Neil Young Revives Song He Wrote As A Teenager For New Album ‘Second Song’

As Neil Young geared up to announce his new studio album with The Chrome Hearts, he noted that Second Song contained tracks he wrote early in his career. Over the weekend, the singer-songwriter shared details on one of those tunes, “Casting Me Away From You,” along with an accompanying video.

Born in November 1945, Neil Young recalled that he wrote “Casting Me Away From You” in “64 or 65” with his schoolmate Comrie Smith. The pair laid the song down and Young released the recording in 2009 on his Neil Young Archives Vol. 1 (1963 – 1972).

Neil recently recorded the song anew with his latest band The Chrome Hearts for their new studio album Second Song. On Saturday, Neil took to his Neil Young Archives website to detail the album’s “Casting Me Away From You.”

“Casting Me Away From You” is one of my early songs. I think I wrote it in 64 or 65. When we recorded Second Song early this year I ran out of tunes fast. I only had the 5 new ones, long ones, and I needed more, so I started to feel it out and came up with “Casting Me Away,” from the deep past. There is an old recording with my school-mate Comrie Smith, somewhere in the Archives from that time. I recorded it for the Second Song album with the Chrome Hearts the next day.

In the early 70s, some time soon after I moved to Broken Arrow Ranch, David Meyers, the great cinematographer, jumped on the back of my old jeepster and we took a ride across Broken Arrow. 20 years or so before Rick Rosas shot the trip that is now “Second Song.”

Check this video out! Zeke’s mom, Carrie Snodgress, is riding her horse along with Timer, our dog, who’s riding with me as we cross the beautiful ranch on a new road.
Love to you,
neil

Head to Neil Young Archives to check out the David Meyers-shot video for “Casting Me Away From You.” Listen to the early recording of the song below: