Neil Young – This Note’s For You [1988]Unplugged [1993]

Year Released: 1993
Record Company: Reprise

1. The Old Laughing Lady (5:15)
2. Mr. Soul (3:54)
3. World on a String (3:02)
4. Pocahontas (5:06)
5. Stringman (4:01)
6.Like a Hurricane (4:44)
7.The Needle and the Damage Done (2:52)
8. Helpless (5:48)
9. Harvest Moon (5:20)
10. Transformer Man (3:36)
11. Unknown Legend (4:47)
12. Look Out for My Love (5:57)
13. Long May You Run (5:22)
14. From Hank to Hendrix (5:51)

THE OLD LAUGHING LADY

Don’t call pretty Peggy, she can’t hear you no more.
Don’t leave no message ’round her back door.
They say the old laughin’ lady been here before.
She don’t keep time, she don’t count score.

You can’t have a cupboard if there ain’t no wall.
You got to move, there’s no time for you to stall.
They say the old laughin’ lady dropped by to call.
When she leaves, she leaves nothing at all.

See the drunkyard of the village falling on the street.
Can’t tell his ankles from the rest of his feet.
He loves his old laughin’ lady ’cause her taste is so sweet.
But the laughin’ lady’s lovin’, ain’t the kind he can keep.

There’s a fever on the freeway, blacks out the night.
There’s a slippin’ on the stairway, just don’t feel right.
And there’s a rumblin’ in the bedroom and a flashin’ of light.
There’s the old laughing lady, everything is all right.
There’s the old laughing lady, everything is all right.

MR SOUL

Oh, hello Mr Soul, I dropped by to pick up a reason
For the thought that I caught that my head is the event of the season
Why in crowds just a trace of my face could seem so pleasin’
I’ll cop out to the change, but a stranger is putting the tease on.

I was down on a frown when the messenger brought me a letter
I was raised by the praise of a fan who said I upset her
Any girl in the world could have easily known me better
She said, “You’re strange, but don’t change,” and I let her

In a while will the smile on my face turn to plaster?
Stick around while the clown who is sick does the trick of disaster
For the race of my head and my face is moving much faster
Is it strange I should change? I don’t know, why don’t you ask her?
Is it strange I should change? I don’t know
Is it strange I should change? I don’t know

WORLD ON A STRING

You know I lose, you know I win;
you know I call for the shape I’m in.
It’s just a game you see me play,
only real in the way that I feel from day to day.

Although the answer is not unknown,
I’m searchin’, searchin’, and how I’ve grown.
It’s not all right to say goodbye,
and the world on a string doesn’t mean a thing.

No, the world on a string doesn’t mean a thing.
It’s only real in the way that I feel from day to day.
Day to day.

POCAHONTAS

Aurora Borealis
The icy sky at night
Paddles cut the water
In a long and hurried flight
From the white man to the fields of green
And the homeland we’ve never seen

They killed us in our teepees
And they cut our women down
They might have left some babies
Cryin’ on the ground
But the firesticks and the wagons come
And the night falls on the settin’ sun

They massacred the buffalo
Kitty-corner from the bank
Taxis run across my feet
And my eyes have turned to blanks
In my little box at the top of the stairs
With my Indian rug and a pipe to share

I wish I was a trapper
I would give a thousand pelts
To sleep with Pocahontas
And find out how she felt
In the mornin’ on the fields of green
In the homeland we’ve never seen

And maybe Marlon Brando
Will be there by the fire
We’ll sit and talk about Hollywood
And the good things there for hire
Like the Astrodome and the first teepee
Marlon Brando, Pocahontas and me
Marlon Brando, Pocahontas and me

STRINGMAN

You can say the soul is gone
And the feelin’s just not there
Not like it was so long ago
On the empty page before you
You can fill in what you care
Try to make it new before you go

Take the simple case of the sarge
Who wouldn’t go back to war
‘Cause the hippies tore down everything that he was fightin’ for
Or the lovers on the blankets
The city turned to whores
With memories of green kissed by the sun

You can say the soul is gone
And close another door
Just be sure that yours is not the one

And I’m singin’ for the stringman
Who lately lost his wife
There is no dearer friend of mine
That I know in this life
On his shoulders rests a violin
For his head where chaos reigns
But his heart can’t find a simple way
To live with all those things
All those things
He’s a stringman
A stringman
All those strings to pull

LIKE A HURRICANE

Once I thought I saw you
in a crowded hazy bar
Dancin’ on the light from star to star
Far across the moonbeams
I know that’s who you are
I saw your brown eyes turnin’ once to fire

You are like a hurricane
There’s calm in your eyes
And I’m gettin’ blown away
To somewhere safer where the feelin’ stays
I want to love you but I get so blown away

I am just a dreamer but you were just a dream
You could have been anyone to me
Before that moment you touched my lips
That perfect feeling when time just slips
Away between us on our foggy trips

You are like a hurricane
There’s calm in your eyes
And I’m gettin’ blown away
To somewhere safer where the feelin’ stays
I want to love you but I get so blown away
Blown Away

THE NEEDLE AND THE DAMAGE DONE

I caught you knockin’ at my cellar door
I love you, baby, can I have some more?
Oh, oh, the damage done

I hit the city and I lost my band
I watched the needle take another man
Gone, gone, the damage done

I sing the song because I love the man
I know that some of you don’t understand
Milk blood to keep from running out

I’ve seen the needle and the damage done
A little part of it in everyone
But every junkie’s like a settin’ sun

HELPLESS

There is a town in north Ontario
With dream comfort memory to spare
And in my mind I still need a place to go
All my changes were there

Blue, blue windows behind the stars
Yellow moon on the rise
Big birds flyin’ across the sky
Throwin’ shadows on our eyes
Leave us

