After The Gold Rush

After the Gold Rush er titelmelodien på Young tredje studiealbum fra 1970 af samme navn. Young har sagt, at han ikke husker, hvad sangen handler om. Men i sin biografi fra 2012 gav Young efter sigende en forklaring på sangens oprindelse og betydning. Inspirationen kom fra et manuskript af samme navn, som beskrev de sidste dage af Californien i en apokalyptisk oversvømmelse. Manuskriptet og sangens titel refererer til, hvad der skete med Californien efter guldfeberen.

Young konkluderer til sidst, at After The Gold Rush er en miljøsang, og at temaet om  at rejse i tid, går igen mange af hans sange. ”When I look out the window, the first thing that comes to my mind is the way this place looked a hundred years ago.”

Flere kunstnere har igennem tiden fortolket After The Goldrush, her iblandt Billy Corgan far Smashing Pumpkins og Thom Yorke fra Radiohed, der fortæller om sin oplevelse med Neil Young under et længer interview til BBC i klippet ovenfor. Yorke skal optræde ved en af Youngs mange Bridge School koncerter, og spørger ved den lejlighed Young, om det ville være okay, hvis han spiller After The Gold Rush. Young giver ham lov på den betingelse, at han spiller nummeret på det klaver, som Young selv har skrevet snagen på tredive år tidligere.

Linjen “Look at Mother nature on the run in the 1970s” er i øvrigt også blevet ændret af Young selv gennem årtier, så den altid passer til i tiden, når han synger den live. I dag synger han “Look at Mother Nature on the run in the 21st Century.”

I loved the song on Neil Young's 1970 album, but I didn't know what the song meant. Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris knew Neil, so we called him and asked him. He said, 'I have no idea.' I thought that was so funny. I think it's about the Second Coming or the invasion of aliens, or both.

— Dolly Parton

Well, I dreamed I saw the knights in armor coming
Sayin’ something about a queen
There were peasants singin’ and drummers drumming
And the archer split the tree
There was a fanfare blowin’ to the sun
That was floating on the breeze
Look at mother nature on the run
In the nineteen seventies
Look at mother nature on the run
In the nineteen seventies

I was lyin’ in a burned-out basement
With a full moon in my eyes
I was hopin’ for replacement
When the sun burst through the sky
There was a band playin’ in my head
And I felt like getting high
I was thinkin’ about what a friend had said
I was hopin’ it was a lie
Thinkin’ about what a friend had said
I was hopin’ it was a lie

Well, I dreamed I saw the silver spaceships lying
In the yellow haze of the sun
There were children crying and colors flying
All around the chosen ones
All in a dream, all in a dream
The loading had begun
Flyin’ mother nature’s silver seed
To a new home in the sun
Flyin’ mother nature’s silver seed
To a new home

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