Neil Young News: 3rd New Song of Tour: "When Worlds Collide"

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

3rd New Song of Tour: "When Worlds Collide"

Here is the 3rd new song of the tour "When Worlds Collide" in Coburg, Germany, 08/23/08.

Thanks Rudy for the front row footage! Excellent!

Here are the lyrics to the new as transcribed by Liza. Any help with corrections is appreciated.

When Worlds Collide

Taking a trip across the USA
Gonna meet a lot of people along the way
Far and Wide
Floating along on the Rio Grande
Coca Cola in my hand
In the promise Land
Living my days in the old jail cell
Somehow things just go to hell
When worlds collide

Love is love
Hate is hate
Truth is fiction
And late it late
Truth is fiction
Truth is lies
Strange things happen
When worlds collide
Strange things happen
When worlds collide

Cruising down Route 66
Where the guys and gals
Used to get their kicks
In the old days
Running low on the peoples fuel
Riding in something that's really cool
On the proud highway
Living my days in an old jail cell
Some out think just go to hell
When worlds collide

Black is black
White is white
Wrong is wrong
And wrong is right
Truth is fiction
Truth is lies
Strange things happen
When worlds collide
Strange things happen
When worlds collide

Love is Love
Hate is hate
Truth is fiction
And late is late
Truth is fiction
Truth is lies
Strange things happen
When worlds collide
Strange things happen
When worlds collide

Strange things happen
Strange things happen
Strange things happen

Thanks Liza from Germany, Mark C. and Fredrik on Rust!

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32 Comments:

At 8/26/2008 04:34:00 AM, Milan said...: Hi there,

I´ve been to the gig in Coburg yesterday and Neil played a new song there(I heard them rehearsing it three hours before the show started, they were going through it
twice) appearantly titled "When Worlds Collide" at least that´s the most prominent repeated lyrical part(it was the only song that didn´t have a painting). It was
squeezed between Sea Change and Cowgirl ending the "largly unknown songs" part of the evening that also included Sea Change and Just Singing A Song. I would describe
it as some sort of heavy blues rock jam with an upbeat chorus chant.

Maybe you can post that, as soon as the site is up again.

Thanks and keep up the great work!

Milan (Germany)
At 8/26/2008 06:49:00 AM, Liza said...: Just tried to write the lyrics down for the new song, but it is really hard to understand.
Maybe someone could help with the missing lines?

When Worlds Collide

Taking a trip across the USA
Going to meet a lot of people along the way
Far and Wide
Going along on the Rio Grande
Coca Cola in my hand
In the promise Land
Living.......?
Some out think just go to hell
When worlds collide

Love is love
Hate is hate
Truth is fiction
And late it late
Truth is fiction
Truth is lies
Strange things happen
When worlds collide
Strange things happen
When worlds collide

Cruising down Route 66
Where the guys and gals
Used to take their kids
In the old days
Running ...?.on the people's fuel
Driving in something that's really cool
World highway ?
Living.......?
Some out think just go to hell
When worlds collide

Black is black
White is white
Wrong is wrong
And wrong is right
Truth is fiction
Truth is lies
Strange things happen
When worlds collide
Strange things happen
When worlds collide

Love is Love
Hate is hate
Truth is fiction
And late is late
Truth is fiction
Truth is lies
Strange things happen
When worlds collide
Strange things happen
When worlds collide

Strange things happen
Strange things happen
Strange things happen

Regards,
Liza from Germany
At 8/26/2008 06:50:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Great video of a great new song! I love this kind of songs by NY. Was it recorded to be on YouTube?
At 8/26/2008 06:59:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Thanks Liza,
Fist "living" he sings: Living my days in the old jail cell.
Second "living" he sings: Living my days in an old jail cell. The other missing part I can't understand. B.S.M.
At 8/26/2008 07:16:00 AM, Liza said...: Thanks B.S.M.!!
I added the lines!

