Lyrics for After the Gold Rush as interpreted by H-bomb

After the Gold Rush Lyrics
Well, I dreamed I saw the knights
In armor coming,
Saying something about a queen.
There were peasants singing and
Drummers drumming
And the archer split the tree.
There was a fanfare blowing
To the sun
That was floating on the breeze.
Look at Mother Nature on the run
In the nineteen seventies.
Look at Mother Nature on the run
In the nineteen seventies.

I was lying in a burned out basement
With the full moon in my eyes.
I was hoping for replacement
When the sun burst thru the sky.
There was a band playing in my head
And I felt like getting high.
I was thinking about what a
Friend had said
I was hoping it was a lie.
Thinking about what a
Friend had said
I was hoping it was a lie.

Well, I dreamed I saw the silver
Space ships flying
In the yellow haze of the sun,
There were children crying
And colors flying
All around the chosen ones.
All in a dream, all in a dream
The loading had begun.
They were flying Mother Nature's
Silver seed to a new home in the sun.
Flying Mother Nature's
Silver seed to a new home.

Interaction
Mail to a friend Send Lyrics to a Friend
Share on Facebook

Stumble It
Add to Del.icio.us Add to Del.icio.us




  • 40 Comments
  • Printer Friendly Lyrics
oldest first     Expand All
ultjer
07-09-2002

Rated 0 
Please help anyone , what does this song me , email me at ultjer2001@aol.com . Later

Log in to reply
Fred39
03-05-2003

Rated 0 
oh god, so good

Log in to reply
jehosefat
04-06-2003

Rated 0 
it sounds like a war and young is saying were killing the world (mother nature on the run) then since the Earth was made uninhabitable, people (only the great, chosen ones) were allowed to go on spaceships and live somewhere else, so as to keep the human race alive...

Log in to reply
archmastermind
04-10-2004

Rated 0 
i think he was just incredibly high when he wrote it.

Log in to reply
binky the doormat
05-03-2004

Rated 0 
the three verses in this song represent the past, the present, and he future.

Log in to reply
neilyoungismygod
06-02-2004

Rated 0 
I think its about how over time people are wrecking the world. Its talking about the past in the first verse and how we are just starting to wreck the earth. Then in the second verse its present time and is talking about how people are realizing what could happen. Thats why he is hoping it was a lie. In the third verse its in the future and its too late to do anything so they have to find a new world were only the chosen ones can go.

Log in to reply
rosene_80
06-15-2004

Rated +1 
this song, like many Neil Young songs makes me feel nostalgic...

Log in to reply
afrostratrock
10-05-2004

Rated 0 
Actually, this song was based on the script to a movie that was never produced. Many of the themes discussed here were supposedly prominent in this movie. Neil is now talking about doing a rock/theater type thing like he did with Greendale using the original After the Gold Rush script as a premise.

Log in to reply
loversandliars
12-18-2004

Rated 0 
I love this song.
Neil is pure genius.

Log in to reply
loversandliars
12-18-2004

Rated 0 
I love this song.
Neil is pure genius.

Log in to reply
oldlaughinlady
01-13-2005

Rated 0 
i love trying to find the drug references in neil young songs. ive tried to explain what i think it is in this one, but people always tell me im dumb, so if anyone else has any ideas, please say so. (its not so obvious as the burned out basement line, but i think its in that verse)

Log in to reply
powderfinger
03-06-2005

Rated 0 
Hello oldlaughinlady. You're not dumb. Keep looking. But one thing, Neil Young is not the artist to be looking after drug references with. Neil was never really a big drugsguy. Neil is epileptic and could therefore never do any LSD. He has always smoked some marijuana (a resonable person) and has written quite a few songs about that (Roll another number for the road, Homegrown). He also did a little cocaine in the seventies, but hey! Who didnt? Not much more than that. He did, on the other hand write "Cowgirl in the sand" and "Down by the river" in one afternoon in a fever. He's more of a tequila guy, really. He's so far out without drugs (listen to the songs) that he don't really need those things. Look for drug references with Beatles, Stones, lou reed and others. Mr. Tambourineman is the best marijuana song i've ever heard.

Log in to reply
powderfinger
03-06-2005

Rated 0 
By the way, to look for marijuana references you should look for the name "Mary Jane" which is common slang. Tom pettys song Mary janes last dance. To roll a number is also a common thing to call it.

