Cover artwork of Neil Young’s “Comes A Time”
Photo: Warner. All rights reserved.
Country has always been a cornerstone of Neil Young’s work. “Comes A Time” (1978) is a rural idyll in its purest form and is animated by a sore melancholy that Nashville would like to bring to the people in grain silo-like quantities, but which is not available for a rancid sense of home.
“Field Of Opportunity” and “Motorcycle Mama” are certainly not among Young’s greatest moments as a songwriter, but the rest of the album beats a lot of what he has composed since then and some of what he has composed before.
Everything is gone, except hope
There are no ballads more heartbreaking than “Peace Of Mind”, “Lotta Love” and “Already One”. In the end, in Ian Tyson’s “Four Strong Winds,” everything is gone except hope.