When Worlds Collide

Taking a trip across the USA
Going to meet a lot of people along the way
Far and Wide
Going along on the Rio Grande
Coca Cola in my hand
In the promise Land
Living my days in the old jail cell
Some out think just go to hell
When worlds collide

Love is love
Hate is hate
Truth is fiction
And late it late
Truth is fiction
Truth is lies
Strange things happen
When worlds collide
Strange things happen
When worlds collide

Cruising down Route 66
Where the guys and gals
Used to take their kids
In the old days
Running ...?.on the people's fuel
Driving in something that's really cool
World highway ?
Living my days in an old jail cell
Some out think just go to hell
When worlds collide

Black is black
White is white
Wrong is wrong
And wrong is right
Truth is fiction
Truth is lies
Strange things happen
When worlds collide
Strange things happen
When worlds collide

Love is Love
Hate is hate
Truth is fiction
And late is late
Truth is fiction
Truth is lies
Strange things happen
When worlds collide
Strange things happen
When worlds collide

Strange things happen
Strange things happen
Strange things happen

Regards,
Liza from Germany
At 8/26/2008 07:19:00 AM, Fredrik said...: I posted my take at the lyrics at the Rust List yesterday if that helps. Couldn't hear all the lyrics either:

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/rust/message/211879

Hopefully he plays it tonight again so we can hear all of it :)

/ Fredrik - palaxia.se
At 8/26/2008 07:32:00 AM, Liza said...: Hi Fredrik,

thanks, I just looked at the lyrics you wrote down.
And changed mine again! ;-)

When Worlds Collide

Taking a trip across the USA
Gonna meet a lot of people along the way
Far and Wide
Floating along on the Rio Grande
Coca Cola in my hand
In the promise Land
Living my days in the old jail cell
Some out think just go to hell
When worlds collide

Love is love
Hate is hate
Truth is fiction
And late it late
Truth is fiction
Truth is lies
Strange things happen
When worlds collide
Strange things happen
When worlds collide

Cruising down Route 66
Where the guys and gals
Used to take their kids
In the old days
Running low on the people's fuel
Driving in something that's really cool
World highway ?
Living my days in an old jail cell
Some out think just go to hell
When worlds collide

Black is black
White is white
Wrong is wrong
And wrong is right
Truth is fiction
Truth is lies
Strange things happen
When worlds collide
Strange things happen
When worlds collide

Love is Love
Hate is hate
Truth is fiction
And late is late
Truth is fiction
Truth is lies
Strange things happen
When worlds collide
Strange things happen
When worlds collide

Strange things happen
Strange things happen
Strange things happen
At 8/26/2008 09:46:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Sounds like a redone LA. Which is a compliment.
At 8/26/2008 09:53:00 AM, Anonymous said...: l.a.? what..?!?
At 8/26/2008 01:25:00 PM, Tom Frost said...: I wished he'd spend a little more time polishing lyrics. These just seem so "first thought", if you know what I mean. With tighter lyrics this could be a really awesome song.

Unfortunately Neil's recent attitude toward songwriting seems to be "first lyrics", "first take", "change nothing, whether good or bad".
At 8/26/2008 05:54:00 PM, Anonymous said...: The rhythmic staccato of the vocals and the chord progression during the verses is quite reminiscent of LA, off of Time Fades Away. This is a move Neil does often - see the guitar break from Little Thing Called Love becoming the opening riff for Harvest Moon.
At 8/26/2008 06:40:00 PM, Anonymous said...: This doesn't really sound much like he's done before, like someone mentioned earlier it's a heavy blues riff reminds me a bit of the Rapid Transit riff if anything
At 8/26/2008 10:01:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I love this man so much, but those lyrics are almost amateurish. I love that he is still passionate about his music and touring, but I'm going to go to my room and listen to After the Goldrush.
At 8/26/2008 10:19:00 PM, Marc C said...: instead of "some out think just go to hell",wouldn't it make more sense if it were "somehow things just go to hell"?

just a thought.

-Marc C
At 8/26/2008 10:25:00 PM, Veg said...: Same toss off crap as the other 2. More interesting than them to some extent, at least musically. But really, it's not even that they're unpolished, they're incomplete and not even arranged properly. These songs require more than the bare bones minimalism of Rick Rosas on bass (who seems afraid to get loud enough to hear) and Ben Keith (who plays electric guitar like a robot, monotonous and droll) on guitar. Those guys will do WHATEVER Neil tells them to, to the letter (unless Ben's on steel). Cromwell is really the only one Neil seems to give any breathing room for creativity on these new tunes, and it's a good thing, because his drumming keeps these new songs from spiraling into
total R&B/Rockabilly garbage.

Oh, and the backup vocals are atrocious. Get some real backup singers, Neil, or at least get the band to do them, not the shrill drone of Anthony Crawford and Pegi, whom are totally out of place on most of the songs on this and all the other legs of this tour.

