Neil Young & Crazy Horse Greendale (2003) 1. Falling From Above 2. Double 'E' 3. Leave The Driving 4. Bandit 5. Carmichael 6. Devil's Sidewalk 7. Grandpa's Interview 8. Bringin' Down Dinner 9. Sun Green 10. Be The Rain Neil Young (vocals, guitar) Ralph Molina (drums) Billy Talbot (bass) ................ ................ Greendale lyrics Chapter 1 – FALLING FROM ABOVE Grandpa said to cousin Jed Sitting on the porch, "I won't retire But I might retread. Seem like that guy singin' this song Been doing it for a long time Is there anything he knows That he ain't said? Sing a song for freedom Sing a song for love Sing a song for depressed angels Falling from above." Grandpa held the paper Pretending he could see But he couldn't read Without his glasses on "How can all those people Afford so many things? When I was young we wore What we had on." Mamma said, "A little love and affection In everything you do Will make the world a better place With or without you. A little love and affection In everything you do." Slamming down some late night shots The hero and the artist compare Those envisions and afterthoughts For the twenty first century. But mostly came up with nothing So the truth was never learned And the human race just Kept rollin' on. Rollin' through the fighting Rollin' through the religious wars Rollin' down the temple walls And the churches' exposed sores. Rollin' through the fighting Through religious wars Mostly came up with nothing... "Grandpa, here's your glasses; You'll see much better now," Said that young girl Of Edith and Earl's. But Grandpa just kept starin' He was lost in some distant thought Then he turned and he said To that young girl, "A little love and affection In everything you do Will make the world a better place With or without you. With or without you A better place With or without you With or without you." Hear the rooster crowin' Down on the Double 'E' It's a new morning Breaking on the green. Bouncing off the Towers, The sun's heading for the street The business meeting Window shades are drawn. Another morning edition Is headed for the porch 'Cause Grandma puts down the paper Before Grandpa raises his fork. "A little love and affection In every thing you do A better place With or without you." Hear the rooster crowin' Down on the Double 'E' Chapter 2 – DOUBLE ‘E’ Back in the country, living on the Double 'E' In the sunshine of her life There's already a young fellow but Mom and Daddy won't let her leave Mom and Poppa won't let her go But when they go out dancin' She breaks out on her own She's hot enough to burn the house down And Mom and Daddy don't know When Edith and Earl renamed the Double 'E' They nearly made history The neighbours rose up, some of them were mad as hell Cause it used to be the Double 'L' Change comes slow in the country When you're new there's a lot of distrust Years fly by uneventful Memories turn to dust Meanwhile Granny has got her bright colors on And the sun's shinin' in her eyes Cruisin' by the bars and honky-tonks where she met Grandpa And caught that young man's eye Dusty white El Dorado Cruisin' through the trees Slippin' through the shadows Of what used to be Back in the days, living in the summer of love Living in the summer of love Grandma's okay, not the same since Grandpa's gone She's living in the summer of love Back in the days, living in the summer of love Living in the summer of love Living in the summer of love Living in the summer of love Living in the summer of love Chapter 3 – LEAVE THE DRIVING Out on the old coast highway Flying through the night Jed got stopped by the CHP For speedin' and no brake lights Rolled down the driver's window Slipped his gun down under his seat The glove-box was full of cocaine The trunk was full of weed "Driver's license and registration," Said the officer with his flashlight Search around the floor, look hard Smellin' like something ain't right Jed's life flashed before him Like a scratchy old super-8 He heard the sound of the future On an scratched 78 Nothing was still, all was moving When the flashlight found the gun Then Jed pulled the trigger In a split-second tragic blunder "It makes you think about living What life has to tell," Said Jed to Grandpa From inside his cell Camouflage hung in his closet Guns all over the wall Plans for buildings and engineers And a book with no numbers at all The whole town was stunned They closed the coast highway for twelve hours No one could believe it Jed was one of ours Meanwhile across the ocean