Neil Young News: "Powderfinger": What the Heck is that Song All About, Anyway?

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

"Powderfinger": What the Heck is that Song All About, Anyway?

So get this.

It seems -- incredibly -- that there are still some folks out there that can't figure out what Neil Young's song "Powderfinger" is all about. Imagine that.

Over on MetaChat, there's the usual amusing speculation and over-blown lyrics analysis which we do so disdain here at TW.

Really. Come on. Isn't it just totally obvious to everyone what Powderfinger is really all about it? Isn't it?

If you enjoy a little chuckle at the expense those without true rustie enlightenment, drop by MetaChat by jonmc:

Powderfinger by Neil Young. What the hell is the song actually about?

I've heard it a million time and musically it's incredibly powerful, but I can't put my finger on the topic. Neil himself is mum on it. Are the protagonists frontier soldiers/ homesteaders? in Vietnam? Drug smugglers?

I'm baffled. Still a great song, though.
post by: jonmc

Go to MetaChat and then check back on why you should shelter me from the powder in the finger.

Links to this post:

<$BlogBacklinkTitle$>: <$BlogBacklinkSnippet$>
posted by <$BlogBacklinkAuthor$> @ <$BlogBacklinkDateTime$>

Create a Link

19 Comments:

At 2/16/2010 12:58:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Neil Young & Crazy Horse July 9, 2010 , Rockwave Festival, Athens.
At 2/16/2010 01:03:00 PM, Thrasher said...: To 2/16/2010 12:58:00 PM

So that's what PF's about?!

This rumor has been floating around for awhile and is unconfirmed. What's the source? And plese don't send a link in Greek.

Not trying to be a jerk but there were the same rumors about Neil & CH for 2010 Bonnaroo but when official lineup announced.. No NY/CH.

But you can still be a dreamin' man
At 2/16/2010 02:32:00 PM, Matthew Lintzenich said...: What HAVE we settled on with this? I mean, obviously there's a kid of barely 22 left alone to protect the ol' homestead, and here comes a white boat, with a red beacon, numbers on the side, a gun, and a man on the rail.

The kid obviously KNOWS that this is not good, remembers the words of his father, who told him to run when he see's red (to me, obviously this is the beacon he's referring to), decides to stand his ground anyway, uncertainly, and terrified, raises his father's rifle, and gets shot by someone on the boat.

His face splashing into the sky is the reflection of his face in the water as he's falling forward.

And he has a few last-second thoughts and regrets, and then that's it.

That's all apparently, to me, obviously correct, but if I recall the debate mostly centered on the SETTING, in terms of TIME AND PLACE, and that's where the confusion came in.

I believe that Neil made it kind of vague so it could be more universally interpreted, that is, you can put your own time and place into it so as to better identify, but I could be incorrect in that.

Neil has been vague about it, which seems to support that theory, but then again...

the names of the people (Emmy Lou and Big John) seem to indicate a very specific intent from Neil - that is, that the time and place are known to him, and are quite specific, but that, in typical Neil fashion, he leaves any direct references to that out, except for the names and description of the boat, so that we have to spend the next 30 years scratching our heads and arguing and debating about it.

heh heh heh.

So was there ever a conclusive agreement on the where/when of the song?
At 2/16/2010 02:42:00 PM, Pinto (or Flounder) said...: Hey Thrash;

This site (Metachat) is a joke, right? Like The Onion...
Has to be.. (old enough to repaint? Funniest line so far this year.)

There are a few Neil songs whose meaning is somewhat obscure (I have never had a clue what Mr. Soul was about) and others whose appeal lies in the land of the subconscious, but Powderfinger isn't one of them. A great story, well told, beautifully sung and brilliantly played.

I'll be going back to Metachat regularly for the laughs, though. Thanks
At 2/16/2010 02:57:00 PM, Anonymous said...: but we've been through that (PF) a hundred times or more...........
At 2/16/2010 03:04:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Not sure on Metachat being a joke site but there was a comment on there I was curious about.

Someone said that Big John was JFK and Emma Lou is Emmylou Harris because she almost drowned in real life?

I never heard that Emmylou Harris had a near drowning. Is that true??

small john
At 2/16/2010 03:11:00 PM, Thrasher said...: Matthew,

Good rundown.

And yes, the SETTING, in terms of TIME AND PLACE seems to be what folks get caught up on.

it's all one song....
At 2/16/2010 03:11:00 PM, Mr Henry said...: Nobody knows
Nobody sees
Nobody knows
But me
Long Black Veil
Danny Dill & Marijohn Wilkin

God's servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two - one uttered, the other not.
Mark Twain
The War Prayer
At 2/16/2010 03:19:00 PM, S. R. Powell said...: Powderfinger is one of my favorite NY songs. It was interesting reading the comments/analysis and I'll add a few of my own.

The song to me evokes fear, loneliness, and regret. I had always envisioned the setting to be a rural southern river in the early or mid 19th century.

