Posted On: Wednesday - November 29th 2023 6:00PM MST
In Topics: Music China
Not Sugar Mountain, far as I know. This is in China, where they're not big fans of sugar. They sure do have some hairy terrain though. From one direction this wall looked over vertical.
We'll do that song-out-of-the-blue thing again today, as in the old days of the blog. When he wrote this great folk song in 1964, Neil Young was referring to his home in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but this makes me think of North Carolina. There is a Sugar Mountain there.
This song never made it to an album until long after, with Mr. Young's big (3 vinyl record) Decade compilation. From wiki regarding this song:
On the bootleg album Live on Sugar Mountain, released just days after the concert at which it was recorded (on February 1, 1971, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles), Young talks at length about the lyrics. He says that when he first wrote the song, he wrote 126 verses to it." Now, you can imagine that I had a lot of trouble figuring out what four verses to use... I was underneath the stairs at the time... Anyway, this verse that I wrote... It was the worst verse of the 126 that I wrote. So, I decided to put it in the song, just to give everybody a frame of reference as to, you know, what can happen. What I'm trying to say is, by stopping in the middle of the song, and explaining this to you, is that... I think it's one of the lamest verses I ever wrote. And, uhh...it takes a lotta nerve for me to get up here and sing it in front of you people. But, if when I'm finished singing, you sing the chorus 'Sugar Mountain' super loud, I'll just forget about it right away and we can continue."As Peak Stupidity's been telling ya'll for a long time, good lyrics can be nice, but with a great tune, they just don't matter. This is such a case. Without an internet and all earlier, I did not know this one line until today, when I finally looked it up:
It's so noisy at the fair,For the life of me, all I could make out of it was "...and the candy floss your head.", cause well, I get that they were at the fair and all, but... look, why didn't you translate it into American, if you're gonna move here, Neil? It's cotton candy! Ohhhhh... duh!
but all your friends are there,
and the candy floss you had,
and your mother and your dad.
I used to be able to play this on guitar - not too hard. I like the hammer-downs that Neil does on acoustic guitar, but his way of using the guitars for both melody and percussion is something I couldn't do.
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Comments:
Possumman
Sunday - December 3rd 2023 8:55AM MST
PS My wife back in the early 70's was a huge Neil Young fan and we had a bunch of albums and bootlegs--Also a fan of Jackson Brown --Joni Mitchell etc and others that I referred to as "Music to sit in a dark closet and slit your wrists by". Later she came to her senses.
Possumman
Sunday - December 3rd 2023 8:54AM MST
PS My wife back in the early 70's was a huge Neil Young fan and we had a bunch of albums and bootlegs--Also a fan of Jackson Brown --Joni Mitchell etc and others that I referred to as "Music to sit in a dark closet and slit your wrists by". Later she came to her senses.
Moderator
Thursday - November 30th 2023 2:34PM MST
PS: Dieter, I learned that same stuff from wiki about 10 minutes before writing this post yesterday. Those 2 Canadians were a nice addition to the 1970s (and beyond) Los Angeles folk music scene. They say Neil's car he drove around LA was a hearse. I guess he got a good deal on it.
Moderator
Thursday - November 30th 2023 2:32PM MST
PS: I know "Big Rock Candy Mountain" is an old traditional hobo song, but I used to hear a kid's version that was slightly different in tune, probably different in lyrics, and shorter.
This one you pasted in sounds like the way it goes on the soundtrack to "Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou". Great soundtrack and fun movie too!
This one you pasted in sounds like the way it goes on the soundtrack to "Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou". Great soundtrack and fun movie too!
Dieter Kief
Thursday - November 30th 2023 6:24AM MST
PS
Neil Young's Sugar Mountain is a work of skill and genius. Neil Young wrote 57 or so verses and then sorted the better ones out. - His father, a sports writer, told him how to do this.
The song is about growing up - and about heroin/drugs in general as a means to avoid that - the stronghold on sugar mountain - - -
So basically the song is about the woke vs. the realistic approach to life (or the kid's and the grown up's) - - -or the eternal struggle between insight and longing - - - the way Neil Young got a hold on that is - ahh - I've said that already: in genius territory. There is a back-story including Joni Mitchell (Circle Games) and Neil Young and this song, taking place while the two met when touring the Canadian provinces as fairly unknown young singer/songwriters and sang these two songs to one another backstage.- What a scene.
