I think I was on the edge makinHomegrown,Neil Youngonce saidof his unreleased 1975 masterwork.
It was the darker side toHarvest,he toldRolling Stonein 1975.
A lot of the songs had to do with me breaking up with my old lady.
Credit: Henry Diltz
This week, almost 45 years after its recording,Homegrownwill finally see the light of day.
By the fall of 1974, Young was overwhelmed by the decay of his personal and professional relationships.
That blew my mind.
Reprise
I loved Danny, Young later said.
1 with sloppy, fuzz-distorted screeds.
Despite several false starts, the proposed comeback album (tentatively titledHuman Highway) was aborted.
Youngs attempts to repair his relationship with his wife, actress Carrie Snodgrass, fared no better.
“It was intense, like trying to make a record in the middle of 42nd Street or Vietnam.
The focus was clear with desolate titles like Frozen Man, Deep Forbidden Lake, and Love Art Blues.
AsHomegrownended, a raw and gritty collection began to play on the stereo.
By pure chance it shared a tape reel with the earlyHomegrownmix, and Danko liked what he heard.
If you guys dont release this f—in album, youre crazy, he told its composer.
But the vulnerability ofHomegrownproved too much for him to revisit.
For years he couldnt bring himself to hear the album in full, citing his own embarrassment.
It was a little too personal, he said in 1975.
Some of it may still scare him.
BruisingHomegrown-era songs like Frozen Man, Homefires and Love Art Blues are notably absent from the official album.
A sense of foreboding is prevalent throughout.
The familiar becomes foreign, and the unfamiliar seems threatening.
I look in your eyes, and I dont know whats there, he wails.
Are you my friend?
Are you my enemy?
Yet for all the paranoia, there are also glimmers of hope.
Yet still, he concludes, a light is shining.
Similar to Brian Wilsons torturedSmileproject, a halo of redemption and personal triumph hangs overHomegrown.
Youngs decision to tackle his most painful music makes the bitter lyrics not only palatable, but inspiring.
Nearly half a century has passed since he recorded these songs, healing the wounds that inspired them.
Now 74, Young is wary of his own advancing age.
I apologize, he wrote last year on the Neil Young Archives.
This albumHomegrownshould have been there for you a couple of years afterHarvest.Its the sad side of a love affair.
I just couldnt listen to it.
I wanted to move on.
Thats why I made it in the first place.
You know what I mean.
This is the one that got away.
