As is often the case with Neil Young, it's a very abstract, impressionist picture he is painting and the meaning is often obscured. However, with a little insight into his personal life, it's easy to see that he and Pegi "took a vow to live with the heartbreak" of havingg a severly handicapped son. The song is all the more poignant from this perspective, but the horseshoe man represents the hope that keeps people going even though "there will always be heartbreak." "Love ain't looking for perfection" is as much a reference to the efforts of Neil and Pegi to make things work as it is to the fact that we don't people don't need to be perfect to be loved.
As is often the case with Neil Young, it's a very abstract, impressionist picture he is painting and the meaning is often obscured. However, with a little insight into his personal life, it's easy to see that he and Pegi "took a vow to live with the heartbreak" of havingg a severly handicapped son. The song is all the more poignant from this perspective, but the horseshoe man represents the hope that keeps people going even though "there will always be heartbreak." "Love ain't looking for perfection" is as much a reference to the efforts of Neil and Pegi to make things work as it is to the fact that we don't people don't need to be perfect to be loved.