Neil Young - Thrasher Lyrics

Brings to mind a younger time...wandering through the farmers field...rural western New York. Long Time Gone.

moving song man....always gets me.

Words get me everytime. I relate to it as I lived it to. Check out merry go round Ross Heathorn or Ross Heathorn so much life just ruff acoustic but ideas there peace people. Punk folk mc

going where the weather suits my clo-o-othes, everybodys talkin

speechless

Heart never sleep

Something about this song touches me instantly. Thanks, Neil.

Reminds me of the song for Midnight Cowboy, only better lyrics.

i agree. was looking for this comment

legendary

Best poet ever.

His ode to CSN when he left them after the 74 reunion tour....they had the best selection...they were poisoned with protection....so I got board and left them there they were just dead weight to me..

I have luved this mans music from the first chord!
My children have had the privilege of hearing his stories & music.
Many parties around Australia would not have been the same without Mr Young.
I play guitar now only from wanting to reproduce the mind easing pleasure of Mr Youngs music.
I was born in 1958, my life & my close friends have been filled with the music from this icon.
Rock On!
Rustle

Neil youngs music ❤

I was lucky enough to meet Neil Young in 1980, after his Trans Show at Wembly Arena in London.
He was a lovely guy and one of the greatest musical talents, of all time ❤🎸🎶

His ranch is tucked away a ways off on the pacific ocean side of Skyline Blvd in the Santa Cruz Mountains of the San Francisco Bay Area. During the 70s & 80s, on rare occasion, he would drop in at a by-day-lunch-spot/by-night-music-venue called The Catalyst in Santa Cruz midday to early afternoon, walk in with a guitar, sit down and do a number or few for whomever happened to be lucky enough to be in there. Given that the Santa Cruz Mountains and the mountain roads twisting through them were my stompin' grounds from the mid-70s to the mid-80s I was lucky enough to catch him at it ONE time!

I love to listen to him- One of my favorites is Glimmer-touches the soul of you what ever age you are hanging out in

this song is so wistful. i want to smile and cry.

2019
One of the most underrated Neil Young song ever! Why?

Because the fact is most people are too preoccupied with wanting to escape from their lives and not reflect on them...this is one of the most reflectives songs ever written....

Neil's music can bring me to tears

More than 40 years i'm listening to Neil's music. And it's still magnificent and touches my soul. Trasher is a big one because there are so many metaphors Neil used like burned my credit card for fuel or better down the road without that load

104 are lost try again let neil in

I can't even imagine the mentality of a person who would downvote this song. I understand that Neil Young's music isn't for everyone, but how could someone hear these lyrics and dislike the video?

Humanity has never had a shortage of dolts, morons and major idiots.

Because it goes right over that bowl of jelly they have for a brain..

"How i lost my friends,i still don't understand". "Just another line in the field If time".

Nice song :) Sounds just like something Dylan would write. wag wag wag wag wag

The best song i ever heard! Thank you, Neil!

From what may be the finest live album ever recorded.

when the aimless blade of science slashed the pearly gates

que música demais!
quem deu negativo, nao escutou direito.

Just the best...

That song cuts like a knife, so real for good or bad...thank you Neil.

I lost a pocketful of money not knowing this song...

Love him dreamin..😇❤️

No matter where you go you are there, this is the song of my life, get out of this prison and feel the open air. Die young, relatively and free cavorting with gods away from the things of man. Endless horizons no feeble comforted mind or blood turning to rust, no just giving back what i thought was mine.

Lost hopes and dreams fading to the past...

His deepest song.
And that's saying a lot.

How I lost my friends. I still don't understand..

"just another line in the field of time"

This is the first time I ever listened to this song. So poetic and beautiful.

Makes me wanna travel west and change my name. Love you Neil 😘🤙

i live in north east montana.... my home town...glasgow... was recently found to be "the middle of nowhere"
but we all knew this for decades.....

but man.... 450 miles of open, lonely, BEAUTIFUL 2 lane black top to college

if i cant toot my own horn.....im a smart kid.....
but i only lasted 2.5 years in college

found i learned more on the drive to college..... than i did AT college

100 bucks in gas taught me more about myself than 40,000+ did

and the lyrics....
"up before the light.... trying to catch an hour on the sun"
and
"burned my credit card for fuel..... headed out to where the pavement turns to sand"

ive actually done that...... many times

One of the great musians of the world ! For me more than 50 years. Neil Keep on Rocking in the free world for ever. Thank you very much !

Neil Young has one of the greatest voices ever to have graced this fucking world:)

Maybe his best

I'm a 16 year old boy who's never had many friends, this song has helped me through so many tough times as with all Neil's music, I could never thank him enough, such a beautiful song thank you neil!!!

If you have more friends than you can count on one hand, you have too many friends.

