Neil Young – Time Fades Away [1973]

Year Released: 1973
Record Company: Reprise

 

1. Time Fades Away (5:37)
2. Journey Through the Past (3:22)
3. Yonder Stands the Sinner (3:11)
4. L.A. (3:10)
5. Love in Mind (1:56)
6. Don’t Be Denied (5:16)
7. The Bridge (3:05)
8. Last Dance (8:47)

 

TIME FADES AWAY

Fourteen junkies too weak to work
One sells diamonds for what they’re worth
Down on pain street, disappointment lurks
Son, don’t be home too late.
Try to get back by eight
Son, don’t wait till the break of day
`Cause you know how time fades away.
Time fades away
You know how time fades away.

All day presidents look out windows
All night sentries watch the moonglow
All are waiting till the time is right
Son, don’t be home too late
Try to get back by eight
Son, don’t wait till the break of day
`Cause you know how time fades away.
Time fades away
You know how time fades away.

Back in Canada I spent my days
Riding subways through a haze
I was handcuffed, I was born & raised
Son, don’t be home too late
Try to get back by eight
Son, don’t wait till the bread of day
`Cause you know how time fades away.
Time fades away
You know how time fades away.

Thirteen junkies too weak to work
One sells diamonds for what they’re worth
Down on pain street disappointment lurks.
Son, don’t be home too late
Try to get back by eight, eight
Son, don’t wait til the break of day
`Cause you know how time fades away.
Time fades away
You know how time fades away.

Time fades away
You know how time fades away…

 

JOURNEY THRU THE PAST

When winter rains come pourin’ down
On that new home of mine,
Will you think of me and wonder if I’m fine?
Will your restless heart come back to mine
On a journey thru the past.
Will I still be in your eyes and on your mind?

Now I’m going back to Canada
On a journey through the past
And I won’t be back till February comes
“I will stay with you if you’ll stay with me”
Said the fiddler to the drum
“And we’ll keep good time on a journey
Through the Past.”

When winter rains come pourin’ down
On that new home of mine,
Will I still be in your eyes and on your mind?
Will I still be in your eyes and on your mind?

 

YONDER STANDS THE SINNER

Well, you heard about the Great Pretender?
I went to see him and he’s not the same
Down by the club on the parking lot cinders
I was to meet him and play his game.
Yonder stands the sinner
He calls my name without a sound!

I saw his face in the attic window
Yellin’ down through the broken pane
Sinnerman! What you got to run for?
Church bells rang when he said that name
Yonder stands the sinner
He calls my name without a sound.

Well, I was about as scared as I could be
I went and hid behind the nearest tree
Peeked out from behind the branches
Sinner!
Yonder stands the sinner
He calls my name without a sound
To get down.

I guess you heard about the great pretender
I went to see him and he’s not the same. (repeat)

 

L.A.

In a matter of time, there’ll be a friend of mine
Gonna come to the coast, you’re gonna see him
Up close for a minute or two…
While the ground cracks under you.

By the look in your eyes
You’d think that it was a surprise
But you seem to forget
Something somebody said
About the bubbles in the sea
And an ocean full of trees
And you now, L.A.
Uptight, city in the smog, city in the smog.
Don’t you wish that you could be here too?
Don’t you wish that you could be here too?
Don’t you wish that you could be here too?

Well, it’s hard to believe so you get up to leave
And you laugh at the door
That you heard it all before
Oh it’s so good to know
That it’s all just a show for you.

But when the suppers are planned
And the freeways are crammed
And the mountains erupt
And the valley is sucked
Into cracks in the earth
Will I finally be heard by you, L.A.
Uptight, city in the smog, city in the smog.
Don’t you wish that you could be here too?
Don’t you wish that you could be here too?
Don’t you wish that you could be here too?

 

LOVE IN MIND

Woke up this morning with love in mind
It was raining outside by my love still shined
Kept me warm till my plane touched the sky
And I’ve seen love make a fool of a man
He tried to make a loser win.
But I’ve got nothing to lose
I can’t get back again.

Man made rules been holdin’ back my love
Can’t hold it back no more.
Churches long, great sex is wrong
Jesus where is nature gone?
What am I doing here?
What am I doing here?
What am I doing here?
Woke up this morning with love in mind
It was raining outside by my love still shined
Kept me warm till my plane touched the sky

 

DON’T BE DENIED

When I was a young boy
My mama said to me
Your daddy’s leavin’ home today
I think he’s gone to stay
We packed up all our bags
And drove out to Winnipeg
When I got to winnipeg
I checked in to school
I wore white bucks on my feet
When I learned the golden rule.

The punches came fast and hard
Lying on myback in the schoolyard.

Don’t be denied (repeat 6 times)

Well pretty soon I met a friend
He played guitar
We used to sit on the steps at school
And dream of being stars
We started a band
We played all night.

Don’t be denied (repeat 6 times)

Oh Canada
We played all night
I really hate to leave you now
But to stay just wouldn’t be right.
Down in Hollywood
We played so good

The businessmen crowded around
They came to hear the golden sound
There we wwere on the Sunset Strip
Playing our songs for the highest bid
We played all night
The price was right.

Don’t be denied (repeat 6 times)

Well, all that glitters isn’t gold
I know you’ve heard that story told…
But I’m a pauper in a naked disguise
A millionaire through a business man’s eyes.

Oh friend of mine
Don’t be denied.

 

THE BRIDGE

The bridge
We’ll build it now
It may take a lot of time
And it maybe lonely but
Ooh baby, ooh baby
The bridge….
Was falling down
And that took a lot of lies
And it made me lonely
Ooh baby, ooh baby
The bridge was falling.
The bridge was falling.
The bridge was falling.

One day, when you talked to me
I saw myself again
And It made me love you.
Ooh baby, ooh baby
And love came running down
Like a river on your skin
And you let me in.
Ooh babe, ooh babe
You let me in
You let me in
The bridge
We’ll build it now
It may take a lot of time.

 

LAST DANCE

Wake up! It’s a Monday morning
No time left to say goodbye
Can’t breath and the lights are changing.

You can live your own life
Making it happen
Working on your own time
Layed back and laughin’
Oh no, oh no.

Headlights, make it home by sundown
Feeling that the day is through
Return back to where you come from
You can live your own life
Making it happen
Working on your own time
Layed back and laughin’
Oh no, Oh no.

You wake up in the mornin’
And the sun’s comin’ up.
Its been up for hours and hours and hours
And hours and hours and hours
It’s been up for hours and hours and hours
And you light up the stove
And the coffee cup, its hot.
And the orange juice is cold, cold, cold….
Monday morning,
Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up
Its time to go,
Time to go to work.

You can live your own life
Making it happen
Working on your own time
Layed back and laughin
Oh no, Oh no.
No, no, no. (repeat X times)

 

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Credits

Neil Young guitar, vocals
Johnny Barbata drums
Tim Drummond bass
Ben Keith slide
Jack Nitzsche piano
David Crosby backing vocals on “Last Dance”
Graham Nash backing vocals on “Last Dance”