Living in the internet Is the cause of an explosion No one has heard yet But there's no need to worry There's no reason to fuss Just go on about your work now And leave the drivin' to us And we'll be watching you No matter what you do And you can do your part By watchin' others too Grandpa put down the paper Staring in disbelief Jed had always been good to him Never gave him any grief The moral of this story Is try not to get too old The more time you spend on earth The more you see unfold And as an afterthought This must, too, be told Some people have taken pure bullshit And turned it into gold Chapter 4 – BANDIT Turn the pages of this old book Feels familiar, it may be worth a second look Wrapping up dope in a paper bag Talking to yourself taking a drag What does it matter the things you say They’ll never hear it anyway Gotta get past the negative things Lawyers and business, you get what you bring No one's sorry you did it yourself It's time to relax now and then give it hell Someday you'll find what you're looking for Someday you'll find everything you're looking for You didn't bet on the Dodgers to beat the Giants And David came up, Now you gotta pay up You didn't count on that Geez, half the money's gone The month is still young Where are you gonna go now? You gotta trust someone Trust someone Someone to trust. Can’t go to your brother Cause that money’s all gone Can’t go to your friends Someday you'll find everything you're looking for Someday you'll find everything you're looking for Someday you'll find everything you're looking for Someday you'll find everything you're looking for, yeah Made out like a bandit for so many years What're you looking for? One more big score? What're you trying to prove? Try to get closer but not too close Try to get through but not be through No one can touch you now I can touch you now You're invisible, you've got too many secrets Bob Dylan said that Or something like that Someday you'll find what you're looking for Someday you'll find everything you're looking for Someday you'll find everything you're looking for Someday you'll find everything you're looking for, yeah Chapter 5 – CARMICHAEL A silk scarf and a napkin Hidden in a drawer Two hundred bucks in an envelope Labeled ‘Lenore’ "Maybe she shouldn’t see this. She should never know," Said the widow’s best friend, Ann, "I’ll just take it and go." "I’ll give her the money later Say it was in his shoe That way she’ll never find out That’ll do." "Carmichael was a credit to the force In everything he did. It’s like we got a big hole in our side Where he fit. If any of you officers Would like to say a word, Now would be the time To be heard." "Well, thank you, Chief, I sure would. Carmichael was a partner of mine. He was always very careful. And he played it straight down the line." One by one, the officers spoke And the service came to a close He had no living relatives but his wife And she never showed She just couldn’t face the men They all understood They got in their cars And drove home as directly as they could "Carmichael, you asshole," the new widow sobbed beneath her veil "Shot down in the line of duty Is that how justice never fails?" "I wish that things were better When we said goodbye today But we had our share of good times though Along the way. Remember, hey Mr. Las Vegas, You used to be so cool We met Wayne Newton down at Pebble Beach And you acted like a fool? We just couldn’t stop laughing It seemed so funny to us We left our luggage back in the room And almost missed the bus. That was a great vacation Maybe the best of all But God damn it, Carmichael, you’re dead now And I’m talkin’ to the wall." The force got back to normal Carmichael was replaced For one year nobody parked a car In Carmichael’s space. Chapter 6 - DEVIL’S SIDEWALK Well the red light shines On the streets of hate Where the devil dines Who knows what he ate "It's a simple thing Trying to stay afloat," The captain said Without his boat Some things are getting better Other things a little worse It's a situation Much like a curse" "It's the devil's sidewalk It's the devil's door I've tried to avoid it," Said the captain of the shore There's a garden growing And a million weeds With no way of knowing Who's done which deed "That's an honest tale," Said the helmsman to the mate "About a woman delicious And a matter of fate" Big wheel keep rollin' Down on me "One thing I can tell you Is you got to be free" John Lennon said that And "I believe in love" But I believe in action