25 here..... you will probably never have very many friends
and the ones that you do.... will probably only just be using you

if your anything like me..... i will call you my friend.

fuck em..... cant handle a free man, with "strange" ideas....
unless you have a pickup to pull them out of the ditch...... or booze and weed.... or a place to fuck their slut

fuck em all..... better by my self and 1 or 2 actual friends

when i was 16, i almost didn't make it. neil literally saved my life, i'm sure of it. i'm so glad i lived. hang on.

I am old and have found myself happiest with only a few good friends by my side. Keep your circle small and some good music by your side always.

You're going to be fine, buddy. Other people feel that way, too. And the chances are pretty good that they have good taste in music. Just like you.

Nobody better best song ever

Still his best song listening to the lyrics GREAT

Some of the lyrics here seem to be aimed at Crosby/Stills/Nash (and Neil's decision to split from them at the end of 1974, partially related to their heavy cocaine use at the time). "...They had the best selection,
They were poisoned with protection--There was nothing that they needed, nothing left to find--They were lost in rock formations, or became park bench mutations--On the sidewalks and in the stations, they were waiting, waiting--So I got bored and left them there, they were just dead weight to me--Better down the road without that load..."

I think your right. And I also think that it looks as if he had higher goals than the others had and mutch more detemained to reach them.

"They had the best selection, they were poisoned with protection", That is referring to CSN being manchurian hippies for the anti war movement/hippie culture. David Crosby is from the Van Courtland family, google it. He is NOT a real musician, thats why they dissapeared, while Neil thrived., that is what Neil is saying!! Thats a fact

Its way deeper than that. Hes talking about modern civilization and its perversion/ transition into the unnatural and ungrateful. Listen to it again.

Hey Niel can sing what he knows

reminds me of a time so great with my freinds and the very first mountain dew delivered to my small town.it was my first.12oz bottle.i started making money very young in life.i bot my freind a dr pepper . we toasted.i still drink it 58 yrs since my first mtn dew.we keep it stocked.nothing like the ice cold dew to quench my thirst.yes my friends are gone.thrasher

this is a sweet memory, thank you for sharing

💕💯🦅🕊️🦅🐺🐾

precious unforgotten I often sing this alone.just another mine in time

So much different with lyrics of the old compared to the new. Intelligence definitely becoming the past

Sounds like margaritaville

My goodness. You need to clean your ears out and listen to A LOT more music.

This is a tad darker than that.

@little bear skye He may just be remarking on the chord progression, which does bear a resemblance at times.

Sounds like you've had about 10 margaritas too many..

Thrasher. Cool skateboard magazine.

also a good way to get grain out of wheat...... beat the shit out of it

Good way to treat a woman as well.

Great channel. Thanks.

They were hiding behind hay bales,
They were planting in the full moon
They had given all they had for something new
But the light of day was on them,
They could see the thrashers coming
And the water shone like diamonds in the dew.
And I was just getting up, hit the road before it's light
Trying to catch an hour on the sun
When I saw those thrashers rolling by,
Looking more than two lanes wide
I was feelin' like my day had just begun.
Where the eagle glides ascending
There's an ancient river bending
Down the timeless gorge of changes
Where sleeplessness awaits
I searched out my companions,
Who were lost in crystal canyons
When the aimless blade of science
Slashed the pearly gates.
It was then I knew I'd had enough,
Burned my credit card for fuel
Headed out to where the pavement turns to sand
With a one-way ticket to the land of truth
And my suitcase in my hand
How I lost my friends I still don't understand.
They had the best selection,
They were poisoned with protection
There was nothing that they needed,
Nothing left to find
They were lost in rock formations
Or became park bench mutations
On the sidewalks and in the stations
They were waiting, waiting.
So I got bored and left them there,
They were just dead weight to me
Better down the road without that load
Brings back the time when I was eight or nine
I was watchin' my mama's T.V.,
It was that great Grand Canyon rescue episode.
Where the vulture glides descending
On an asphalt highway bending
Through libraries and museums, galaxies and stars
Down the windy halls of friendship
To the rose clipped by the bullwhip
The motel of lost companions
Waits with heated pool and bar.
But me I'm not stopping there,
Got my own row left to hoe
Just another line in the field of time
When the thrashers comes, I'll be stuck in the sun
Like the dinosaurs in shrines
But I'll know the time has come
To give what's mine.

*Thanks for that. The "eagle glides descending" in the lyrics, just the same as "the vulture glides descending." You got the second one. "Down the windy halls of freindship..." // he sang so well...*

Even though I am listening... and I know all the words... and I sing along, I STILL loved to READ all the words you wrote for us.. THANKS Cole. 73 next birthday and live every day with Neil in my life....

When I hear the line "They had the best selection, they were poisoned with protection" I think of millennial college students.

@longliverocknroll5 the price of tires at my shop has gone up ~20 precent..... despite droping prices 15%

whats that tell ya.....

@kain hall That you don't understand the difference between short- and long-term economic lmfao. Like I said, economists have agreed that Trump will have a short-term gain, and then his ideas will *CRIPPLE* the USA in the long-term if he continues with the exact same plan. And, like I said, we've *ALREADY* begun to see this fall-through in specific industries lmfao.

