FUCKED UP
Dear Neil,
I am very sad that at your Chicago August 27th show you did not play Fuckin Up, it is my favorite song. August 28th is my birthday and I was hoping for an early birthday present. It was also my partner’s first time getting the opportunity to see you live and we were really excited to hear that song. You played it many times this tour. Please play this song in the future. Thank you.
Looks like i fucked up!
Love
Be well
neil
BE THE RAIN
Be The Rain!
Hi big guy. I requested this a few times but it seems to have more prevalent meaning now in asking for the acoustic Be The Rain which played when opening your Greendale website back in the day. Can you please add it to outtakes? It was stunning.
Tony
Tony, We are going to listen to it.
Love
Be well
neil
THE HEART OF IT
Dear Neil,
I’m Jeff Oster, a trumpet flugelhorn artist living in Canada (with my Winnipeg raised partner!)
Her late partner—the adventure writer Jake MacDonald—said he used to deliver newspapers to you back in the day when you were in Winnipeg 😄
Your music has been a compass for me for decades.
I have something new to share with you, but first: BIG CRIME KICKS ASS!!! YES!!!
Singer Renée Wilson and I just released an album of reimagined love songs, and Harvest Moon became the heart of it. We’d love to share our version with you—with vocal and flugelhorn no less (and yes we did pay the mechanicals for it through Easysong 🤣):
Thank you for the beauty you’ve given the world.
It would be sweet to hear from you, amigo.
Jeff Oster
Jeff Thanks!
I’ll take a listen
Love
Be well
neil
FROZEN MAN
I saw the note about no Frozen Man with a band. In Special Deluxe you suggest you did it at Quadrafonic in Nashville with Kenny Buttrey before he had to leave for another session.
Looking forward to seeing you and the Chrome Hearts at Shoreline.
Thanks for everything,
Tom
I think it was a run-through Tom, and we never finished it. but i will check..again. the info sounded weird when i got it…
looking again….
Love
Be well
neil
EARLY WOKENESS
I want to thank you for one the best evenings in my life (I have had many by now—74 yill cejckears of them) so no small feat you accomplished there 🙂 on September 1st at Fiddler’s Green in Colorado. You see I have wanted to see you since 1970. It isn’t 1970, but I am in my 70s, so it is 70 something, anyway. You did not disappoint.
What an evening of great music, magical energy, good weather, and kindness and camaraderie all around! I stood in the Pit because my concert style has and always will be up front and center. Someone else got my spot up center, but I was just off to your left singing along! Thank you also for the free month on Neil Young Archives/Rust. I am enjoying perusing it. I am currently enjoying the Hearse Theater. I loved your Barn interview because I read Graham Nash’s book that spoke of that barn with one speaker on one side and the other speaker on the other side of that barn. I said to myself, that is my kind of person. You were so young, but already very WOKE! You will always be my favorite! And After the Gold Rush is my all-time favorite album of all the albums ever! I took a listen to your Talkin to the Trees and am waiting to receive it along with On the Beach and F….king Up!
Peace, Love and good health to you!
P.S. If you continue to perform, I will be there front and center
(Also enjoying your episodes about LincVolt)
Love,
Nancy
Thanks Nancy
Glad you enjoyed the music.
Love
Be well
neil
OIL WATER TRUMP TREES ETC
Hi Uncle Neil
Fellow Canadian here … saw the first Freshwater Stage show in Toronto and it was fabulous. Well done lads, you all sounded tight. I have all your albums and am constantly amazed how you crafted those many melodies and fused them together with your beautiful and sometimes cryptic lyrics. You had the listener listening and engaged without preaching and without being overt in your expressions. I find a real beauty in that, not to mention an artistic brilliance. But what has happened lately? It seems like your lyrics are all very predictable and the songs are excessively proselytizing and repetitive sermons about oil, water, Trump, trees, air, anger, etc. The songs leave nothing to the imagination anymore and your melodies are weak. I most certainly will stand with you on some of your views, but do you have to preach? This just divides people, and honestly, if Briggs were here, I think he’d be giving you an earful as well. Please get back to what Neil has done best.
Respectfully, Richard.
Thanks Richard
I write what I always have, what i feel.
