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Neil Young — Pocahontas
Album: Unplugged
Avg rating:
7.1

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1412









Released: 1993
Length: 5:02
Plays (last 30 days): 0
Aurora borealis
The icy sky at night
Paddles cut the water
In a long and hurried flight
From the white man to the fields of green
And the homeland we've never seen.

They killed us in our tepee
And they cut our women down
They might have left some babies
Cryin' on the ground
But the firesticks and the wagons come
And the night falls on the setting sun.

They massacred the buffalo
Kitty corner from the bank
The taxis run across my feet
And my eyes have turned to blanks
In my little box at the top of the stairs
With my Indian rug and a pipe to share.

I wish I was a trapper
I would give thousand pelts
To sleep with Pocahontas
And find out how she felt
In the mornin' on the fields of green
In the homeland we've never seen.

And maybe Marlon Brando
Will be there by the fire
We'll sit and talk of Hollywood
And the good things there for hire
And the Astrodome and the first tepee
Marlon Brando, Pocahontas and me
Marlon Brando, Pocahontas and me
Pocahontas.
Comments (101)add comment
got plenty of Beck and Neil Young in my RP faves list, and now here they are back to back not long after Beck debut's his cover of Old Man. 

Algo-rhythms, as defined by RP. Love it so...

" S T O P ! "

overplayed.


Marlon Brando, Pocahontas and me !

Yes !

"If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all;" so I won't say anything at all.


In my comment I was being sarcastic to suggest that there are better ways to find how someone feels than paying a thousand pelts to sleep with them. Talk to them perhaps?

BTW the wagging finger is just plain rude.
 kazoo wrote:
Does he want to sleep with Marlon Brando too to find out how he feels?
 
Do you feel any shame at the USA's history?

BTW how are things in racism these days in Covid-land?


Nice pairing, Annie does Neil then Neil does Neil!! Nicely played Bill!
Unmistakable Rust .. thank you for the comfort.  
Does he want to sleep with Marlon Brando too to find out how he feels?
The Best!!
A good Neil Young addition would be "Mirror Ball"
 jmsmy wrote:
PS - SAVE THE ASTRODOME

 
The dome is going somewhere?  The dome costs $1 m  to maintain every year.  It's a relic of a greedy owner who threatened to leave Houston if the taxpayers didn't give him a new stadium.  So a bond election held was held to maintain the dome as a fit stadium for a professional football team, the Oilers could be said to be a pro team.   Bud Adams & the Oilers left anyway. Now Houston taxpayers have a new stadium, a new team, the Texans, and shell out for the dome as well.  More proof that taxpayers should not buy sports arenas for spoiled millionaires.  {#Fire}
PS - SAVE THE ASTRODOME
I've said it about a few other songs played on RP but here it is again.

This song has more Lyrics then the Whole Nickelback Catalog.
darn tuned in right at end......love this song......Bill how about playing original Land of the Navajo from Old and in the Way......which is really expensive to buy.....new cd is $120.00 and new vinyl is $300.00    {#Boohoo}
Just Awesome
 d-don wrote:
"...with my Indian rug, and a pipe to share." {#Devil_pimp}
More gold from Neil.

 
yeah lets sit around the fire and share a good pipe
in this cold winternight
 jim1964 wrote:
I always thought that this was a Crash Vegas song, didn't know it was written by Neil Young. I think I prefer her version to this.

 
Yea me too!
Gotta love ole Neil. From then to now he just does his thing it mostly comes out good
This post apparently contained an image that was dragged into the post editor. Sorry, but any text contained in the post after this point has been lost.
Is this man drunk?
Love you Uncle Shakey!!! {#Guitarist}
 CyberCoyote wrote:
A lot more melancholy &  hopelessness in feeling and than version on Rust Never Sleeps
 
Hopelessness and yet hope? I feel hope back there somewhere. It's also nice to hear Neil play more than one note. I saw him live once in a solo gig. He was magical. At one point the stage caught on fire, something to do with sage burning, I don't know, but he kept playing as the roadies deleted the flames with fire extinguishers, he never missed a chord :) magic.
 ortega1 wrote:
 "The Pineapple Thief" played before, was, (as Steve Jobs says), amazing. And now again this crying man... Awful!
 
