Comes a Time

Comes a Time was released 1978. The songs were recorded in several locations, some in London and in two different studios in Nashville. It was produced by Neil Young, Ben Keith, Tim Mulligan and David Briggs.

According to Neil Young self, Comes a Time was as close to perfection he were able to come. The album was continuing the acoustic sound (and this time with Hank William's old Martin D-28) from the preceding American Stars ‘n Bars. Arrangements with a fiddle in “Comes a Time” and the song lyrics also give a picture of rural and contemplating feeling. The most outspoken manifest of it may be in “Goin’ Back” with resemblance to Rousseaus’ credo "back to nature":

I feel like goin’ back
Back where there’s nowhere to stay
Where the fire fills the sky

And in “Human Highway” (the title would be used for his film with the same name three years later) the urban civilization plays the antagonistic role: “I got lost on the human highway”.

The last song on the album “Four Strong Winds” is one of Young's favorite songs and was originally written by Ian Tyson and first recorded by The Brothers Four in 1963.

A song what Neil often performs on stage is “Lotta Love”. It clearly has some hit potential and when the American singer Nicolette Larson made a cover in 1978 it did climb high on the lists. Nicolette can also be heard on Comes a Time as she sings in “Motorcycle Mama”.

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