For many reasons, Neil Young is regarded as one of the best songwriters of all time. Two of his most impressive skills are his mastery of the written word and his capacity to blend various musical styles into a coherent whole. Young frequently writes melancholy and reflective songs, and his profound and meaningful lyrics mirror his experiences and feelings in real life.
He joined Buffalo Springfield in the 1960s, and the group’s 1966 debut record met with lukewarm success. However, the ensemble disbanded after just two years, and Young then signed with Reprise Records, releasing his self-titled debut album at the end of 1968. Before that, he dropped out of high school just to follow his dreams in music.
Despite creating masterpieces, they may also regret certain songs they make. It frequently comes down to how they feel about the song’s lyrics or whether or not they were happy with how they performed. Some people may feel this way because they don’t think the music lived up to its full potential or because of a lack of recognition. In the end, whether a musician regrets writing a particular tune is up to them.
Young has been the epitome of beautiful compositions and once he was asked if he had regretted creating any of his albums and he replied. “No, not really. No, some of them aren’t very good, some of them are pretty good, but it doesn’t matter. They passed, they were there.”
However, while chatting on the Howard Stern Show, he revealed there is one song he could’ve changed or done differently. He pointed towards ‘Woodstock’ by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. He said,
“You should’ve heard Stills’ original vocal. It was amazing. We were just hung up on making everything perfect, so we all thought that we had to do it again, but we didn’t. I mean, his overdub vocal is great. I mean, that’s the one everybody hears and it’s a great vocal. But the original vocal was funky like the guitar is funky. We finished the record, and I didn’t realize until later on, but when I heard the original vocal again… we screwed up. We were trying to be good. We tried. Big bummer. Never should have done that.”
He also added, “You shouldn’t try. I think you should just let it be. Then you got the essence of what it is. If you’re trying to do something you think you should be doing, you’ve lost it already.”
