Product Description
“Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” is a song written by Canadian musician Neil Young (although in the credits the authorship is shared with Jeff Blackburn of The Ducks, Neil’s friend, for the verse “it’s better to burn out than to fade away”) and performed by himself with his group Crazy Horse and published on the album Rust Never Sleeps studio album from 1979, mostly recorded live, with later studio overdubs. The song closes the album while its acoustic counterpart (“My My Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue”) opens it).
The song “Hey Hey, My My” and the phrase that gave rise to the album, “Rust Never Sleeps”, arose from Young’s meeting with Devo and in particular with Mark Mothersbaugh, leader and singer of the band. Devo asked Young in 1977 to participate in the feature film “Human Highway”. In a scene of the film Young appears playing the complete song with the group.
The greatest impact on modern rock of “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” came from the inclusion of the verse “it’s better to burn out than to fade away” in Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain’s suicide note. Young was so affected by it that he dedicated his 1994 album “Sleeps with Angels” to Cobain.
Personnel:
– Neil Young: Lead vocals and lead guitar.
– Frank “Poncho” Sampedro : Rhythm guitar and backing vocals.
– Billy Talbot: Bass and backing vocals.
– Ralph Molina: Drums.
