus Thibodeaux: fiddle
Ben Keith: pedal steel guitar, dobro
Tim Drummond: bass
Karl Himmel: drums
Joe Allen: bass (electric & upright)
Ralph Mooney: pedal steel guitar
Hargus “Pig” Robbins: piano
Gordon Terry: fiddle
Joe Osborne: bass
Anthony Crawford: mandolin, vocal
Terry McMillan: harmonica, jew’s harp
Bela Fleck: banjo
Bobby Thompson: banjo
David Kirby: guitar
Grant Boatwright: guitar
Johnny Christopher: guitar
Ray Edenton: guitar
Gove Scrivenor: autoharp
Farrell Morris: percussion
Marty Stuart: mandolin
Carl Gorodetzky: violin
Spooner Oldham: piano
Larry Byrom: vocal
Rick Palombi: vocal
Doana Cooper: vocal
Denise Draper: vocal
Gail Davies: vocal
Betsy Hammer: vocal
Pam Rose: vocal
Janis Oliver-Gill: vocal
Mary Ann Kennedy: vocal
Kristine Oliver-Arnold: vocal
Leona Williams: vocal
Strings:
Carl Gorodetsky, leader
George Binkley
John Borg
Roy Christensen
Virginia Christensen
Charles Everett
Larry Harvin
Mark Hembree
Lee Larrison
Betty McDonald
Dennis Molchan
Pamela Sixfin
Mark Tanner
David Vanderkooi
Gary Vanosdale
Carol Walker
Stephanie Woolf

Recorded at House of David, Nashville, Jan. 28-29, 1983; The Castle, Franklin, TN, April 20-30, 1985; Pedernales Recording Studio, Spicewood, TX; and live at Austin City Limits, TX, September 25, 1984 (“California Sunset with some overdubs”)

Produced by Neil Young, Ben Keith, & David Briggs except
California Sunset produced by Neil Young, Elliot Mazer, David Briggs, & Ben Keith
My Boy produced by Neil Young, Elliot Mazer, & David Briggs