Jeesh. I hope he doesn't try to sell this crap in acoustic at Bridge. It's so corny. And I guarantee he's going to have these songs in his "LincVolt" movie, which is quite obviously all he's got his mind on right now. Not hating, but Neil needs to get back in the studio, CDII obviously did not satisfy his need to create, and I think he'll realize how totally empty these songs are if he sits down and plays with a band in a creative setting, not a "buddy buddy" one.
At 8/27/2008 12:59:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Going into the studio is not going to save him because guess who'll be there? That's right, Pegi. She's quashed him. Man I wish he'd just draw the line with her at his music. But of course he won't and the downward spiral that started when she became a fixture on stage and studio continues. Big surprise. I haven't seen his last two tours or bought his last two cds. He's turned to crap with her hovering. What a waste.
At 8/27/2008 01:41:00 AM, Fredrik said...: Marc C: I totally agree. That's what I heard too and wrote down when I listened to the lyrics and posted to:

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/rust/message/211879

/ Fredrik - Palaxia.se
At 8/27/2008 05:17:00 AM, Liza said...: Hi Thrasher, would you please correct the lyrics:

Fredrik and Marc C. say, the line should be:

Somehow things just go to hell

That sounds much better, thanks for helping!

Liza (Germany)
At 8/27/2008 12:33:00 PM, Anonymous said...: if anything, it reminds me more of war song than l.a.
At 8/27/2008 12:54:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Marc C: I'm with you--that line doesn't make sense.

Not Gold standard Neil by a long shot.

I think Pegi has very little to do with the quality of The Muse. It could certainly so with some finessing.
At 8/27/2008 01:09:00 PM, Anonymous said...: #Ain't singin' for Pepsi
Ain't singin' for Coke
I don't sing for nobody
Makes me look like a joke
This note's for you.#
At 8/27/2008 05:32:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Come on, guys. Who can really fly havin the wife of 30 years on the job and off the job EVERY FRICKIN DAY for the last 8 years? Sorry, but you can literally hear the dead weight drag.
Pegi's constant presence has everything to do with interference to Muse reception. Neil's not tuned in and won't be as long as she's involved in everything. It's so freakin obvious. The guy's been neutered. I've watched this long slide from Road Rock thru Toast, Are You Passionate, Greendale, Prairie Wind, LWW. Big, big yawn. At least we got a reprieve from her on the LWW tour.
Neutered or banished Horse plus Pegi, pegi and more pegi is not a recipe for creativity. I bet Toast would've flown if pegi hadn't been in the studio. Fewer and lower highs, more and more frequent lows. I think he's fully capable of many more masterpieces, but they ain't happenin.
I like my Neil concentrated. Pegi waters him down to the point of insipid. Same old story. Seen this one before. Lennon, McCartney.. But we know Neil. Bullheaded to the point of stupid.
At least Dylan didn't submit to marital neutering. That guy is still writin the fine tunes. Even if his vocals are diminished, his creative powers remain fully intact. Neil on the other hand is well on his way in decline.
At 8/27/2008 07:58:00 PM, luckypaul said...: I just scanned through the comments here and whilst I hope I'm not falling into blind sycophancy I respect what Neil is doing now and I find the criticism that I'm reading here iritating. If you guys reckon you'll be writing better songs and producing better music when you're 62 then just get on and do it ratther than turning out anonymous criticism.
Hearing the new song 'When Worlds Collide' at Coburg was a real treat - I don't know how many songs have been written and premiered on the road over the years but I usually hear songs on record first - that Neil is prepared to write a song and give it a premiere with the lyrics written on a bit of cardboard taped on to his monitor is just fecking marvelous.
As for 'veg', well yes on a first performance it is going to be a bit unpolished - does that really matter? And I've now seen Neil, Kieth and Rick playing together 8 times in the last year and it works, one review in Toronto last year said the extended solos are 'either interminable or transcendental' - 'No Hidden Path' was mind blowingly transcendental for me and in the recent concerts 'Powderfinger', 'Cortez', 'Cowgirl' (and at Coburg 'Spirit Road' and 'Cinnamon Girl' too) have all taken me far away into a totally magical place that words just can't describe.
And am I going to waste words on this? Yep seems so.
Anonymous writes that he hasn't bought the last 2 CDs or seen the last 2 tours - so what the feck are you doing making comments about them then, stay home and listen to your Elton John and Madonna.
At 8/27/2008 08:54:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Ooh, a bit testy, aren't you? I've listened to the last 2 CDs and much of the tours. Didn't have to buy them. CD II sucked big ones, pure and simple. Sorry you were dumb enough to pay for inferior product, but that ain't my problem.
Yes, as a matter of fact, you are a blind sycophant. If you think this song is good, your bar is set on the floor.
So you feel privileged to see a song debut. Woo-hoo. ParTAAAAY! Who cares about quality. Quality is soooo old school.
As a matter of fact I do write. I'd put it up against Neil's recent stuff in a blind test any day. And I'm almost 50. And intend to write quality stuff for many years to come. I have no need for fame myself but I do insist on quality from those I pay for services.
Madonna was never my thing, but Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy rules! Bright Eyes? Yeah! DeathCab for Cutie? Yeah! I guess that means I'm not uncool and stuck in the past. Too bad for your wee little ego.
Let's see,I guess that means your arguments are, um, empty. But then, that's a sycophant for you. Bend over, Neil.
Cheers!
At 8/28/2008 04:19:00 AM, Hitchhiker said...: To Veg,
it's refreshing to read an opinion which may not necessarily be popular amongst many Neil fans, but holds alot of merit.I may not agree totally with all your comments, but appreciate the informed and well written viewpoints. There's no harm in healthy debate.
Hitchhiker
At 8/28/2008 05:43:00 AM, Liza said...: I don't find it refreshing, to read comments like that about Pegi.
She is Neils wife for 30 years and has always supported him. I really think, Neil wouldn't be where he is without her.
I have seen him twice this year, in Berlin in February and in Oberhausen and he is so full of power, has so much energy, it really impressed me.
At 8/28/2008 01:42:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I don't believe there is any convincing evidence for pegging -- pun intended! -- Neil's recent slip into mediocrity on his wife. That's just tired, glaringly cliched scapegoating, plain and simple.