Neil Young's Sugar Mountain is a work of skill and genius. Neil Young wrote 57 or so verses and then sorted the better ones out. - His father, a sports writer, told him how to do this.
The song is about growing up - and about heroin/drugs in general as a means to avoid that - the stronghold on sugar mountain - - -
So basically the song is about the woke vs. the realistic approach to life (or the kid's and the grown up's) - - -or the eternal struggle between insight and longing - - - the way Neil Young got a hold on that is - ahh - I've said that already: in genius territory. There is a back-story including Joni Mitchell (Circle Games) and Neil Young and this song, taking place while the two met when touring the Canadian provinces as fairly unknown young singer/songwriters and sang these two songs to one another backstage.- What a scene.
Adam Smith
Wednesday - November 29th 2023 8:21PM MST
PS: Good evening, all, and kinda (but not really) off topic...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6F0IhdaaWI
(lyrics...)
One evening as the sun went down
And the jungle fire was burning
Down the track came a hobo hikin'
And he said, "Boys, I'm not turning
I'm headed for a land that's far away
Beside the crystal fountains
So come with me, we'll go and see
The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
There's a land that's fair and bright
Where the handouts grow on bushes
And you sleep out every night
Where the boxcars all are empty
And the sun shines every day
On the birds and the bees and the cigarette trees
The lemonade springs where the bluebird sings
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
All the cops have wooden legs
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth
And the hens lay soft-boiled eggs
The farmers' trees are full of fruit
And the barns are full of hay
Oh I'm bound to go where there ain't no snow
Where the rain don't fall, the wind don't blow
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
You never change your socks
And the little streams of alcohol
Come a-trickling down the rocks
The brakemen have to tip their hats
And the railroad bulls are blind
There's a lake of stew and of whiskey, too
You can paddle all around 'em in a big canoe
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
The jails are made of tin
And you can walk right out again
As soon as you are in
There ain't no short-handle shovels
No axes, saws or picks
I'm a-goin' to stay where you sleep all day
Where they hung the jerk that invented work
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
I'll see you all this comin' fall
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
One evening as the sun went down
And the jungle fire was burning
Down the track came a hobo hikin'
And he said, "Boys, I'm not turning
I'm headed for a land that's far away
Beside the crystal fountains
So come with me, we'll go and see
The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
There's a land that's fair and bright
Where the handouts grow on bushes
And you sleep out every night
Where the boxcars all are empty
And the sun shines every day
On the birds and the bees and the cigarette trees
The lemonade springs where the bluebird sings
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
All the cops have wooden legs
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth
And the hens lay soft-boiled eggs
The farmers' trees are full of fruit
And the barns are full of hay
Oh I'm bound to go where there ain't no snow
Where the rain don't fall, the wind don't blow
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
You never change your socks
And the little streams of alcohol
Come a-trickling down the rocks
The brakemen have to tip their hats
And the railroad bulls are blind
There's a lake of stew and of whiskey, too
You can paddle all around 'em in a big canoe
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
The jails are made of tin
And you can walk right out again
As soon as you are in
There ain't no short-handle shovels
No axes, saws or picks
I'm a-goin' to stay where you sleep all day
Where they hung the jerk that invented work
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
I'll see you all this comin' fall
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
One evening as the sun went down
And the jungle fire was burning
Down the track came a hobo hikin'
And he said, "Boys, I'm not turning
I'm headed for a land that's far away
Beside the crystal fountains
So come with me, we'll go and see
The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
There's a land that's fair and bright
Where the handouts grow on bushes
And you sleep out every night
Where the boxcars all are empty
And the sun shines every day
On the birds and the bees and the cigarette trees
The lemonade springs where the bluebird sings
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
All the cops have wooden legs
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth
And the hens lay soft-boiled eggs
The farmers' trees are full of fruit
And the barns are full of hay
Oh I'm bound to go where there ain't no snow
Where the rain don't fall, the wind don't blow
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
You never change your socks
And the little streams of alcohol
Come a-trickling down the rocks
The brakemen have to tip their hats
And the railroad bulls are blind
There's a lake of stew and of whiskey, too
You can paddle all around 'em in a big canoe
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
The jails are made of tin
And you can walk right out again
As soon as you are in
There ain't no short-handle shovels
No axes, saws or picks
I'm a-goin' to stay where you sleep all day
Where they hung the jerk that invented work
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
I'll see you all this comin' fall
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
🙂 ☮️
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6F0IhdaaWI
(lyrics...)
