Lyrics I Love #29: Mellow My Mind
About the Song
Track: Mellow My Mind
Length: 3:11
Album: Tonight’s the Night (1975)
Artist: Neil Young
Songwriters: Neil Young
Favorite part:
“Cause something so hard to find
A situation that can casualize your mind”
© Silver Fiddle, Words & Music A Div of Big Deal Music LLC
Here’s Why I Love It
First of all, any song that opens with a harmonica has got my attention immediately. What can I say? And then, the two damn lines that follow: “Baby, mellow my mind / Make me feel like a schoolboy on good time.” Forget it, I’m hooked. Mellow my mind? What a phrase for someone going through something. It’s like I just need someone who can quiet the voices, stop the world from spinning, and my mind from racing. I just need you to mellow my freakin’ mind. But as the line above reminds you, it’s not so easy to find. Fuck, it’s so good.
On that note, let’s just talk about the second line above. Actually, one word, really—casualize. What the hell is that? I’m about 90% sure that’s not a word—ha. Does it even matter? That’s the question. In my book, not one bit. Playing with language is one of the most fun things you can do as a writer. And as a listener, we know exactly what Neil means, and that’s exactly what transcends this song. We can feel it in our bones.
It’s worth it for me to mention—I love Tonight’s the Night. To date, maybe my favorite in Neil Young’s large canon of music. The album has a tinge of melancholia, which provides the backbone to support the gritty rawness of it. (Note: Young wrote most of this album shortly after two friends overdosed.) In almost perfect synchrony, all the songs blend together, and the album never lets up. But it’s that stripped-down quality that I just can’t seem to escape—preferentially, at least. And this song is just a perfect embodiment of it.
*** Read the lyrics and Listen to the song ***
*This article is part of the ongoing Lyrics I Love series: short interpretations of the meaning and story behind one song with lyrics that move me.