This morning’s CarTune is a song that many listeners might never realize is about a car: “Long May You Run” by the incomparable Neil Young.
Young, who wrote the song as an elegy for Mort, his beloved ’48 Buick hearse, has always had a sentimental attachment to big, old American cars. (Also trains, both model and full-sized, and vintage musical instruments.) His car collection currently includes a ’51 Jeepster and a ’59 Lincoln convertible he converted into a biodiesel-electric hybrid.
On his California ranch, Young also keeps a junkyard of expired vehicles as a source for spare parts—and also, one suspects, because he can’t bear to part with the old machines. A verse from “Run”:
Well, it was
Back in Blind River in 1962
When I last saw you alive
But we missed that shift
On the long decline
Long may you run.
The song originally appeared on the 1976 duet album by Young and Stephen Stills, also entitled Long May You Run. The live performance below is from Young’s 1993 MTV Unplugged concert video. Yes, it’s true: At one time, the cable channel featured musical programming. Enjoy.
His Last Trip to Tulsa is also another good cat tune from an early Crazy Horse album – one of my faves.
Thanks for the input–we use it!
Never been a fan (just personal taste) but now that I know he owns a Jeepster, I’ll have to reconsider!
Also old Lincolns, Cadillacs, Bristols, Willys trucks. Graham Nash of CSN&Y, who is also an accomplished photographer, did a sorta famous photo of Neil’s Bristol 541:
https://www.morrisonhotelgallery.com/cart/addImage.aspx?type=photograph&itemID=1675
Decent New York Times piece that includes Neil’s Jeepster and junkyard:
http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/well-hello-mr-soul/
Jensen 541?
@Lars — yes, brain fade on my part. Thanks for the correction.