However I do agree -- though it is painful to admit -- that a lot of Neil's recent songwriting has been one-dimensional, trite, and, frankly, amateurish.

Rather than revealing an experienced voice, some of his writing today seems, in fact, retrograded.

At the same time, Neil, in my opinion, doesn't owe us anything more than he has given us, nor do I think subpar albums like those he has produced of late have the potential to seriously devalue or damage his legacy.
At 8/28/2008 04:58:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Tired, glaring, cliched scapegoating? Who you tryin to kid? Blatant obviousness to anyone who's been married? The facts speak for themselves. The tiredness, cliches, and lack of refreshment are in Neil's writing, not in pointing out the reason.
Come on. Crazy Horse with Pegi, for example, is a marriage made in hell. Once he let her into the studio and stage, he slammed the door on his creative powers. His choice. Just sayin. Maybe he needs comfort now more than he needs to create.
Of course people are going to say it's just mean and it's scapegoating, especially Neil's eternal irrational defenders and those with a vested interest in maintaining illusions about marriage.
I don't care if you're not refreshed by reality. It is what it is. Sure Pegi supports Neil. She also strangles the Muse by meddling in his music. What's so surprising about that? What's to protect? Pegi's fragile ego? Your insecurity about the realities of marriage?
Looks like a duck, quacks like a duck. Damn likely it's a duck. The correlation between Pegi's ascent into Neil's music and his spiraling loss of creative ability shreiks out at anyone with half a brain and an ounce of sensibility. Sure, Neil still has plenty of energy. He can still evoke believability in his concerts, mostly with old songs. Good for him. But his new creations are largely stillborn.
Sad but true that Neil's songwriting meets its end covered in rust.
At 8/28/2008 07:18:00 PM, Anonymous said...: You pay your money and ...
or you don't buy the CD, don't go to the shows and just slag it off on the web; 'Neil's crap these days' (cos of Pegi), 'I write better stuff' (but just don't want any fame) [Q So why write if you don't want people to hear it?]
... and I didn't say I thought when worlds collide was particularly good - although I am liking it - I said it was a treat to hear a song being worked on and then given it's first performance; I have no doubt that if it gets to an album it'll sound quite a bit different.
Sea Change and Singing a Song both need work before they're recorded too.
And yeah the best songs in Germany were the old ones, Powderfinger, Cortez and Cowgirl, but they were new songs on there first performance once and probably just as raw.
And you listened to the concerts but didn't go; hmmm, how did you listen? perhaps you missed some of the atmosphere? I suspect you didn't have quite the same involvment as those of us who were close enough to see the sweat on the mans forehead?
... and if you think CD2 'sucks big ones, pure and simple' good for you, and the new songs are 'same toss off crap' again, good for you.
And I'm really pleased Neil inludes Pegi, yeah Nicolette Larson would be good but...
... and I've never seen Danny Whitten on guitar but he couldn't make this tour either.
At 8/28/2008 07:26:00 PM, Veg said...: Personally, I never said anything of the sort regarding Pegi as a subtraction from his creative influence. I don't think that's the case. She adds different directions to it (Ones that we may not like or really, let's be real, be any good [aka Are You Passionate?]), but I don't think she's limiting it. Neil's final album with absolutely no "Pegi" influence was Silver And Gold, which, while it contained some truly phenomenal tunes, contained some pretty bad ones too.