One evening as the sun went down
And the jungle fire was burning
Down the track came a hobo hikin'
And he said, "Boys, I'm not turning
I'm headed for a land that's far away
Beside the crystal fountains
So come with me, we'll go and see
The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
There's a land that's fair and bright
Where the handouts grow on bushes
And you sleep out every night
Where the boxcars all are empty
And the sun shines every day
On the birds and the bees and the cigarette trees
The lemonade springs where the bluebird sings
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
All the cops have wooden legs
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth
And the hens lay soft-boiled eggs
The farmers' trees are full of fruit
And the barns are full of hay
Oh I'm bound to go where there ain't no snow
Where the rain don't fall, the wind don't blow
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
You never change your socks
And the little streams of alcohol
Come a-trickling down the rocks
The brakemen have to tip their hats
And the railroad bulls are blind
There's a lake of stew and of whiskey, too
You can paddle all around 'em in a big canoe
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
The jails are made of tin
And you can walk right out again
As soon as you are in
There ain't no short-handle shovels
No axes, saws or picks
I'm a-goin' to stay where you sleep all day
Where they hung the jerk that invented work
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
I'll see you all this comin' fall
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
One evening as the sun went down
And the jungle fire was burning
Down the track came a hobo hikin'
And he said, "Boys, I'm not turning
I'm headed for a land that's far away
Beside the crystal fountains
So come with me, we'll go and see
The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
There's a land that's fair and bright
Where the handouts grow on bushes
And you sleep out every night
Where the boxcars all are empty
And the sun shines every day
On the birds and the bees and the cigarette trees
The lemonade springs where the bluebird sings
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
All the cops have wooden legs
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth
And the hens lay soft-boiled eggs
The farmers' trees are full of fruit
And the barns are full of hay
Oh I'm bound to go where there ain't no snow
Where the rain don't fall, the wind don't blow
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
You never change your socks
And the little streams of alcohol
Come a-trickling down the rocks
The brakemen have to tip their hats
And the railroad bulls are blind
There's a lake of stew and of whiskey, too
You can paddle all around 'em in a big canoe
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
The jails are made of tin
And you can walk right out again
As soon as you are in
There ain't no short-handle shovels
No axes, saws or picks
I'm a-goin' to stay where you sleep all day
Where they hung the jerk that invented work
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
I'll see you all this comin' fall
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
One evening as the sun went down
And the jungle fire was burning
Down the track came a hobo hikin'
And he said, "Boys, I'm not turning
I'm headed for a land that's far away
Beside the crystal fountains
So come with me, we'll go and see
The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
There's a land that's fair and bright
Where the handouts grow on bushes
And you sleep out every night
Where the boxcars all are empty
And the sun shines every day
On the birds and the bees and the cigarette trees
The lemonade springs where the bluebird sings
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
All the cops have wooden legs
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth
And the hens lay soft-boiled eggs
The farmers' trees are full of fruit
And the barns are full of hay
Oh I'm bound to go where there ain't no snow
Where the rain don't fall, the wind don't blow
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
You never change your socks
And the little streams of alcohol
Come a-trickling down the rocks
The brakemen have to tip their hats
And the railroad bulls are blind
There's a lake of stew and of whiskey, too
You can paddle all around 'em in a big canoe
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
The jails are made of tin
And you can walk right out again
As soon as you are in
There ain't no short-handle shovels
No axes, saws or picks
I'm a-goin' to stay where you sleep all day
Where they hung the jerk that invented work
In The Big Rock Candy Mountains
I'll see you all this comin' fall
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains
🙂 ☮️
Moderator
Wednesday - November 29th 2023 8:01PM MST
PS: Thanks, Tim. Do they have any real snow yet or just machine-made stuff?
Tim Berline
Wednesday - November 29th 2023 6:34PM MST
PS
Sugar Mountain (NC) ski season started today.
Sugar Mountain (NC) ski season started today.