NEIL YOUNG - FOUR STRONG WINDS

FOUR STRONG WINDS

NEIL YOUNG

SONGWRITER: IAN TYSON

COUNTRY: CANADA

ALBUM: COMES A TIME

LABEL: REPRISE

GENRE: ROCK

YEAR: 1978

 

          Neil Percival Young OC OM (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, musician, and activist. After embarking on a music career in the 1960s, he moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and others. Since the beginning of his solo career with his backing band Crazy Horse, Young has released many critically acclaimed and important albums, such as After the Gold Rush, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, and Harvest.

          Young has received several Grammy and Juno Awards. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted him twice: in 1995 as a solo artist and in 1997 as a member of Buffalo Springfield. In 2000, Rolling Stone named Young the 34th greatest rock 'n roll artist. His guitar work, deeply personal lyrics and signature tenor singing voice define his long career. He also plays piano and harmonica on many albums, which frequently combine folk, rock, country and other musical styles. His often distorted electric guitar playing, especially with Crazy Horse, earned him the nickname "Godfather of Grunge" and led to his 1995 album Mirror Ball with Pearl Jam. More recently he has been backed by Promise of the Real. His 21 albums and singles have been certified Gold and Platinum in U.S by RIAA certification.

            Young directed (or co-directed) films using the pseudonym Bernard Shakey, including Journey Through the Past (1973), Rust Never Sleeps (1979), Human Highway (1982), Greendale (2003), and CSNY/Déjà Vu (2008). He also contributed to the soundtracks of the films Philadelphia (1993) and Dead Man (1995).

           Young has lived in California since the 1960s but retains Canadian citizenship.  He was awarded the Order of Manitoba on July 14, 2006, and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 30, 2009. He became a United States citizen, taking dual citizenship, on January 22, 2020.

        "Four Strong Winds" is a song written by Ian Tyson and recorded by Canadian folk duo Ian and Sylvia. Tyson has noted that he composed the song in about 20 minutes in his then manager Albert Grossman's New York apartment in 1961. A significant composition of the early 1960s folk revival, the song is a melancholy reflection on a failing romantic relationship. The singer expresses a desire for a possible reunion in a new place in the future ("You could meet me if I sent you down the fare") but acknowledges the likelihood that the relationship is over ("But our good times are all gone/And I'm bound for moving on ...").

        The song has a clear Canadian context and subtext, including an explicit mention of the province Alberta as well as references to long, cold winters. In 2005, CBC Radio One listeners chose this song as the greatest Canadian song of all time on the program 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version. It is considered the unofficial anthem of Alberta

 

Think I'll go out to Alberta

Weather's good there in the fall

I got some friends that I could go to working for

Still, I wish you'd change your mind

If I ask you one more time

But we've been through this a hundred times or more

 

Four strong winds that blow lonely

Seven seas that run high

All those things that don't change, come what may

If the good times are all gone

Then I'm bound for moving on

I'll look for you if I'm ever back this way

 

If I get there before the snow flies

And if things are looking good

You could meet me if I send you down the fare

But by then it would be winter

Not too much for you to do

And those winds sure can blow cold way out there

 

Four strong winds that blow lonely

Seven seas that run high

All those things that don't change, come what may

The good times are all gone

So I'm bound for moving on

I'll look for you if I'm ever back this way

 

Still, I wish you'd change your mind

If I ask you one more time

But we've been through that a hundred times or more

 

Four strong winds that blow lonely

Seven seas that run high

All those things that don't change, come what may

If the good times are all gone

Then I'm bound for moving on

I'll look for you if I'm ever back this way

I'll look for you if I'm ever back this way.