4 Poignant Neil Young Songs About Growing Older in Honor of His 79th Birthday

Here wishing a very Happy Birthday to Canadian folk-rock legend Neil Young, who turned 79 on November 12. What a prolific and wide-ranging career Young has had, including dozens of albums as a solo artist, as well as member of or collaborations with Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Crazy Horse, Pearl Jam, Promise of the Real, and many more.

Young also has delved into filmmaking and has written several books. And although he’s slowed down a bit with regard to touring in recent years, Neil has continued to churn out new music. He’s also keeps releasing a steady stream of archival projects, including live albums and compilations of unreleased studio recordings.

[RELATED: Neil Young Says He Plays This Beloved Song for Fans “More Than I Do It for Myself”]

Young is now just a year shy of 80, but even at an early age, he frequently wrote songs reflecting on the prospects of growing older. In honor of Neil’s birthday, here are four noteworthy songs he composed that feature the theme of aging:

“Here We Are in the Years” (1968)

“Here We Are in the Years” is a deep cut from Young’s 1968 self-titled debut solo album. The pretty folk-pop song’s lyrics focus mainly on the desire to escape city life for a slower, more pastoral existence in the country. It also includes themes about aging and the responsibility that comes with adulthood.

As Young sings in the song’s final refrain, “Here we are in the years / Where the showman shifts the gears / Lives become careers / Children cry in fear, ‘Let us out of here.’”

“Here We Are in the Years” features Young on vocals, guitar, piano, organ, and harpsichord. The track also featured Neil’s former Buffalo Springfield bandmate Jim Messina on bass and George Grantham on drums. Messina and Grantham went on to co-found the country-rock group Poco with Rusty Young and ex-Buffalo Springfield singer Richie Furay.

“Sugar Mountain” (1969)

“Sugar Mountain” is one of Young’s most popular early tunes. He wrote the introspective folk song in 1964 on his 19th birthday at a hotel in Fort William, Ontario, Canada, while on tour with his band The Squires.

“Sugar Mountain” is a lament to lost youth. It uses the carnival-like place mentioned in the title and choruses, which you’re not allowed to visit after you turn 20, as a metaphor for growing up.

The song also features Young offering lyrical snapshots of nostalgic moments in his life. They include visiting a fair with his parents, receiving a love note from a school crush, and smoking his first cigarette.

“Sugar Mountain” was first released in 1969 as the B-side to Neil’s single “The Loner,” from his self-titled debut album. That version was recorded live in November 1968 at a concert at the Canterbury House venue Ann Arbor, Michigan. It later was included on Young’s popular 1978 best-of compilation Decade.

In a 1985 NME interview, as reposted by Songfacts, Young discussed why he liked to include “Sugar Mountain” in his concert sets.

“It’s such a friendly song, and the older I get and the older my audience gets the more relevant it becomes, especially since they’ve been singing it for 20 years,” he noted. “It really means a lot to them, so I like to give ’em the chance to enjoy that moment.”

“Old Man” (1972)

“Old Man” is one of Young’s most famous songs and biggest chart hits. The tune, from Neil’s landmark 1972 album Harvest, reached No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Old Man” found Young addressing an older gentleman and explaining to him that at that time, he was very similar to how the man was when he was younger.

The song was inspired by a man named Louis Avila, who worked as a caretaker at Young’s Broken Arrow Ranch, which Neil purchased in 1970.

“Old Man” features backing vocals by Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor. Taylor also played banjo on the track. The collaboration came about because Ronstadt, Taylor, and Young all were in Nashville to appear on The Johnny Cash Show. While there, Young decided to invite the other two to a local studio, where he was recording some new tunes.

During the same sessions, Ronstadt and Taylor sang on what became Young’s biggest hit, “Heart of Gold.”

According to Songfacts, Young quipped before before “Old Man” during a 2018 concert in Chicago, “It’s hard to do ‘Old Man’ now. It’s like, ‘Old man take a look at my life, I’m a lot like I am.’”

“It’s Only a Dream” (2005)

“It’s Only a Dream” is a song from Young’s 2005 studio album Prairie Wind. The gentle, piano-driven ballad features Young reflecting on his childhood, apparently inspired by a visit to his hometown in rural Canada.

The melancholy tune’s lyrics find Neil lamenting the fading memories he has of his early life.

“It’s Only a Dream” features piano by Spooner Oldham and pedal-steel by Young’s longtime collaborator Ben Keith. The track also includes a mournful string arrangement.