Helpless, helpless, helpless
Oh, babe, can you hear me now?
The chains are locked and tied across my door
Baby, baby, sing with me somehow

Helpless, helpless, helpless
Helpless, helpless, helpless
Helpless, helpless, helpless
Helpless, helpless, helpless

Helpless, helpless, helpless

HARVEST MOON

Come a little bit closer
Hear what I have to say
Just like children sleepin’
We could dream this night away

But there’s a full moon risin’
Let’s go dancing in the light
We know where the music’s playin’
Let’s go out and feel the night

Because I’m still in love with you
I want to see you dance again
Because I’m still in love with you
On this harvest moon

When we were strangers
I watched you from afar
When we were lovers
I loved you with all my heart

But now it’s gettin’ late
And the moon is climbin’ high
I want to celebrate
See it shinin’ in your eye

Because I’m still in love with you
I want to see you dance again
Because I’m still in love with you
On this harvest moon

TRANSFORMER MAN

Transformer man
Transformer man

You run the show
Remote control
Direct the action with a push of a button
You’re a transformer man
Power in your hand
Transformer man

Transformer man
Transformer man

Sooner or later you’ll have to see
The cause and effect
So many things still left to do
But we haven’t made it yet
Every morning when I look in your eyes
I feel electrified by you
Oh yeah

Transformer man
Transformer man

Transformer man
Still in command
Your eyes are shining on a beam through the galaxy of love
Transformer man
Unlock the secrets
Let us throw off the chains that keep you down

Transformer man
Transformer man

Sooner or later you’ll have to see
The cause and effect
So many things still left to do
But we haven’t made it yet
Every morning when I look in your eyes
I feel electrified by you
Oh yeah

Transformer man
Transformer man
Transformer man
Transformer man

UNKNOWN LEGEND

She used to work in a diner
Never saw a woman look finer
I used to order just to watch her float across the floor
She grew up in a small town
Never put her roots down
Daddy always kept movin’ so she did too

Somewhere on a desert highway
She rides a Harley-Davidson
Her long blonde hair flyin’ in the wind
She’s been runnin’ half her life
The chrome and steel she rides
Collidin’ with the very air she breathes
The air she breathes

You know it ain’t easy
You got to hold on
She was unknown legend in her time
Now she’s dressing two kids
Lookin’ for a magic kiss
She gets the far-away look in her eyes

LOOK OUT FOR MY LOVE

There’s a lot to learn
For wastin’ time
There’s a heart that burns
There’s an open mind

Look out for my love
Look out for my love
Look out for my love
Look out for my love
You own it
You own it now
You own it

There’s a weight on you
But you can’t feel it
Livin’ like I do
It’s hard for you to see it

Was I hurt too bad?
Can I show you the daylight?
How could I be sad
When I know that you might

Look out for my love
Look out for my love
Look out for my love
Look out for my love

It’s in your neighborhood
I know things are gonna change
But I can’t say bad or good

Silver wings of mornin’
Shinin’ in the gray day
While the ice is formin’
On a lonely runway

Hydraulic wipers pumpin’
’til the window glistens
Somethin’ sayin’ somethin’
No one seems to listen

Men with walkie-talkies
Men with flashlights wavin’
Up upon the tower
The clock reads daylight savings

I’m home again to you babe
You know it makes me wonder
Sittin’ in the quiet slipstream
Rollin’ in the thunder

Look out for my love
Look out for my love
Look out for my love
Look out for my love

Look out for my love
Look out for my love

Look out for my love
Look out for my love
Look out for my love
Look out for my love

LONG MAY YOU RUN

We’ve been through some things together
With trunks of memories still to come
We found things to do in stormy weather
Long may you run

Long may you run
Long may you run
Although these changes have come
With your chrome heart shining
in the sun
Long may you run

Well, it was back in Blind River in 1962
When I last say you alive
But we missed that shift on the long decline
Long may you run

Long may you run
Long may you run
Although these changes have come
With your chrome heart shining
in the sun
Long may you run

Maybe The Beach Boys have got you now
With those waves singin’ “Caroline No”
Rollin’ down that empty ocean road
Gettin’ to the surf on time

Long may you run
Long may you run
Although these changes have come
With your chrome heart shining
in the sun
Long may you run

FROM HANK TO HENDRIX

From Hank to Hendrix
I walked these streets with you
Here I am with my old guitar
Doin’ what I do

I always expected
That you would see me through
I never believed in much
But I believed in you

Can we get it together
Can we still stand side by side
Can we make it last
Like a musical ride?

From Marilyn to Madonna
I always loved your smile
Now we’re headed for the big divorce
California-style

I hear myself singin’
Like along-lost friend
The same thing that makes you live
Can kill you in the end

Can we get it together
Can we still stand side by side
Can we make it last
Like a musical ride?

Sometimes it’s distorted
Not clear to you
Sometimes the beauty of love
Just comes ringin’ through

New glass in the window
New leaf on the tree
New distance between us
You and me

Can we get it together
Can we still stand side by side
Can we make it last
Like a musical ride?

—————————-

Neil Young: guitar, harmonica, piano, pump organ, vocal
Nils Lofgren: guitar, autoharp, accordion, vocal
Astrid Young: vocal
Nicolette Larson: vocal
Ben Keith: dobro
Spooner Oldham: piano, pump organ
Tim Drummond: bass
Oscar Butterworth (Kenny Buttrey): drums
Larry Cragg: broom on “Harvest Moon”

Recorded at Stage 12, Universal Studios, Universal City, CA
in a videotaping session for “MTV Unplugged” on Feb. 7, 1993

Produced by David Briggs

An edited videotape of this performance was broadcast on MTV and later released on laserdisc and videotape