In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
World is turnin'
I hope it don't turn away
The world is turnin'
I hope it don't turn away
All my pictures are fallin'
From the wall where I placed them yesterday
World is turnin'
I hope it don't turn away
I need a crowd of people, but I can't face them day to day
I need a crowd of people, but I can't face them day to day
Though my problems are meaningless, that don't make them go away
I need a crowd of people, but I can't face them day to day
I went to the radio interview, but I ended up alone at the microphone
I went to the radio interview, but I ended up alone at the microphone
Now I'm livin' out here on the beach, but those seagulls are still out of reach
Went to the radio interview, but I ended up alone at the microphone
Get out of town, think I'll get out of town
Get out of town, think I'll get out of town
I head for the sticks with my bus and friends
I follow the road, though I don't know where it ends
Get out of town, get out of town, think I'll get out of town
'Cause the world is turnin'
I don't want to see it turn away
I hope it don't turn away
The world is turnin'
I hope it don't turn away
All my pictures are fallin'
From the wall where I placed them yesterday
World is turnin'
I hope it don't turn away
I need a crowd of people, but I can't face them day to day
I need a crowd of people, but I can't face them day to day
Though my problems are meaningless, that don't make them go away
I need a crowd of people, but I can't face them day to day
I went to the radio interview, but I ended up alone at the microphone
I went to the radio interview, but I ended up alone at the microphone
Now I'm livin' out here on the beach, but those seagulls are still out of reach
Went to the radio interview, but I ended up alone at the microphone
Get out of town, think I'll get out of town
Get out of town, think I'll get out of town
I head for the sticks with my bus and friends
I follow the road, though I don't know where it ends
Get out of town, get out of town, think I'll get out of town
'Cause the world is turnin'
I don't want to see it turn away
Lyrics submitted by Roland Ripley
On the Beach Lyrics as written by Neil Young
Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think smallwonderrobot hit it on the head....not the hardest of songs to analyze, per se. The line:
"Now I'm living out here on the beach but those seagulls are still out of reach"
That just about sums it up. You've reached the pinnacle of things, yet you're still searching for satisfaction. It's a restless feeling.
This song is amazing. Depressing, but amazing.
And yeah, definitely about not being able to be satisfied with life in general. Always feeling like you need more and it's never there.
though my problems are meaningless that dont make them go away..
perfect.
I think the lyrics are clearly about the hardships of being famous. He needs the fame to live and survive, but can only take so much of it and wants them to just go away. The first time I heard this song my mind was blown. "All my pictures are fallin from the wall where I placed them yesterday". Who knew such simple words could have so much meaning? "Though my problems are meaningless, that don't make them go away." I love this line. This represents my life right now. I think it says that just because others don't see your problems as meaningful and important, it doesn't mean it's not a problem for you still. Perhaps Neil was referring to when "normal" people say that rich and famous people have no reason to bitch about their problems because they can't possibly have any.
I don't think this song only applies to fame either. It represents me very well right now. I'm 18, getting serious about school, meeting girls, driving my own car, no rent money to pay since I still live at home. Basically I'm beginning the period of life that many feel is the prime of life, or "living on the beach". But I have trouble recognizing it sometimes. I have this "is this it?" kind of feeling constantly, and I feel ashamed for even feeling that, but it's the truth. I'm livin' on the beach but I don't know how to enjoy it.
There was a book by Nevil Shute called "on the beach". It was about the end of the world after a nuclear war with the survivors in Australia waiting for the fallout to come and kill them. There was an American submarine there and they traveled to the west coast of the US to investigate radio signals but when they got there the signals came from a microphone randomly hitting something. I also believe that the metaphor of seagulls flying off the shore was used. A great but depressing book and I think that it fits in with the overall theme of the album. I first heard this album when it came out almost forty years ago and I still think that it is similar to the book.
The title track for the greatest album of all time and no comments. What a shame.
I think it's about success and the mixed feelings of fame.
Great song. I agree that it is about Neil being fed up of fame and the necessary trappings of leading a successful music career.
The part I struggle to understand is "I went to the radio interview, but I ended up alone at the microphone".
That sounds like a very specific instance. Neil's songs are full of these. Anyone have any ideas?
Ever seen the movie Almost Famous? The scene where they go in for the radio interview and the radio host is so stoned he ends up falling asleep while interviewing the band and they start swearing and joking around amongst themselves while the DJ slept. Well, in the commentary Cameron Crowe mentions that the scene was inspired by that incident happening to Neil Young. The more you know..
TRUE STORY: A dj named Steven Clean (real name: Steven Segal) interviewed Neil Young in the early 1970s on an LA radio station (KPPC or KMET). Recently the station had gotten ahold of the "Harvest" album early and played it on the air and Neil was reportedly upset about it. During the interview, Neil asked Steven to remove his headphones, feeling they were isolating. Steven said he needed them on to keep the levels right for the interview, but Neil insisted. So Steven angrily countered that next time Neil was onstage he should unplug his guitar. Then Steven walked out, leaving Neil "alone at the microphone." Steven sent an engineer into the studio to show Neil how to work the controls and left him there to finish the radio program. <br /> <br /> As he sings about the radio interview, Neil says "the seagulls are out of reach," a hidden reference to Segal. And as he begins the song on a bootleg from the Bottom Line, Neil says, "I'm coming for you, Steven!"
rocket88's story is the way I remember it. "Clean" had come from the legitimately underground, long-defunct KPPC. He was more than a handful but somehow managed to get hired on KMET which was owned by a major chain (Metromedia) who were trying to figure out how to steal fire from the real underground FM scene. He was a quirky radio personality, seeming to affect a conscious stutter at times and having sometimes extremely strong opinions about what he played. I really liked him for a long time but in the mid-70s he seemed to retrench to dinosaur rock. I remember the only time I heard him play the Sex Pistols. I was excited because I thought my then-favorite DJ was finally catching up to the times. But on the outro he said something like, "Well, that's the Sex Pistols and you'll never hear them again on my show." And he was right, because I stopped listening right after that and found a station that wasn't mired in the early 70s.
Though this song seems to be primarily about the downsides of fame, I extracted another idea from the line that goes,"I need a crowd of people/But I can't face them day to day". Sure, Young was probably referring to his audience and the strain of having to entertain them at what must have seemed like a constant pace in his mind. However, I thought that the "crowd of people" refers to a group of friends.
I once quoted the line to some friends in an attempt to explain why I often like to isolate myself. It's not that I don't like them – I love my friends – but I often need to be away from them to bask in the silence and warmth of self-reflection.