When push comes to shove "Who cares what you believe," Said the captain, amazed "If you stood in my shoes Your eyes would be glazed" So, my fair damsel Won't you take your leave Are you headed for the country? Where you wear the greensleeves And the children laugh And the old folks sing And the church bell tolls For a miraculous thing Where the big red furnace Just blooms and glows Where the big heart beats Where the big wheel rolls Chapter 7 – GRANDPA’S INTERVIEW "Grandpa, here's your coffee," said Edith, as she filled his cup. "Nobody'll find you here, and Earl is glad you guys showed up." "The way things are downtown, you might have to stay for awhile. There was a helicopter hovering over your house when I talked to your neighbor, Kyle." "Who the hell do they think they are, Invading our home like that? Grandma and I had to leave so fast, We couldn't even catch the cat." "The helicopter scared the shit out of him, and it took off down a trail, down past the railroad track, towards the county jail." "Jed, you really screwed up now! What did you have to do that for? Everybody wants to hang your ass, and here's a note from Lenore." Sun touched the cold steel bars as she pushed the paper in. Jed took it up and read it and he couldn't hide a grin. Outside the jail window a crow flew across the sky, completely disappearing behind each bar, then a helicopter flew by. "Say hi to Earl and Edith. Tell 'm I'm doing fine. Tell 'm it's time for them to let you go now, they should cut the line." "Can grandma come and see me? I got a new song to sing it's longer than all the others combined and it doesn't mean a thing." The noise was unfamiliar, generators whirling, walkie-talkies screaming, vans parked in the open field. TV crews and cameras, they wanted to interview grandpa on the porch. They came through the gate and across the lawn knocking down Edith's Tiki Torch. And grandpa saw them there, looking through the venetian blind. "Those people don't have any respect, so they won't get any of mine. I don't wanna talk about Jed. I don't watch channel 2 or 6 or 9. I don't have time to talk that fast, and it ain't my crime. It ain't a honour to be on TV and it ain't a duty either. The only good thing about TV is shows like 'Leave it to Beaver.'" 'Shows with love and affection', like mama used to say. A little Mayberry living could go a long way." He took Earl's shotgun down from the closet, loaded up both barrels. Walked out on the porch and fired 'm off, and up walked a woman named Carol. "Susan Carol from Early Magazine, I got some questions to ask." "Well you can stick 'm where the sun don't shine!," grandpa said with a gasp. Then he fell face first and let out a sigh, and Edith ran out in shock. He was looking at her from down on the floor, Grandpa looked like he was trying to talk. "That guy just keeps singin'! Can somebody shut him up? I don't know for the life of me where he comes up with that stuff." They laid his head on a newspaper with a picture of Carmichael on the front page, posing with the little league baseball team, and a seedy shot of Jed on a motorcycle. Grandpa died a hero. Fighting for freedom of silence. Trying to stop the media. Trying to be anonymous. Share your loving and you live so long. Share your loving and you live so long. Share your loving and you live so long. Live so long. Chapter 8 – BRINGIN’ DOWN DINNER The evening fog was rollin’ in It was gettin’ hard to see The old white car edged down the road Headed for the Double ‘E’ She was bringin’ down dinner for Grandpa It was crawling with vitamins And tender as a mother’s love Tender as a mother’s love When she saw the TV vans The side door was open There were three TVs Grandpa’s face was on every one He was talkin’ to a woman with a microphone She was sexy and her hair was all done Sun Green came down and met Grandma then "My you’re such a beautiful girl. Mother Earth needs more like you. You should go out now and see the world. What’s Grandpa doin’ on TV? I got his dinner in the car. All these vans have blocked our way But we can carry it, It’s not too far." Chapter 9 – SUN GREEN Sun Green started makin’ waves On the day that Grandpa died Speakin’ out against anything Unjust or packed with lies She chained herself to a statue of an eagle In the lobby of Power Co. And started yelling through a megaphone, "There’s corruption on the highest floor." Suits poured out of elevators "You’re all dirty." Phoneheads began to speak "You can’t trust any of them." Security couldn’t