Neil Young - Old Laughing Lady Lyrics

Pegi Young is a spirit of good, her smile from the outset is one of universal love, may she rest in peace and forever we must know that she influenced and is part of the greatest musician we know, Neil Young.

i get tears in my eyes....many memories. Neil you got it!

Don't call pretty Peggy,
she can't hear you no more
Don't leave no message
'round her back door.
They say the old laughing lady
been here before
She don't keep time,
she don't count score.

You can't have a cupboard
if there ain't no wall.
You got to move there's
no time left to stall.
They say the old laughing lady
dropped by to call
And when she leaves,
she leaves nothing at all.

See the drunkard of the village
falling on the street.
Can't tell his ankles
from the rest of his feet.
He loves his old laughing lady
'cause her taste is so sweet.
But his laughing lady's loving
ain't the kind he can keep.

There's a fever on the freeway,
blacks out the night.
There's a slipping on the stairway,
just don't feel right
And there's a rumbling
in the bedroom
and a flashing of light
There's the old laughing lady,
everything is all right.

8 people gave this a thumbs down. Fuck you assholes>

This version elevates this song to another level. Marvelous!

Fantastic song, fantastic playing and fantastic voice.

Sheer genius. Neil and his guitar. It just does not get any better that than this. Touched by the hand of God, period. End of story.

A legend on the stage

Great song

Must have played this a thousand times. It’s sublime.

I live this

THANK YOU!!....

niel young at his best

Just a voice and guitar...…. sublime

Don't call nasty dude, he can hear you NEIL, NO MORE. What counts are the actions , not the fake interpretations.

You meant "ge alive" isn"t? Yeah, You are right, I'm alive now, are you dude?@Lowell Calavera

Remember you called God. Did I make you feel less fool?

Psiu I got the right to express what I feel about a PUBLIC exposition. WHat make you feel you have the right to write a bull shit about someone you don't even know, you supposed God?

I don't know you, and didn't disrespect your taste, so baby respect mine, ok? Did i make myself clear ?

Take care dude. Watch your words more carefully. It's a good advise

One of my favorite Neil Young songs!

432 bliss,,,,,,,, I thought this one sounded SO SO soothing and satisfying,,,, It IS true ,,, I'm doing Everything in 432 from now on

Original le mec

top that,pure gold.

Hola, siempre te encuentro...!

I can always melt again, when listening to that story

best version ever :-)

This song has evolved over the years, just as Neil has. He is brilliant. Seen him more times live than I can count and this is my favorite, not just because of the song, but it is a song that is spot on about my sister. Her name is Peg and her life is tragic.

Best version of one of Neils greatest songs - THANK YOU!!

That was wicked

Pure Neil Young!

Gilles Gadbois Indeed

Gilles Gadbois
Thanks for bringing me back here. I needed this today.

Gilles Gadbois
The old laughing lady Sees us go from dust to dust doesn't she......

I always come back to this.

Great story if you didn't know. When Neil and Jonathan Demme talked about doing this, Demme BEGGED him to do this song as part of the concert or he wouldn't produce it. Neil said OK. If you've seen the full video, he doesn't do this song until this moment when the stage is broken down. Neil is the absolute greatest singer-songwriter EVER. The man is a genius, in many aspects.

I watched the 2 hour show- it was standard Neil Young- and then THIS outro REALLY caught my attention. I'd never heard the song before, but the way he played it here really caught and grabbed me. Fantastic.

@Chicago1975 This song is pure Neil from the 60's. With much augmented guitar work since.

@Chicago1975 agree. the performance over 2 hours is "nice" but this......*THIS* is magic. there will come a day when Neil will be gone, and I will watch this and weep. it is so beautiful and haunting. there are now (3) versions of this song that I cherish, and I can't pick a favorite. they're all sublime. (original, Unplugged, and here)

Lovely.

Of all the shit this man has done, this is my favorite performance.it really captures what Neil young is. Killer piece

A guitar, an empty stage and Neil...perfect, simply perfect.

The only thing that could possibly make this any better would be hearing the case snap shut at the very end

If you listen to the DVD, you can hear that. That guitar btw, used to belong to Hank Williams. He tells the story in the video.

wudnhed58 This guy was my high school inspiration. Brothers listen to good music to soothe the savage beast of racism. He helped me stand on higher ground.

