Rust Never Sleeps - Neil Young

Over at PoetryJam, Laurie Kolp asked us to write a poem on all things about RUST.

Some words are just instantly associated with moments or movies or songs. For me I automatically think of Neil Young and the amazing, wonderful album, Rust Never Sleeps.

This album was the obituary to the excesses, creativity and freedom of the 1960’s and 1970’s. It summed up all the wonderful liberty of the music scene, the destruction of the Vietnam War and the rise of consumerism. Ten years later, Neil Young would make a similar statement with the wonderful album ‘Freedom’, but it was the sheer raw power, energy and rage of Rust Never Sleeps mixed with bittersweet poetic words and heartbreaking insight that made this album so incredibly ground breaking. For anyone who grew up in the 60’s and 70’s this was the defining epitaph of two decades from the creative, free-thinking force that is the magnificent Neil Young.

So here is Hey, Hey, my , my the song that opens and closes the album.

Hey hey, my my
Rock and roll can never die
There's more to the picture
Than meets the eye.
Hey hey, my my.

Out of the blue and into the black
You pay for this, but they give you that
And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black.

The king is gone but he's not forgotten
Is this the story of johnny rotten?
It's better to burn out 'cause rust never sleeps
The king is gone but he's not forgotten.

Hey hey, my my
Rock and roll can never die
There's more to the picture
Than meets the eye.