Hope you like what i feel next, or what you feel next…..have you heard my latest album.
it seems like you missed it.
Love
Be well
neil
DEER LAKE PARK
Hi Neil and dhlove,
I am so looking forward to tomorrow and Monday at Deer Lake Park. Saturday is family night with my wife and two daughters, Monday is with a friend of five plus decades and many NY concerts together! Hoping to see the Silver Eagle once again in this neck of the woods.
Peter Moorhead
We were there and it rocked.
LOVE
Be well
neil
BIG CRIME
Neil, thanks for Big Crime . . . we needed that anthem! Simple . . . direct . . . THE TRUTH . . Woody and Pete Seeger would be proud! This nonsense needs to be snuffed out . . . come on people . . . red, blue, whatever . . . we’re all in this together. I want my grandkids rocking in the free world, not subjugated to the Inquisition and eating Soylent Green. NMGA! (We need this on a T-shirt)
Be well,
Uncle Billy Bob
Hey now Billy Bob I don’t really like the song, but i feel it.
Thanks back
Love
Be well
neil
MINDFULNESS
A great video on Mindfulness and community. Ted Talk by Jerry Braza.
Linda
Thanks Linda
Love
Be well
neil
COLORADO
“Colorado”
Working in the yard on a Saturday morning. Songs from Colorado in my ears, soulful sounds.
Thanks Neil and the Horse!
Peace and Love,
Jason
Thanks Jason
Love
Be well
neil
SONG SELECTION
Hi Neil,
Hope you’re doing well and enjoying the tour. Looking forward to seeing you on Friday. I was wondering if you could talk about how you have been selecting songs for the past few tours, especially the Coastal tour and this current Love Earth world adventure. As someone who grew up on Mirror Ball and Sleeps With Angels, I was especially excited to experience so many songs from those albums live. And as someone who got to see Greendale back in the day, it’s nice to have Be The Rain return. Does the Archive project have anything to do with selection? Any favorite songs you’ve rediscovered that you forgot were fun to play? My son, who’s about to see you for his 4th time, has been digging Daddy Went Walkin’ of late and beamed when I told him you’ve been playing it a bit this tour.
Thanks for the music.
Ethan
Ethan
I think we really have a good ‘daddy went walkin’ recorded from the tour.
Glad you are digging it. I don’t think about the selection of songs..we made a list and change it, keeping some. its a feeling..
Love
Be well
neil
MILESTONES
Dear Neil,
I hope this letter finds you well. I wanted to take the time to share with you what your music and your work have meant to me over the years. I’m 64 now, and I’ve been a fan since I was 17. That’s nearly five decades of listening, learning, and living with your songs woven into my life.
This past August, I had the joy of seeing you perform in Toronto. Your performance reminded me why your music has always been more than just entertainment for me—it’s been a a guide for me on to how to have integrity and the courage to be my authentic self.
From the first time I heard your music, I was struck by the raw truth in your sound. Whether it’s the quiet, intimate ballads or the rocking, electric anthems, there’s always something that makes me feel more connected and responsible to the world. As a music lover, I enjoy many styles and genres of music and many different musicians yet, over these many years I always return to your music. I have sometimes half-joked that your music is the soundtrack of my life.
I am also appreciative and inspired with the way you’ve used your voice for the greater good. Your dedication to environmental causes and raising awareness about climate change has been powerful, not only because you’ve spoken out, but because you’ve led by example. In a world where it’s easy to turn away, you’ve chosen to stand up and speak out, and that matters deeply. I appreciate how you speak out against the criminals in the White House, including your new song, Big Crime.
The Bridge School concerts and your role in Farm Aid also stand out as incredible gifts you’ve given to others. They’re not just events—they’re lifelines, connections, and acts of care that ripple outward in ways most of us will never fully see. It’s a reminder that music can change lives, and that compassion can fuel real action.
With your 80th birthday approaching this November 12, I just want to wish you the happiest of milestones. To have shared so much of your life, music, and convictions with the world is a gift beyond measure. May this birthday be a celebration not just of years, but of the immeasurable impact you’ve had on countless lives—including mine.
