There is a town in North Ontario
Dream comfort memory to spare
And in my mind I still need a place to go
All my changes were there

Blue, blue windows behind the stars
Yellow moon on the rise
Big birds flying across the sky
Throwing shadows on our eyes

Leave us

Helpless, helpless, helpless, helpless
Babe, can you hear me now?
The chains are locked and tied across the door
Baby, sing with me somehow

Blue, blue windows behind the stars
Yellow moon on the rise
Big birds flying across the sky
Throwing shadows on our eyes

Leave us

Helpless, helpless, helpless, helpless


Lyrics submitted by H-bomb

Helpless Lyrics as written by Neil Young

Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Helpless song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

48 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +6
    General Comment

    Have you ever seen, felt, or remembered such a beauty that you were rendered transfixed, weakened, supplicant?

    You were, in that moment, "helpless."

    salparadise63on June 13, 2011   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    As far as I'm concerned, that's exactly what this song is about. It's a hard thing to come from a place you hate all your life and then get out into the world and discover that that place was your home all along.

    CeeJaion May 04, 2003   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    I wonder if it is about the town he grew up in (I think he is from Ontario) and he feels ambivalent towards what he considers his home and wanting to leave.

    I wonder if it was about a dying lonely town in which he felt trapped. The "town" could also be symbolic of a bad time in his life-just throwing out ideas

    Any other thoughts?

    Hildeon April 26, 2002   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Actually, I'm reading his boigraphy "Shakey" right now, and he says quite clearly that the song is about a town that he lived in called "Omemee". It was a tiny town with a population of about 200, and it was here that Neil contracted Polio when he was about 5 or 6.

    Neil moved around quite a bit as a child, all over ontario and manitoba, so this song has probably been attributed to lots of other towns before, heh.

    CB the PBon December 17, 2004   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    This song is surely about him missing his hometown, in my opinion.

    Think about it.

    "With dream comfort to spare In my mind I still need a place to go All my changes were there."

    "The chains are locked And tied across the door."

    He's referring to the chains of time that have been locked on his past. He is "Helpless" in this song because there's nothing he can do to revert himself back to an earlier age. The only place where his childhood lives is in his mind.

    I think he's referring to the place he grew up in. He can't go back there because time has changed him, so the place only lives in his memory.

    mattkid4on January 30, 2006   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    watch this shit on The Last waltz with joni mitchell..heaven.

    harvest moonon November 09, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Let's put this Omemee arguement to bed. I am from Omemee, went to Scott Young school, which was named after his father in 1993. Most people believe this song is about Omemee. It has a population of about 1500. Most of it is farm land. Omemee is about an hour and 45 minutes outside Toronto which is technically not north ontario but we are considered as being up north. So, I have always believed it was about Omemee, feel free to believe what you want.

    Tragic_05on February 05, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I believe the meaning is more universal than has been invoked. Specifically, I believe that the song is a metaphor for one's life, for one's values, for one's early adulthood. Our views of the world, our prejudices, our values are formed in our adolescence. And there we remained locked forever, chained in as it were! And despite how hard we try, we are helpless to change any of that! Hence, in my opinion, helpless refers to our overall condition vis-a-vis who we are! We are helpless to be someone other than who we are! The house is a metaphor for our values. We can look out through the windows at the blue sky......but we cannot leave our metaphorical house (i.e. our values) !!!

    bernbeauon July 13, 2010   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation

    The town is Omemee, Ontario, where Young lived for a few years, as has been stated.

    I think the lyrics show both nostalgia for his childhood idyll and sorrow at the effect of the Polio he contracted while he lived there.

    Polio leaves its survivors physically weakened for the rest of their lives. The <i>"changes"</i> are both his blooming boyhood in that town and the lasting effects wreaked by the disease.

    The specific lines that make me think Polio is a subject are <i>"The chains are locked and tied across the door"</i> and the title and refrain, <i>"Helpless, helpless, helpless."</i>

    Less directly, in the previous verse, <i>"Blue, blue windows behind the stars"</i> seem to call to mind an unreachable place of distance and wonder. <i>"Yellow moon on the rise"</i>, while still evoking beauty, suggests the onset of a sinister element. The next lines (<i>"Big birds..."</i> and <i>"...shadows..."</i>) repeat that duality.

    Of course I could be wrong. Both those verses could simply refer to his growing loss of innocence and inability to return to the scenes of his youth.

    azkmon March 26, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    The town he's referring to is Blind River , Ontario, where he lived for awhile (he's from Manitoba), and in that town, he felt at home.

    rosene_80on June 15, 2004   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Fortnight
Taylor Swift
The song 'Fortnight' by Taylor Swift and Post Malone tells a story about strong feelings, complicated relationships, and secret wishes. It talks about love, betrayal, and wanting someone who doesn't feel the same. The word 'fortnight' shows short-lived happiness and guilty pleasures, leading to sadness. It shows how messy relationships can be and the results of hiding emotions. “I was supposed to be sent away / But they forgot to come and get me,” she kickstarts the song in the first verse with lines suggesting an admission to a hospital for people with mental illnesses. She goes in the verse admitting her lover is the reason why she is like this. In the chorus, she sings about their time in love and reflects on how he has now settled with someone else. “I took the miracle move-on drug, the effects were temporary / And I love you, it’s ruining my life,” on the second verse she details her struggles to forget about him and the negative effects of her failure. “Thought of callin’ ya, but you won’t pick up / ‘Nother fortnight lost in America,” Post Malone sings in the outro.
Album art
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere. In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Album art
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
Page
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.