Has there ever been an offical word on what ‘down by the river’ is about? I ask this here as I know there to be a few Neil Young fans on here and my googling has been a fruitless endevour.

I don’t know, but he some some great trails behind his house…

My guess is, it’s about him/someone shooting his/their baby down by the river?

“Powderfinger” was the one I could never figure out.

Are the words printed inside the CD? Actually, wait, I’ll go take a look!

My Dad always listened to Neil Young when I was growing up, I assumed it was about drug use. I don’t know why other than ‘shot’ being in the lyrics. Someone I met today said it was about a rancher killing an injured horse.

And the answer is ‘no’. 🙁

Powderfinger seems to be about the law closing in on a renegade from a dysfunctional family and his one last desperate act of defiance.

I could never make up my mind whether he turns the gun on himself though.

Be on my side,
I’ll be on your side,
Baby
There is no reason
For you to hide
It’s so hard for me
Staying here all alone
When you could be
Taking me for a ride.

Yeah, she could drag me
Over the rainbow,
Send me away
Down by the river
I shot my baby
Down by the river,
Dead, oh, shot her dead.

You take my hand,
I’ll take your hand
Together we may get away
This much madness
Is too much sorrow
It’s impossible
To make it today.

Yeah, she could drag me
Over the rainbow,
Send me away
Down by the river
I shot my baby
Down by the river,
Dead, oh, shot her dead.

Be on my side,
I’ll be on your side,
Baby
There is no reason
For you to hide
It’s so hard for me
Staying here all alone
When you could be
Taking me for a ride.

Yeah, she could drag me
Over the rainbow,
Send me away
Down by the river
I shot my baby
Down by the river,
Dead, oh, shot her dead.

It depicts a man who catches his woman cheating on him, then meets her down by the river and shoots her. A few hours later the sheriff comes to his house and arrests him.

According to Wikipedia – font of all knowledge

“Be on my side,
I’ll be on your side,
baby
There is no reason
for you to hide
It’s so hard for me
staying here all alone
When you could be
taking me for a ride.

Yeah, she could drag me
over the rainbow,
send me away
Down by the river
I shot my baby
Down by the river,
Dead, oh, shot her dead.

You take my hand,
I’ll take your hand
Together we may get away
This much madness
is too much sorrow
It’s impossible
to make it today.”

repeat 2, 1, 2

Assisted Suicide or Suicide Pact? “side/hide/ride” rhyme with Suicide

Niel once introduced it as follows (allegedly)…

I’d like to sing you a song about a guy who had a lot of trouble controlling himself. He let the dark side side come thru a little too bright.

One afternoon he took a little stroll down thru a field and thru a forest, ’til he could hear the water running along there. And he met his woman down there. And he told her she’d been cheatin’ on him one too many times. And he reached down in his pocket and he pulled a little revolver out. Said “honey I hate to do this but you pushed me too far”.

By the time he got back to town he knew he had to answer to somebody pretty quick. He went back to his house and he sat down on his front porch. About two hours later the sheriff’s car pulled up out front. It started sinkin’ in on him what he’d done. The sheriff walked up the sidewalk, he said “come with me son, I want to ask you a few questions”.

As he heard the jail door shut behind him he sat down on a little wooden bench. And he looked out of the door – thru those bars – at this kind of wimpy looking sheriff out there. He started getting mad again and he realized what he had done.

There wasn’t nothing he could do about it now though. He just sat down and put his head down and he started thinking to himself “I’m all by myself here, there’s nobody on my side…”

In general, at least one commenter per song on songmeanings.net will have the inside line. You just have to work out which one…

The railway track….the river….the road…. all signify a person’s life……..because they all go somewhere……….death….. and start somewhere………birth.

These roads don’t move me no more………….go off road….that’s where it’s at!