They had the best selection, they were poisoned with protection", That is referring to CSN being manchurian hippies for the anti war movement/hippie culture. David Crosby is from the Van Courtland family, GOOGLE HIM. His family can be traced to the founding fathers- He is NOT a real musician, thats why they/he dissapeared, while Neil thrived., that is what Neil is saying!! Thats a fact

Sooner or later you are going to have to take ownership of your problems...its one of the many consequences of a public education...

Listened to this for the first time in more than 30 years and was blown away by its insight like I was in the late 70s when I heard it for the first time. Bob Dylan's done some great work but Neil Young is my favorite rock poet.

I can't and don't want to seperate them, legends both of them.

how can you go 30 years without this song.

timeless!

Possibly the most touching song???!!! brings tears every time!!!!!!!!!!

Me too Bro.

I'm not crying, you're crying!
I know what you mean. I was fine until the final harp solo. Beautiful song.

I love this song, but the '78 live recording at Cow Palace is the best version hands down

I like this one better for a couple reasons. First, Neil forgetting the lyrics at Cow Palace throws off the performance a bit, and second, that performance lacks a lot of the guitar work the album version has. There is a lot more of the defined bass line in this arrangement.

Hard to imagine anything great could come out of somewhere called "Cow Palace" (Except, maybe a burger.

@Sam Powys I agree that this version is better. It could be one of those things were its the version you heard first that will always be the one you like more but Id still wager that most people would agree this version is better. The guitar is more pristine, and immaculate like the "diamonds in the dew". The vocals have more emotional resonance and, like you say the transcendence isnt hindered by the forgotten lyric.

@Sam Powys I always thought the version were he fucks up a couple lines makes it even better!

Can you fall in love with someone you don't know?

Gary Brinker 😁
To bad I'm and old lady or we might fall in love.

Kathryn Ellison I can relate to alot of things this song has in it... I hope your not feeling too old . You sound interesting.Is your life OK .?

Kathryn Ellison

Yes most definitely. I don't see how any one who grew up in our time could not be moved by the vast array of truly GIFTED artists and the music they gave us from the heart. What an awesome generation to have grown up in right?

you can fal in love with just a picture of someone.... or just by the voice..

In with the new....out with the old.

This entire LP makes me think so much of The Sex Pistols.

This is possibly Neil Young's best song on what is definitely his best album. It's only rivaled by powderfinger on the same album. It's songs like this that will keep folk alive. It was written in a time where punk was climbing the charts and drug fueled psycadelia was ruling the land of good music. And in wall artists like Neil Young and Bob Dylan keeping there roots alive and for this their legend will live on long they, and even I, a thirteen year old adolescent, are long gone.

shut the hell up yeet yeet spaqghetti skeet

are you really 14 (now) boy? good you apreciate this so much!! I discovered him when I was 15.. just a little more.. you maybe right, always hesitated between these two songs, like you, but I would add "my my.." of course! anyway you're right, best album by him..

Yeet Yeet spaghetti skeet Nah. On the Beach is his best album.

NY deepest song for sure. I think there are some jabs at CSN in there. "They were just dead wait to me..."

Neil and the boys worked enough "punk" into the album in a very sneaky fashion. This song has a lot of quiet, inwardly (and outwardly)-directed anger in it, like the best of punk, but it's of course not punk at all. Powderfinger also, it's attitude in a sense is punk (saying fuck you against all hope) but it's anything but musically-speaking. But that rebellious soul is there.

Today's date(6+2+9=17), raining in the middle of the landscape, I enjoyed the music of NY!

"...like the Dinosaurs and Shrines."

When the thrasher comes,
I'll be stuck in the sun
Like the dinosaurs in shrines
But I'll know the time has come
To give what's mine.

Hard to think of a line in this song that isn't quotable, but yours is one of the best.

These lyrics are Nietzschean-level genius

i just came back though
being gone a couple thousand years left me with some culture shock

well thats why i came back you see, people have hardened their hearts, so i came back to teach people to love, if i have to hang my ass back up on a cross and wear a crown of thorns then so be it

Jesus Christ Yay! Do it again Jesus! I missed it the first time.

@Hamlet Prince of Denmark the fact this comment comes from Jesus himself... AMEN.

His writings were edited by his sister and he would have hated the Nazis anyway.

great song.

The end of Buffalo Springfield

"Broken Arrow" also fits in so well on Neil's super-dynamite 3-LP set "Decade."

Great song by great musician. His career spans 50 years and is still going strong.

i thought the friends that were dead weight were CSN

"headed off to where the pavement turns to sand"

God yes

Really cooll . I love that feeling.

I feel like running away again.i just turned 62 near death they say....'they say'.panama city beach.i still have the large amount of sand I brought.it is great there

THANK YOU 4 BE IN G T-hare 4 me, even though the rabbit died

No, the rabbit died! That's a sinking feeling, isn't it? Like, a little more reality than you know if you're ready for.

@Roy Lay the rabbit done died.....