Neil's getting old, he's becoming more conservative in his songwriting and his values. His politics obviously remain radical, and his ideas are still looking forward, but as a person? Neil has mellowed a lot.

When Neil's in the studio, he's not getting angry or juiced up or energized anymore, and it shows (see Chrome Dreams II or Greendale [which I loved, but it's not very energetic]).

Pegi has little to do with most of these changes. Neil is trying to be an optimist in his twilight years of creativity, which is something he's never been unbelievably good at. Let's face it, most of Neil's best music is down-tempo or brutally angry/sad.

Neil's optimistic albums? Hm.

Are You Passionate?, This Note's For You (you must admit, most of the studio songs on it sucked aside from the title tune and "Twilight" or "Coupe de Ville"), "Old Ways". Plus I'm sure certain individual tunes come to mind. This isn't an absolute truth, but a generality.

Neil's set list on this arena tour is uncharacteristically upbeat as well (Much like the 2000 F&R's tour).

Not to say I didn't find the show in Manchester back in March absolutely amazing (his set lists from the American and European theater "Continental" tours were amazingly varied on the solo and exceedingly good on most of the band stuff).

This tour with the arenas reminds me PAINFULLY of the festival tour Crazy Horse with Pegi and Astrid did in 2003. Terrible.

While Pegi does seem to appear on all his crap tours of late, that's not to say he hasn't had good ones with her tour (ie the first parts of the Continental tours, or the US Greendale Tour), so you can't blame just her. It's a bit ignorant to do that.

I think when the Archives Vol II/III/IV start getting worked on, we'll see a little more of a dark side to Neil again, a little more straight-edged. The stuff he's had to listen to while they mix Archives Vol. 1 is obviously all this old, folky and fun rock from his very young years, a [musically] happy time. It's taking him back to youth.

The other volumes will all be wrought with significant personal turbulence, especially the 73-77 and 80-86 periods. And I guarantee it will spark Neil in some way to get back on another track, like he's always done.

But he's been on this last track for 5 years now without a lot of unscheduled stops (LWW and the CSNY tour being the only real, inspired things he's done on the fly, and with real, devoted emotion).

This isn't to say songs like "Spirit Road", "Dirty Old Man" and "No Hidden Path" aren't uninspired, they're GREAT played live and Neil has done great guitar work on them.

Neil needs to get in the studio with a powerful, more diverse band (maybe Cromwell/Rosas/Sampedro or just straight up Crazy Horse), and the real big thing he needs to do is get Ben Keith off the Telecaster or the Les Paul and back onto his steel, where he belongs. Or at least on a saxophone. Tommy Bray on trumpet was a weird twist on LWW, but it was fresher than Greendale's worn-out blues harmonica or CDII's lame rhythm guitar.

But, unfortunately, as Neil ages, his confidence in other musicians aside from the ones at his side right now is probably decreasing, he's getting set in his ways with a group of people. Something that Neil, no matter how terrible the music, has ever, ever done.

We'll see how this US/Canada Arena tour works out. We could see Neil get tired of this band (he'll have been touring with them over a year by the time the US leg is over) and go back to CSNY or, better yet, go back to the now 5-years unexploited territory of Crazy Horse.

But I'm being optimistic there.

Who knows, we'll see.
At 9/09/2008 06:50:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Strongly disagree about silver and gold. The last really fresh album he's done. Gorgeous and solid. Not a single clunker. Pre- Pegi. Her influence is stamped all over his latest stuff and it isn't pretty.
At 3/03/2009 02:12:00 PM, Liza said...: Hi Thrasher,

I would like to correct the above lyrics of the song.
After listening to the song over and over again, I finally understood the third verse

Cruising down Route 66
Where the guys and gals
Used to get their kicks
In the old days
Running low on the peoples fuel
Riding in something that's really cool
On the proud highway
....