"crying man"


PERFECT!!! {#Lol}



{#Clap}

I've loved this song since Rust Never Sleeps.
However living in Houston - I don't know what the Astrodome has to do with the song.


"...with my Indian rug, and a pipe to share." {#Devil_pimp}
More gold from Neil.
 SinisterDexter wrote:


On second thought, let's not go to the New World.  It is a silly place.

 
{#Roflol}

I eat ham and jam and spam alot :o)

 DaveInVA wrote:
Silly lyrics but I like it {#Music}
 

On second thought, let's not go to the New World.  It is a silly place.

Neil Young is a true native at heart.
hmm... quite crazy. i DO like some songs from neil young, but sometimes his voice/singing is really not my cup of tea.
this should normally apply here: he gets to extremes with his whining vocal-sound, here.
but strangely enough it doesn´t bother me at all, here. on the contrary: when he comes to the phrase "marlon brando, pocahontas and me" it gives me goosebumps, the intensity is really painful.
but maybe it´s just the guitar-work which is so absolutely brilliant in this song/version who does the trick?

THIS

 


 j2e1n9 wrote:
Wow. Bad.
 
Wow.... and so many of your fave bands owe such a debt to Mr. Young.  Head-scratcher.

 "The Pineapple Thief" played before, was, (as Steve Jobs says), amazing. And now again this crying man... Awful!
The spirit of the 70s is still here! He was my hero back in the day, and now i am thankful to know him and his music!



Such as sweet sounding song for such a tragic subject...meh.
Wow. Bad.
 Zocket wrote:
Terrific transition from Elliott Smith's Waltz #2. 

Another reason Radio Paradise is always on a system wherever I go (and I build computers for a living).  Bill is an artist...
 
Ohhh - please come here and build my place of employment a system so we can listen to RP while we water the plants, stand the trees, help customers, haul bark-dust, etc..... (I call it my Zen-job, but it'd be even more "Zen" with RP...)  I've read the rules regarding copyrights and royalties, and I think our nursery/greenhouse qualifies for the exemption...

I really like that part about Marlon Brando. Far out...
 h8rhater wrote:
genocide... always silly
 
{#Clap}

I always thought that this was a Crash Vegas song, didn't know it was written by Neil Young. I think I prefer her version to this.
 DaveInVA wrote:
Silly lyrics but I like it {#Music}
 
genocide... always silly

Silly lyrics but I like it {#Music}
A lot more melancholy &  hopelessness in feeling and than version on Rust Never Sleeps
Terrific transition from Elliott Smith's Waltz #2. 

Another reason Radio Paradise is always on a system wherever I go (and I build computers for a living).  Bill is an artist...
On the play list in Stockholm 12/6 all electric! #10!{#Smile}  

Bocephus wrote:
I like the Rust Never Sleeps version better, but the song is great. An 8...I'd give a 9 for the other version.
Both are great, its ironic that your ID is Bocephus,what Hank called Jr but you know that,  Neil bought Hank Sr's Martin from Tut Taylor a long time ago


