days away Release Archive Volume 3Neil Young shares an unreleased live version of “Thrasher,” exclusively with Rolling Stone.
The track was cut during the first two shows at the Boarding House in San Francisco on May 27, 1978; Young performed 10 shows over five nights there from May 24 to 28. Unlike the official version Rust never sleepsThe song doesn't open with a sharp harmonica riff. Instead, we hear a simple strumming of Young's vocal chords before he launches into the first verse: “They were hiding behind the hay bales/ They were planting in the full moon/ They gave it their all for something new.”
“Thrasher” is one of Young's greatest songs, and one of his most iconic songs. Rust never sleeps This documents Young's struggle with the constant need to get back on the road. In a later verse, he famously takes aim at his CSNY bandmates: “So I got bored and left them there/They were just a dead weight to me/Better off the road without that load.”
“Parts of it were just dead weight,” he said in a 1985 interview with Bill Flanagan. “Well, at that point, I felt like it was a dead weight to me. Not to them. To me. I could go somewhere, and they couldn’t go there. I wasn’t going to drag them with me, they were fine without me. Maybe it was harsher than I intended, but once I write, I can’t say, ‘Oh, I’m going to hurt somebody’s feelings.’ Poetically and on a feeling basis, it made sense to me, and it came right out. I think I’d be doing a disservice if I changed it based on what I thought the reaction would be. I try not to do that.”
“Thrasher” follows “Bright Sunny Day”, a previously unreleased song from the tenth disc. Sedan Delivery (1978): Neil Young with Crazy Horse“Bright Sunny Day” is one of 15 songs that were never released in any form until Third ArchiveIn all, the collection contains 28 hours of 198 tracks spread across 22 discs.
Next month, Young will perform at Farm Aid, which this year will be held at the Saratoga Center for the Performing Arts in Saratoga Springs, New York, where he serves on the board of directors. The appearance marks his return to the stage since canceling all concert dates due to an unspecified illness. See our 1974 Farm Aid tribute On the beachwho turned 50 in July.
