Waging Heavy Peace

by Neil Young

“Crazy Mama” by JJ Cale is a record I love. The song is true, simple, and direct, and the delivery is very natural. JJ’s guitar playing is a huge influence on me. His touch is unspeakable. I am stunned by it. “Like a Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan is as fresh as the first day I heard it—I

Today music is presented as an entertainment medium, like a game, without the full audio quality. It’s like a cool pastime or a toy, not like a message to the soul. So things have changed.

“Just write every day, and you’ll be surprised what comes out.”

There is nothing like having no preconceptions to live up to or down. Today my past is a huge thing. Everybody has an expectation of what I should do. There comes a time when these things start to get in one’s way. Expectations can block the light. They can shadow the future, making it more difficult to be free-flowing and creative. I need to find that freedom again today if I want to fly.

A job is never truly finished. It just reaches a stage where it can be left on its own for a while.

After he heard PureTone, Ben Bourdon, one of Ben Young’s caregivers, asked me if I was making war on Apple. I said, “No. I’m waging heavy peace.”

And with rock and roll, the more you think, the more you stink.

Life is just a big test, and if you try hard, you fail. If you don’t try too hard and fail a little but have a good time, maybe that is success.

It is important to remember the times when life is in full bloom. Those are the moments that give us the faith to move through the darkness when it falls.