Brutal classic! Thanks!

The best Neil ever,,,

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!

My life is messed up when i look at now. I love music. I play guitar. I was in a band in Boston. Went to U Mass lowell music was my major. Now here is the messed up part. I have only been to one concert in my life. Yep 1 and this is the man I went to see. It was his Rust never sleeps tour. He was at Great Woods out door concert. I was amazed at how his music live was even better than the album. Neil is the most honest and true artist you will ever find. This man does not put the money first. He has always been absolutely about the music. His music has always been diverse. He has never sold his soul to the big record companys. I love Neil Young Im glad it was him I went to see. A truly great musician.

To quote Neil, "Live music is better, bumper stickers should be issued".

Neil does Neil better than anyone else. I've been lucky to see him more than once...prob. 3 times. I'm even in a concert video in the audience at Red Rocks. He's timeless.

get that shit together bro...it's a very hard road...but a lot of people walk it..and come out okay..peace..love..health..and wealth my friend...

Doug,,,,,, I thought that was you

next concert the led zeppelin

The way he plays inspires me a lot.

Leonardo Martins
If you haven't heard it already check out his song ''Dead Man.''

When can I see you in person. Grew up in Northern Idaho near BC border and you never come to Western CA or PNW.
Your music touches many souls.

That guitar play is phenomenal. He makes it sing!

It's the 432 + Neil + the old tonewoods and I think,,,, Martin?

j Roberge
Didn't Neil purchase aforesaid beautiful Martin from Hank Williams? I know he 'introduced' this guitar to the audience & loved being its present custodian! Thank you Neil - 'This note's for you'!

Thank you for this! Neil is my best therapist.

Just a stunning piece.....I have the sheet music for this and it shows tune to drop D tuning DADGBD but here Neil sounds like he's playing it in another key. What am I missing?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hKG7zHG8gk

la sesta corda è un D leggermente alto le altre sono # più alto...ci sono impazzito ad accordare la chitarra come nel filmato..che tra l'altro non suonano tutti uguali i film....

Drop "D" + capo on 1st fret + start the whole thing in 432,,, a much more "organic" vibration than 440 NAZI tuning,,,, The patterns of loose sand vibrating to 432 are much more beautiful and tight

@srogde NO NO it's 432 + double D = capo on 1st fret

You're not missing anything. It's double drop D, but knowing Neil, it's a bit off from that. Tune your guitar to the low E and proceed from there.

Fabulous.

i notice some are saying this song is about booze........wrong.....the old laughing lady is heroin...........

mmgdavis the drunkard of the village loves his old laughing lady cause her taste is so sweet. Sounds like booze to me

wrong............do your homework....

Bite me

@mmgdavis You got me interested,,, what homework? OR,,, Where is the H reference to an "old laughing lady"?

Flashing of a lighter after slipping up a stairway I believe

can't tell his ankles from his feet

a real tune and warning about booze

not booze...heroin

the old laughing lady is heroin......

Jimmy Newark it's about a WOMAN, the guy loves a woman and she dies and the guy can't handle her being gone, but after becoming a drunk cause he misses her, BOOM there she appears to him and says it's OK hon, we all die, and it's alright. a perfect love song. of course all of Neil's stuff is open to interpretation.

Amazing song! This version is incredible!

Wonderful!

The best...

Just an incredible song.  According to Neil, it was written on napkins at the White Tower restaurant in Detroit, "at the corner of Livernois and something," at 4 am on some day in 1964.  That nice droning double-drop D tuning and haunting lyrics.  I love playing this song, but don't know all the riffs in-between verses.

@Doug Berger Glad it was helpful.

No No guys,,,, he tunes it to 432 first then double D then capo at 1st fret,,,,,, he's simply GENIUS!! 432 is a pure magic resonance,, it actually has the power to heal!!

You guys are gonna LOVE this little guitar trick,,,,, 432 is the organic healing frequency,,, that's why this music can ACTUALLY HEAL YOUR VERY HEART,,,, into a heart of gold

@Doug Wittrock and that D45 pearltop is "THE PERFECT play along guitar.

@Doug Wittrock The guys D45 is killer too!