The "white boat" being filled with pirates or other marauders preying on local residents and shooting first and asking questions later. The fear of the protagonist who knew this day could come, hoped it never would, knows it is now here, and with "daddy gone" must put on his brave face and face them alone and try to protect the old homestead as best he can.

The "numbers add up to nothing" I interpreted to mean that no matter what the odds were, somebody was going to get hurt or killed and it was best to run (when you see the red beacon, flag, etc). What father would tell his kid NOT to run in a situation where the odds were clearly against him?

I also took a more literal interpretation of the line "when my face splashed in the sky" to mean that he saw the shot coming, stood there frozen in fear, awe or amazement and died rather horribly.

The rest of the song is his spirit or soul lamenting his terrible fate.
At 2/16/2010 04:09:00 PM, Mr Henry said...: And therefore, even when we are acting with the best of intentions, and imagine that we are doing great good, we may be actually doing tremendous material harm and contradicting all our good intentions. There are ways that seem to men to be good, the end whereof is in the depths of hell.

Thomas Merton
The Seven Storey Mountain
At 2/16/2010 04:45:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Well, after reading all 80 some comments from the link, and other interpretations over the years, I am not about to take a stab at a definitive take. I was fascinated though by some of the interpretations I never would have even begun to think of, e.g. suicide and nihilism. Made me think. I will say this, the name Emmy Lou tells me it is definitely the story of a white southerner. It’s an assumption, but I don’t see an Indian or black woman with the name Emmy Lou. By extension, Emmy Lou being taken by the river tells me the setting is river life somewhere in the south. Moonshiners, TVA resisters, people living off the grid, etc., or the nature and source of threat isn’t really relevant to me. Ultimately, it’s the story of ill prepared and confused youth - could have been you or me or anyone, but for the grace of God, confronted and overcome by overwhelming forces and circumstances. Although I don’t think it’s what Neil intended, for me 22 can also be seen as a metaphor for Man as yet still in its infancy, confronted with Life in all its complexity. The heartbreak and sadness is that the overmatched kid simply ended up on the losing end of an attempt at life that we all have to make sooner or later. It may come really early, big and fast, it may come in fits and starts, or it may just be a slow dribble over the course of a lifetime. The question for me becomes: how have I, or will I face up to my own Powderfinger moment? 22 chose to raise the rifle to his eye instead of running, and died in regret. Was it nobleness in the act of death, or some form of foolishness? Who knows? Life, and the meaning of the life of another, like the song Powderfinger itself, can sometimes seem ambiguous. It all comes down to the individual. How are you going to make your stand? This makes me start to think about the advisability of the individual trying to take the world on by themselves, and all the alternatives to such an individual stance, but I don’t think this is what the song is about. In the end, it seems 22 just didn’t feel like he had a lot of choice, and suffered the consequence.

Greg M (A Friend Of Yours)
At 2/16/2010 08:30:00 PM, Mr Henry said...: Spending the time
that you borrow
Figuring a way
to get back home

Bob Dylan
Billy

Twilight had come, and a sharp autumn cold. To the north the old fort, in dark and gloomy silhouette on a cold sunset, rode like a ship in the running silver tide against the lightless islands and the far black line of the New England hills where the last light faded in the sky. Our young wives would not worry about us until after nightfall, so no help could be expected until next day.

Peter Matthiessen
Men's Lives
At 2/16/2010 10:31:00 PM, Anonymous said...: We'll all go to our graves
not really knowing....
But it will be something to think
about once we're gone.
At 2/16/2010 11:33:00 PM, doc said...: Let's analyse the lyrics to "last trip to Tulsa"..Powderfinger is a no brainer compared to that song!

doc
At 2/17/2010 12:23:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Trasher, a couple years ago CBC radio here in Canada had a contest of some sort where listeners would write or call in with their favorite lyrical couplet. Seeing as we seem to be in a slow Neil news cycle, perhaps we could give that a go.
At 2/17/2010 08:35:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Powderfinger was written for the sequel to 'Journey through the past' movie - Location was supposed to be Greenville (featuring Lucinda Williams)but then they realized that Emmylou Harris would better fit that role. In fact she is the one who was piloting the Creeple creek ferry when Miississipi took her while singing Star of Bethlem. Big John started drinking too much (you can see his face on the cover of American Stars and Bars) that is why he saddled up the Palomino trying to hold back the tears. hope this can clarify.
At 2/17/2010 10:01:00 AM, Matthew Lintzenich said...: I'm with anon 8:35. Makes perfect sense to me.
At 2/17/2010 02:12:00 PM, jack/icy sky at night said...: i'm a songwriter. these are just words to fit the melody. songs/lyrics don't have to mean anything. just ask neil.
At 2/17/2010 04:50:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Anon 8:35, how come I didn't think of that?

Greg M ( A Friend Of Yours)