Classics: Powderfinger

Original video located here. Accessed 18th November 2019

Song title: Powderfinger

Artist: Neil Young

Year: 1979

Why I like this song:

And now we come to Rust Never Sleeps: My designated endpoint for my exploration of Neil Young's music.
It's a live album that is split between an acoustic side, with Neil solo, and an electric side, with Crazy Horse stepping in to back Neil up. But for me, side 1 is the Neil Young I have come to know whilst side 2 is the Neil Young that I already knew of.
However it seems that this album is well known because a) it was a song named Powderfinger on it which explains how that band got their name and b) it has Hey Hey My My which was referenced by Kurt Cobain in his....erm....final letter.

Moving swiftly along, I have to say that of all Neil Young's albums that I have heard, this could well be my favourite, It has an immediacy that is unmatched, the songwriting is top notch and it showcases Neil Young strengths both in the acoustic and rock genres. 

So what can I conclude from my exploration of Neil Young's music?
To be honest I'm not sure what to make of it.
On the plus side, Neil has shown to be capable of churning out some great songs (Harvest, Heart of Gold, Needle and the Damage Done). And Rust Never Sleeps is nothing short of a triumph.
Yet at the same time, I am left feeling somewhat...empty.

Allow me to explain: Sometimes an album/movie/book/TV series/video-game comes along that blows the minds of countless people and inspires many people to craft their own material - but in doing so, the source ends up getting replicated so much that it therefore becomes a challenge to approach it years later.
And that's how I feel to Neil Young's 70s output: This has been replicated so many times since that the original doesn't appear, to me at least, to have the impact that it should.

Time is indeed a ravager.
Still Rust Never Sleeps still manages to have bite