“Thrasher” is one of Neil Young’s greatest songs, a highlight from “Rust Never Sleeps” that documents Young grappling with the incessant need to get back on the road. In a later verse, he famously takes a shot at his CSNY bandmates: “So I got bored and left them there/They were just dead weight to me/Better down 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 kind of dead weight for me. Not for them. For me. I could go somewhere, and they couldn’t go there. I wasn’t going to pull them along, they were doing fine without me. It might have come off a little more harsh than I meant it, but once I write, I can’t say, ‘Oh, I’m going to hurt someone’s feelings.’ Poetically and on feeling, it made good sense to me, and it came right out. I think I’d be doing a disservice to change it based on what I think a reaction would be. I try not to do that.”
“Thrasher” follows “Bright Sunny Day,” a previously unreleased track off the 10th disc “Sedan Delivery” (1978): Neil Young with Crazy Horse. “Bright Sunny Day” is one of the 15 tracks unreleased in any capacity until “Archives III”. Overall, the anthology boasts 28 hours of 198 tracks over 22 discs.
Next month, Neil Young will perform at Farm Aid, which will take place this year at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York, where he serves on the board. The appearance marks his return to the stage since canceling all concert dates due to an unspecific illness.
The Fat Angel Sings 