Neil Young – Rust Never Sleeps

Description

Most of the album was recorded live, then overdubbed in the studio, while others originated in the studio. Young used the phrase “rust never sleeps” as a concept for his tour with Crazy Horse to avoid artistic complacency and try more progressive, theatrical approaches to performing live.

After his final performance at the Boarding House on May 28, Young collaborated with the art punk band Devo on a version of “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” at the Different Fur studio in San Francisco. During the Different Fur studio session, Devo vocalist Mark Mothersbaugh added the lyrics “Rust never sleeps”, a slogan he remembered from his graphic arts career promoting the automobile rust proofing product Rust-Oleum. Young adopted the line and used it in his Crazy Horse version of the song, as well as for the title of his album. The lyrics, “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.” were widely quoted by his peers and by critics.