NaPoWriMo 2025, day 25: When Neil Got Real

I saw Neil Young in concert/In the early 70s/With his jeans less jeans than patches/And he played a guitar with a triangular body/And some drunk girl kept yelling for “Down By the River”/And he never played “Down By the River”/But he did play “After the Gold Rush”/And I did crappy sketches of him with a felt-tip pen

I saw him again at the State Fair/When he played with the Blue Notes/And they did “Ten Men Working”/And he did “Married Man”

But Neil got real one year/when he had his head examined/And found an aneurysm/And scheduled an operation/With quite a risk involved/And he performed beforehand/As if for the last time/And sounded like an angel/The one who wrestled Jacob

Neil was real all along/Drew envy from Bob Dylan/For singing “Heart of Gold”/And now he is the husband/Of real Daryl Hannah/And that just goes to show you/That Real goes every whichway

And, Neil, if you read this/Thanks for that “Harvest Moon”/And “Rockin’ In the Free World”/And “Thrashers” and “Some Day”/And “Birds” and many others

You gave a kid some thoughtfood/You give a geezer music/And like your “Old Man” I/Might be a lot like you