"Everybody Knows This is Nowhere" - Neil Young

Living alone I find that late at night, when there's no one else around to talk to, I think of really bizarre things. My mind will wander about the most useless and random subjects. For example, I spent a good ten minutes the other night thinking about the large spider living above my patio door - which led to thoughts about poisonous spiders, spider bites leaving spider eggs under your skin, and finally Spiderman. One subject I often think about it is if my condo caught fire what would I grab? After the no-brainers, like the animals and my purse, I thought probably my laptop and most definitely my guitar.

Me and my baby

My acoustic guitar is one of my most prized possessions. It is incredibly special to me, not because it was my first guitar, but because it was given to me. When I was younger I played piano for years but was always begging my parents to buy me a guitar. The problem was I didn't know anyone that played guitar, and no one in the small "Nowhere" town that I grew up in taught lessons at the time. After years of repeatedly annoying them my parents finally had a solution. 

Before I was born my Dad's sister - Nina, succumbed to cancer. It was her one wish to stay alive long enough to see me born, but sadly we never met. My family often says I remind them of her, particularly when I'm being inappropriate my Gramma yells, in her broken-Ukrainian-English, "You just like Nina!" Nina had played guitar, and after she passed away my Dad remembered that it was probably still sitting at her old house. Sure enough when we phoned my Uncle, he brought over the Yamaha guitar - still in the original case, that had been collecting dust since her death.

That moment when I played her guitar was when I can remember my love affair with music began. I was young at the time - twelve or so - and really had no interest or preference in music. Teaching myself how to play acoustic naturally led me straight into the arms of all of the music greats - Springsteen, Petty, Dylan, and Neil Young. With bleeding fingers and disgusting calluses I finally learned to play a few songs. One of the first songs I ever learned to play was "Heart of Gold".

I learned to play "Heart of Gold" because it was fairly easy to play and a good beginner song. This song opened up the whole wide world of Neil Young for me. At that point I began to download anything Neil Young that I could find. I like Young's consistency for outstanding lyrics paired with simple, yet catchy guitar melodies, and his ability to tell stories. Like Dylan and Springsteen, Neil Young used his music not only to entertain, but to send a message.

Mr.Young

"Everybody Knows this is Nowhere" was released off of Neil's second solo album of the same name. I've always liked this Neil Young song best because it reminds me of back home. Essentially I grew up in a small Northwestern Ontario town that is best described by the chorus line, "Everybody knows this is nowhere". As small and isolated as it was, there is always a comfort in the simplicity of back home. I'll never truly be a "city girl", even though I do my best to fake it. There are times when I find myself  hating the city and fantasizing about "going back home, to take it easy". Young's roots are apparent by his reference to "back home", because only small town people refer to it as that. This song was written after Young had achieved a significant amount of success and fame. Being a small town boy and pretty low key, Young probably wanted nothing more than to go back to his small "Nowhere" town and chill out.

Nipigon, Ontario - Home Sweet Home

I especially like the line, "I wish that I could be there right now, just passing time." There was never really much to do back home except pass the time and just enjoy being there. A visitor could never appreciate its' peacefulness. As boring as it might have been it is amazingly beautiful. The air is different; it smells clean; like a combination of trees, water and soil. And everything is quiet. You can hear crickets and frogs chirping at night - just like in the movies. Sometimes I find myself feeling more lonely in a city full of people than I ever did when I was alone back home.

P.S. I couldn't find video for it - but Young does an amazing solo acoustic version of this song as well. It's a live version off of his "Acoustic Afternoon" album.

I think I'd like to go

back home
And take it easy
There's a woman that
I'd like to get to know
Living there

Everybody seems to wonder
What it's like down here
I gotta get away
from this day-to-day
running around,


Everybody knows
this is nowhere.
Everybody, everybody knows
Everybody knows.

Every time I think about
back home
It's cool and breezy
I wish that I could be there
right now
Just passing time.

Everybody seems to wonder
What it's like down here
I gotta get away
from this day-to-day
running around,
Everybody knows
this is nowhere.
Everybody, everybody knows
Everybody knows.