![\"Neil](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Neil-Young-2015-Musician-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
(Credits: Far Out \/ Alamy)<\/p>\n
Tue 5 August 2025 17:00, UK <\/p>\n
The art of songwriting<\/a> shouldn\u2019t always be about someone finding the best chords anyone has ever conceived. <\/p>\n All musical scholars might be looking to geek out about the intricacies of what music could sound like, but the reason why Bob Dylan succeeded by only using three chords was that people related to what he was singing beyond the traditional musical structure. Anyone can embrace a catchy tune, but Neil Young was always aware that it was much better to connect with the person singing the songs.\u00a0<\/p>\n And looking through his discography, \u2018Uncle Neil\u2019 has never been afraid to show people how he was feeling. Sometimes it\u2019s beautiful on Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere, sometimes it\u2019s heartbreaking on Tonight\u2019s the Night, and there are moments where it\u2019s downright funny on Everybody\u2019s Rockin\u2019, but there\u2019s never any doubt that he\u2019s doing everything that he wants to do across every phase of his career.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because no songwriter should ever be boxed into a corner. The whole point of any great album is hearing someone\u2019s take on life, so it\u2019s better for an artist to be honest with their songs rather than give the audience what they think they want. At that point, you become a salesman, and Young would have been buried six feet underground rather than have to sacrifice what he was saying in his songs.<\/p>\n But when the public is not responding, it\u2019s never easy for someone to keep trying to make new music. There are only so many times anyone can try their luck before they feel like they\u2019re shouting into a void, but as time has shone, Young has been more than willing to take chances that fans have looked up to, whether that\u2019s the return to his glory days on Freedom or making an entire album with Pearl Jam<\/a> on Mirror Ball. <\/p>\n Right as the new millennium began, though, Young felt that he needed to get back to his roots. Are You Passionate was a decent attempt at writing something a little more soulful, but once he had Crazy Horse kick out the jams a little bit more on the album Greendale, the Canadian icon knew that there was some room left for him to say how he felt outside of being a relic of his time.<\/p>\n