Thank you for the songs, for the courage and strength to keep creating, for speaking truth to power, and for reminding us that art can be both beautiful and responsible. Thank you for being a voice for the Earth, for farmers, for children, and for anyone who believes that love and responsibility still matter.
You’ve made a difference in the world—and in my world—and I am deeply grateful.
Happy Birthday, Neil!
With appreciation and respect,
Dennis Pack
Thank you so much Dennis
Love
Be well
neil
ORDINARY PEOPLE?
Hey Neil & crew!
Reading reviews of your current tour, I’m really excited to see you at Shoreline on Friday!
Any chance you and the Chrome Hearts can pull out Ordinary People in Mountain View? Your last performance of it was epic!
Peace and love,
La Honda Jack
We’ll see soon Jack
I sure don’t know yet!
Love
Be well
neil
DEER LAKE
The concert at Deer Lake Park on Saturday night was absolutely awesome. Have been looking forward to seeing/hearing you and the band for months. I did have some sacred tobacco ties for you. But that place was hopping and this woman couldn’t get close to the stage or any staffers. I’ll just hang them somewhere here and hope your travels are safe.
Thanks so much for the caring.
Love
Be well
neil
FEET IN THE OCEAN
Hey
Lookin forward to Shoreline show. How about opening with acoustic set like the Bridge School opener set. Hope you get to catch up with friends and get time to put your feet in the ocean.
Thanks
Dan
Hey Dan
I will be back in the ocean soon!
Love
Be well
neil
BIG CRIME
Hey Neil,
I was just reading through your letters and came across the one from someone claiming you shouldn’t have brought politics into this tour (the ‘Big Crime Right and Wrong’ letter). I just wanted to say thanks for writing yet another cracking song being Big Crime you couldn’t have nailed the message better. I also appreciate that you laid out the facts in your response to this person. It’s ridiculous how many people are still so brainwashed by the felon.
Anyway, thanks again for standing up against the hate running rampant through the US right now, your country really needs it (let alone the world).
No more great again!
Cheers for reading this,
Will from down under
Thanks Will
Love
Be well
neil
MILWAUKEE
I was lucky enough to attend your Milwaukee show with my sister a couple weeks back. You sounded great and the band was spot on! Loved the diverse setlist. Looking Forward was perfect. It was my sister’s first NY show—she was blown away.
Keep Rocking
Lowell Todd
I do love doing Looking Forward. It feels good. Last night at shoreline we did a good one i think,,,
Love
Be well
neil*
HALLUCINATION
Congratulations to you and yours on your tour. I wouldn’t bother you, but I am listening to Motorcycle Mama on Comes a Time and a hallucination appeared of a symphonic stage, orchestra, soloists singing grandly in operatic style. Whoa. We are harvesting and everything is green so excuse the thought.
Plain Old Bob
Way to go Bob!
Love
Be well
neil
MASSEY HALL 80TH CELEBRATION
Hi Neil,
I’ve managed to put together a celebration at Massey Hall on your 80th birthday, with some of Canada’s great artists honouring you and your music, and with all proceeds going to the great charity, MusiCounts.
I was hoping you could help spread the word here on Archives for those who might be interested in coming to the show on November 12. Tickets go on sale on the Massey Hall website on Friday, Sept. 19 at 10am.
Let this also be an invite. We’d love to celebrate with you!
Thanks Neil, and happy birthday in advance.
Thanks,
Dale from Toronto
Thanks Dale
Love
Be well
neil
TRUE FEELINGS
Neil, Please, for me, will you calm your rhetoric down. It is not Love that teaches hate. Lisa
Sorry… but not happening. WHAT YOU CALL RHETORIC – those are TRUE feelings!
Love
Be well
neil
MUSIC CAN SAVE US
I have a great photo of CSNY I took at your first concert at Balboa Stadium in San Diego 1969.
You are welcome to use it at NYA. Please pass it to Stephen and Graham, also David’s heirs if possible.
What I really miss is the Peace and Love culture of that era. I always admire Neil’s courage to continue to speak out against the horrible injustices and culture pushed on us by the billionaire fascist class.
We will never stop fighting!
Music can save us!
YES LET’S KEEP ON SINGING
Love
Be well
neil