“Harvest” by Neil Young

The title song of Neil Young's 1972 album Harvest is a slow country dance of a tune, taken at an unhurried crawl that turns strangely hypnotic. Young wrote it alone and sings it with the Stray Gators behind him, plus John Harris, whose piano carries much of the weight. Kenny Buttrey barely breaks a sweat on drums, keeping time with one hand on just the snare and the kick. Young produced it with Elliot Mazer.

The words are cryptic. Johnny Rogan read them as a string of questions about a woman: how much love the singer stands to reap, and whether he can take it in once it comes. Nigel Williamson heard a man who can't accept happiness at face value. Either way, the crop in the title is love, and he isn't sure he can bring it in.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.