get her down She was welded to the eagle’s beak. Sun Green leaned into that megaphone, said, "Truth is all I seek." Security brought in some blow torches News cameras recorded her speech, "When the city is plunged into darkness by an unpredicted rolling blackout The White House always blames the governor Saying the solution is to vote him out." On top of that great bronze eagle Sun’s voice was loud and clear. She said, "Power Co’s working with the White House to paralyze our state with fear." It was a golden moment In the history of TV news No one could explain it It just got great reviews "Hey, Mr. Clean, you’re dirty now, too. Hey, Mr. Clean, you’re dirty now, too. Hey, Mr. Clean, you’re dirty now, too. Hey, Mr. Clean, you’re dirty now, too." The Imitators were playing Down at Jon Lee’s bar When Sun went down to see ‘em Someone followed her in a car Now when she goes dancin’ She has to watch her back The FBI just trashed her room One of them kicked her cat Damn thing scratched his leg So he had to shoot it dead And leave it lyin’ in a puddle of blood At the foot of Sun Green’s bed Jon Lee’s was rockin’ The Imitators drove it home Sun was dancin’ up a heat wave For awhile she was all alone When up walked a tall stranger Shadowed her move to move In perfect unison A supernatural groove He took her by the hand And the room began to spin He said, "I’m Earth; Earth Brown. You know the shape I’m in. I’m leavin’ tonight for Alaska And I want you to come in the spring And be a goddess in the planet wars And save the living things. I’m ready to go right now," Sun Green told Earth Brown "Let’s go back to my place, pick up my cat, and leave this town behind." "Hey, Mr. Clean, you’re dirty now, too. Hey, Mr. Clean, you’re dirty now, too. Hey, Mr. Clean, you’re dirty now, too. Hey, Mr. Clean." Next day Sun Green got busted for pot And it made the headline news But then the charges all got dropped And the story gets confused "I’d still like to meet Julia Butterfly And see what remedy brings And be a goddess in the planet wars Try to save the living things But that might not be easy Livin’ on the run Mother Earth has many enemies There’s much work to be done" "Hey, Mr. Clean, you’re dirty now, too. Hey, Mr. Clean, you’re dirty now, too. Hey, Mr. Clean, you’re dirty now, too. Hey, Mr. Clean." Chapter 10 – BE THE RAIN Save the planet for another day Attention shoppers. Buy with a conscience and save. Save the planet for another day Save Alaska! Let the caribou stay. Don't care what the governments say They're all bought and paid for anyway. Save the planet for another day Hey Big Oil! What do you say? We were runnin' through the night Never knowin' if we would see the light Paranoid schizophrenic visions Livin' in fear of the wrong decisions We got to wake up We got to keep goin’ If they follow us There's no way of knowin' We got a job to do We got to save Mother Earth Be the ocean when it meets the sky You can make a difference. If you really try. Be the magic in the Northern lights Six Days... Six nights. Be the river as it rolls along It has three-eyed fish. And it's smellin' strong. Be the rain you remember fallin' Be the rain. Be the rain. Yeah, rain was fallin' and we're soakin' wet Hail is beatin’ down on our heads The wind is blowin' through our hair Faces frozen in the frigid air We got to get there Alaska We got to be there Before the big machines We got a job to do We got to save Mother Earth Dream the hunter on the western plain The birds are all gone. Where did they go? Dream the fisherman in his boat He's comin’ home empty. He's barely afloat. Dream the logger in the great northwest They're runnin’ out of trees. They got to give it a rest. (There's no other way to cut it) Dream the farmer in the old heartland Corporate greed and chemicals are killin' the land. Next mornin' Sun was up at dawn She looked around and Earth was gone Dark visions he had last night He needed peace, he needed light. He heard the rumble and He saw the big machines The green army rose It was a bad dream He had a job to do He had to save Mother Earth Be the ocean when it meets the sky Greek freighters are dumping crap somewhere right now. Be the magic in the northern lights (The ice is melting!) Be the river as it rolls along Toxic waste dumpin' from corporate farms. Be the rain you remember fallin' Be the rain. Be the rain. Save the Planet for another day Be the rain. Be the rain. Be the river as it rolls along Be the rain. Be the rain. --------------end-------------