Don’t Let It Bring You Down

Don’t Let It Bring You Down er fra Neil Youngs tredje studiealbum After the Gold Rush fra 1970. Sangen er også med på Crosby, Stills, Nash & Youngs live album 4 Way Street fra 1971, ligesom der også findes fremragende live udgaver med Young solo på for eksempel Live At Massey Hall 1971 og Live At The Cellar Door 1970.

Young spiller sangen i dobbelt drop C stemning, som ligner dobbelt drop D; dog med den forskel, at hele guitaren er stemt ned et helt trin først. Særligt i soloversionerne giver det en helt speciel mørk og blød lyd til den akustiske guitar, som står i skærende kontrast til Youngs skærende høje vokal på nummeret. For den ligger virkelig højt!

Don’t Let It Bring you Down er blevet fortolket af en lang række forskellige kunstnere, lige fra Sting, Annie Lenox, Chris Cornell og Guns N’ Roses  til vores egne danske Kellermench, der har en mørk og foruroligende version af  nummeret med på deres selvbetitlede debutalbum fra 2009.

Things have been good for me for a long time, so if I look kind of sad, it's bullshit. Forget it. I'm good. It's something about my songs, everybody thinks I'm kind of downbeat.

— Neil Young

Old man lying
By the side of the road
With the lorries rolling by
Blue moon sinking
From the weight of the load
And the buildings scrape the sky

Cold wind ripping
Down the alley at dawn
And the morning paper flies
Dead man lying
By the side of the road
With the daylight in his eyes

Don’t let it bring you down
It’s only castles burning
Find someone who’s turning
And you will come around

Blind man running
Through the light
Of the night
With an answer in his hand
Come on down
To the river of sight
And you can really understand

Red lights flashing
Through the window
In the rain
Can you hear the sirens moan?
White cane lying
In a gutter in the lane
If you’re walking home alone

Don’t let it bring you down
It’s only castles burning
Just find someone who’s turning
And you will come around

Don’t let it bring you down
It’s only castles burning
Just find someone who’s turning
And you will come around