Young keeps getting better as does this morning's playlist!
absolutely great, this Pocahontas!
Great album from a great singer/songwriter. Great live version of an old classic.
I love the added intimacy and rawness of this version - makes it even more poignant and powerful, to me at least. Godlike...
Neil's amazing...and he doesn't fart about like so many from his generation did and still do, nor did he ever sell out.
ludwig7 wrote:
I guess you have to be of a certain age to understand the Marlon Brando reference. Unfortunately, I'm of that age.
Brando's son, Christian, died yesterday at 49.
boober wrote:
Can you write songs,play guitar,play harmonica,and sing any better?
He should add some knee symbols to his gig and fire his drummer.
boober wrote:
Can you write songs,play guitar,play harmonica,and sing any better?
Well of course not. But I realize that and don't try.
love neil young. i own this great album. but i have to say that hearing his voice right after the silky smooth vocal stylings of chris isaak is more than a bit jarring.
Last time I saw Son Volt they played this as their very last encore song. Really invigorated it and just rocked out. It was great. As for NY versions I do prefer the one off Live Rust.
Bocephus wrote:
I like the Rust Never Sleeps version better, but the song is great. An 8...I'd give a 9 for the other version.
I agree. Rust Never Sleeps ver is great. Awesome tune
I like the Rust Never Sleeps version better, but the song is great. An 8...I'd give a 9 for the other version.
roguewarer wrote:
My god! Does he even TRY to hit notes on that har-moan-ica?
Can you write songs,play guitar,play harmonica,and sing any better?
That has to be the most horrendous transition from one song to another! From Chris Isaak's sublime, "Wicked Game", to Neil Young. Or was that Chris Isaak to, "guy swings cat by tail and tries to pass it for singing"?
dmax wrote:
Started off sounding like "These are the good old days" by Carly Simon.
OMG-TOTALLY agree....
Great song and great version!!
this is a great song... the Brando reference is perhaps to when Brando had "Sasheen Littlefeather" accept an Oscar on his behalf. Ostensibly, this was to underline America's treatment of its indigenous people, but in classic Young iconoclastic style, I think he's mocking Brando's gesture for the moneyed hollywood cliche it appeared to be. It may have been a reference to having a certain part of one's anatomy "read" (like palm reading) however Brando was having the reading in a place where... ummm, ahemm... let's just say if you were undergoing colonic irrigation, this is where the hose goes... (this was something Brando was rumoured to part of in the late '70s...) "...sit and talk of hollywood and the good things there for hire..." Indeed
the astrodome - where did that come from - but i do love this song - oh by the way the astrodome is still here :) - it should be a national landmark
Prefer the album version but this is grea as well. Neil Young is a musical god.
It's 4/20, kids ... chief one up for Neil ... and for Bill
My favorite Neil ablum!
Originally Posted by ludwig7: I guess you have to be of a certain age to understand the Marlon Brando reference. Unfortunately, I'm of that age.
I think it has to do with the time he had an Indian activist accept an Oscar for him--
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful contemplation of the unrecapturable past--the past most know only from books and (more likely) movies...Pocahontas the image of what is lost; Brando, the actor who knows acting is make-believe playtime--Remember?
Yo! Pokahuntus Neil and Me (Kwanusilaogua), Thanks RP I was there with them. Good to be in Toronto on Wampole Island again.
I absolutely love this song and gave it a 10 (who says you have to sing well to be a singer anyway?). But could someone tell me what the deal is with the Marlon Brando reference? I assume it's related to a movie I've never seen... please inform the uninformed! Thanks!
I guess you have to be of a certain age to understand the Marlon Brando reference. Unfortunately, I\'m of that age.
Originally Posted by thereverend: As with any Neil Young... good lyrics, just can't stand that voice.
Exactly. About halfway through any of his songs I wish a different vocalist would step in. The music and lyrics are gorgeous, though.
Nice version of a beautiful song.
I am awake. I am dreaming.
This song is so beautiful. But just like Sugar Mountain, Old Man, Harvest Moon, and a few others, Neil has shown the ability to craft some of the most beautiful songs ever, but he\'s one of those artists that spans both ends of the spectrum --- he has unfortunately made some of the most gawd-awful crap ever made, like This Notes for You, Rockin in the Free World, and many others...... what gives.....
Mmm...actually, it\'s the first time I\'ve heard Neil\'s original version. I am familiar with the Crash Vegas cover on Borrowed Tunes - Tribute to Neil Young...very nice interpretation if you haven\'t heard it.
Originally Posted by roguewarer: My god! Does he even TRY to hit notes on that har-moan-ica?
Yes, because singer/songwriters are all about musical perfection. If you want perfect vocals or instrumentation, listen a David Foster produced Celine Dion album.
As with any Neil Young... good lyrics, just can\'t stand that voice.
Song: Yawn. Content: Interesting.
Aaahhh....so good! Thanks RP.
My first time to hear this song.......it\'s fantastic! :D
Absolutely Brilliant, as practically always
I\'ve liked Neil Young\'s music ever since Harvest was released. It was then I first noticed him, some songs are inspired... others just good. This one is pretty nice, first I\'ve heard it.
I am just not a big Neil Young fan. I can understand why others would get into him...I just can\'t.
Neil = Goodness. This is one of my faves. It\'s got all the best of Neil\'s unique folkie traits: great simple melody, cool imagery, and that mournful harmonica.
This is one of the essential Neil Young songs. One of the classic rock songs of all time.
I can\'t believe that I have never heard this song before! It\'s great, of course...like everything Neil has ever done.