STAR CAR TUNES "LONG MAY YOU RUN" NEIL YOUNG-A TRIBUTE TO AN OLD FRIEND

'Long May You Run', released Sept 1976 Stills - Young Band

Neil Young is an unlikely car guy but this song is a tribute to his first car, a 1948 Buick hearse.

We love the cars from our misspent youth and one would suspect that Mr. Young's younger years were probably more misspent than most.

Along the way he became one of the best songwriters in the game.

He has crafted a classic car song with "Long may you run".

This a "boy meets car- boy loses car" scenario which is a heartache faced by most car guys at some point in life.Cars are part of a literal and emotional journey in life and they are not there to pass judgment on your behavior along the way.

There are many reasons that we part ways with our cars.

Neil Young knew that rust never sleeps and I would guess that his old Buick succumbed to this illness after its breakdown when Young parted company with it.

We can be grateful that he took the time to write a tribute to the old war pony that meant so much to him when he was just another struggling musician on the road. That old car got him to the next gig when nobody outside of his own family had heard of him.

We all know the sad afterlife for old cars. Karma reincarnates them into refrigerators and Korean cars. Neil Young has a sad tone in this song because he understood this ultimate fate for most cars. But at least his faithful old companion lives on in song. We can borrow it for our own car memories.

I'm sure Neil won't mind.

Jim Sutherland @mystarcollectorcar.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nszR0tfp4Es

COMMENTS 

ANGUS:"Good song -a little much, with Neil's extensive song book, that we had to hear it twice in as many weeks on the last Conan Tonight show and the Olympic closing ceremony. I wonder if he'll play it next time I close my fridge."

DENNIS:"Neil Young?....No Comment. See "Sweet Home Alabama" By a band that's still making money".