Log in to reply
JoE][BoXeR
03-20-2005

Rated 0 
Any Tom Petty song has a pot referance..

Log in to reply
ZepJimiFloyd
03-31-2005

Rated 0 
i agree with the past, present, and future regarding how we are wrecking the world slowly over time. This is really brilliant songwriting though...i mean most people choose to write about girls and whatever, but neil decides to write about nature, something not always done in songwriting. and writing a verse about past present and future is really remarkable stuff that not alot of people would think of

Log in to reply
Luckypenny821
06-17-2005

Rated 0 
i love this song so much. but it does seem to be about the rapture a little bit. The "chosen" ones going to a new home in the sun. I dont know what the space ship part would be about then though.

Log in to reply
reflect4ever
08-02-2005

Rated 0 
I really like this song. It does make you feel nostalgic. Whoever said about the past, present, future theme...that seems dead-on.

Log in to reply
ScatteredTwighlight
12-11-2005

Rated 0 
Love this song! One of my favorites from the 70's. I agree with many of the comments on here, is sound slike a very "high" song, drug references, etc. "Gold" (drugs) "rush" (high). ature and protest i agree with too.I have another meaning i'd like to add. This may sound really weird, and while it probably wasn't intended to mean this, doesn't it sound like it could be about an abortion? (with the unbron baby talking, or possibly the mom)
Well, i dreamed i saw the nights in armor coming (doctors, "armor"=needles, surgical tools)
Saying something about a queen("queen"=a "liberated "woman)
There were peasants singing & drummers drumming (pro-abortion ralleys)
fanfare, mother nature,etc continuing the thought on the protestors
Look at mother nature on the run, in the 1970's (strong support for abortion in the 1970;'s)
I was lying in a burned out basement (baby in the uterus)
...
I was hoping for replacement (mother yearing for her child)
When the sun burst thru the skies (child is "born")(also, bright light shown above the patient)
....
.....
I was thinking about what a friend had said i was hoping it was a lie (mother's regrets)
Well, i dreamed i saw the silver spaceships flyin'
In the yellow haze of the sun
There were children cryin and colors flyin (aborted babies)
All around the chosen ones
All in a dream, all in a dream, the loading had begun
Flyin' mother natures' silver seed to a new home in the sun
(the last verse depicts the numeous unbron babies being transported together to a safe place-much to the satisfaction of a worried mother.

Log in to reply
Jaydub
12-27-2005

Rated 0 
me and my friend wrote a song called "Amiga", which was referencing this song and the Thunderbird... Quetzacoatl.. all that stuff... apparently Neil knew a guy who was into all of that... the story goes that at the end times the giant thunderbird would swoop down and carry away the "chosen ones"....

Log in to reply
cichon123
01-10-2006

Rated 0 
100% based on the script to a movie that was never produced.

i read it in the paper

Log in to reply
sly_lil_maxy
02-25-2006

Rated 0 
some type of war i guess,"colors flying" hard to say but would really like to find out,definitly some type of change taking place here...too bad neil young couldn't tell us all lol

Log in to reply
sly_lil_maxy
03-11-2006

Rated 0 
my daughter heard this song on the movie "Shallow Hal"

Log in to reply
River Wolf
03-16-2006

Rated 0 
Absolutely brilliant. This song was inspired by After the Goldrush (a movie which never got produced). Maybe the movie deals with the world being wrecked and showing it in the past, present, and future.

Log in to reply
coolnuts5
06-17-2006

Rated 0 
Yeah it is sort of past present future. First you got the knights and whatever, starting to cut down trees. Then its the present, the person in the basement who is has heard that we're killing the earth, but is hoping that its a lie and continues to ignore the problem. Then you have the future with the "chosen ones" leaving a destroyed earth to find life on a another planet. I might be wrong but whatever. Its a really cool song.

Log in to reply
Darth Eddie Vader
01-24-2007

Rated 0 
This song is (obviously) about the sad state of the world. The first verse is full of metaphors that could be interpreted many ways. The middle verse is absolutely beautiful. "Hoping it was a lie" in my opinion refers to the fact that someone told him (maybe an Al Gore-like figure at that time) that the world was in very bad shape. The last verse talks about the evacuation of planet earth.

Log in to reply




  • Add Your Comments
What does this song mean to you?

You must be logged in to post your comments.

Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.





Popular
Top:   Lyrics, Artists, Albums
Random:   Lyric, Artist, Album

Your Ad Here