Happy Valentine's Day to All of The Hearts of Gold Out There

Matthew and Melinda

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's been 40 years now since "Heart of Gold" entered our lives, and we'd like to wish that every day could be Valentine's Day.

So there comes a time for a delightfully heart-warming story from Matthew and Melinda or ...Understanding Neil Young's Music.

Often, we've found ourselves trying to explain Neil Young's music to others with varying degrees of success. In the end, we find that his music isn't really something that can be explained.

While we've expended quite a few words on this blog making an attempt, it really is the stories of others which transcend the gap much better.


Art by Susan Farrington

So here's a story that really seems to capture the essence of Neil Young's musical hearts of gold. Matthew and Melinda: put on love...: falling in love and neil young....

matthew and i had been friends for nearly 2 years before he finally asked me out on a date. for months we had been interested, neither of us quite ready to make a permanent move that could ruin the friendship we had.

the day matthew left to go back to wisconsin for the summer, he came to my ghetto apartment to hang out and say goodbye. laundry baskets full of dirty clothes and borrowed bedding spilled out of his back seat, electrical cords and dirty socks blew wildly. the windows were down, his air conditioner didn't work. after chumming around my apartment for a little while, he started to look nervous. he wrung his hands, and bit his cheek, and stumbled over his words. "uhh... melinda, do you maybe want to go get some ice cream, before i leave? we can go to maggie moo's?" he shrugged his shoulders, and i can picture the look on his face like it was yesterday, his lip was quivering, and his eyes were searching, searching me, seeing if he could find what he was looking for. "yah. sure. let's go." what, did he think i would say no? he was one of my closest friends, and truth be told, i was already in love with him. i had known i was in love with him since valentines day. but really, this is ridiculous. we had been friends for 2 years, why was my stomach flipping turning and whirling? why was he biting his nails like tomorrow he would be allowed to no more? why was this different than any of the hundreds of times we had hung out before?

we slowly walked down to his car, and found our seats among the dirty socks and never opened school books. he plugged in his ipod and carefully chose a song. i shrugged down in my seat, and put my knees up on the dash, like any self conscious, slightly nervous, girl would. the song started, and i wondered what it was. matthew told me it was neil young, harvest moon. he told me it was the best song ever, one of his favorites. and as i listened to the words, my heart sang. this was the man i was in love with.

Harvest Moon
Neil Young

Come a little bit closer
Hear what I have to say
Just like children sleepin'
We could dream this night away.

But there's a full moon risin'
Let's go dancin' in the light
We know where the music's playin'
Let's go out and feel the night.

Because I'm still in love with you
I want to see you dance again
Because I'm still in love with you
On this harvest moon.

When we were strangers
I watched you from afar
When we were lovers
I loved you with all my heart.

But now it's gettin' late
And the moon is climbin' high
I want to celebrate
See it shinin' in your eye.

Because I'm still in love with you
I want to see you dance again
Because I'm still in love with you
On this harvest moon.


sitting there in matthews falling apart old honda, with no air, and the wind whipping wildly through the car, i knew there was no other place i would rather be in the world. not the eiffel tower, not at my family's cabins in the gunnison forrest, not in romania, or in louis vuitton. nowhere. the only place i wanted to be, was by matthew's side. it didn't matter that i was still unsure of how he felt, i knew his feelings would come, it didn't matter that he seemed afraid to touch me, that would come too... all i knew, was that i loved him.

we went to maggie moo's, and he bought me ice cream. his ice cream melted right out of cone in about 12 seconds, and dripped wildly down his arm. we laughed and laughed and talked about what our summer would be like without one another. i didn't want him to leave, i ate my ice cream slowly, and jabbered on and on about nothing. anything to keep him here another minute. i was about to lose my dear friend for the summer, and if he left now, i didn't know what was in store for us in the future. maybe our one chance, was this summer, and we would miss it.

he finally convinced me that he had to get moving, and we begrudgingly walked back to his car. where he played more neil young songs, and talked about why he liked neil young. i don't think i was really listening to him. i was only thinking about what was to come.

we drove back to my apartment in pure perfection, and it was time to say goodbye. it was a whilrwind, a rush of emotion and feelings. i hugged him goodbye, and wished he would kiss me. he walked out the door, turning back to see my face again, and i cried.

that was the beginning. may 24, 2005. that was falling in love, and hearing neil young, and the peace of knowing where i belong.

my heart was his that day, and it will belong to no one but him til the day i die. he is everything i ever hoped for, everything i dreamed of, and he loves me. everyday, i choose to love him, and he chooses to love me.
love and hugs and prayers...
melinda sue

Happy Valentine's Day Matthew and Melinda.... all of the hearts of gold out there.



And Happy Valentine's Day to my Heart of Gold, Thrashette. I love you!

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Also, see Top 10 Neil Young Love Songs.

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