Heart of Gold is considered not only one of the greatest songs by Neil Young, not only the greatest song created by a Canadian artist, but to many it is considered to be one of the greatest songs ever created - Ranking #259/500 on the Rolling Stone’s 2021 greatest songs of all time list. Notably, the ranking has increased from its previous #297/500 spot from 2004.

The song was first performed early 1971, recorded later that year, and then published as part of the Harvest album. The song currently has nearly half a billion listens on spotify (extremely impression for a song published 50 years ago!).

Neil Young’s music career has seen him celebrated by people over both sides of the border, winning multiple Grammys, Juno Awards, and being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There can be (and probably are) entire books that could be written about Neil Young’s talent’s and influence over the modern music industry.

Personally, Heart of Gold is one of my favourite songs of all time. I don’t have the vernacular or the musical understanding to praise it on anything but an amateurish level, but it strikes me as a song that has soul deeply embedded into it. For me, it is a song about the endless search for good in a world that seem hell bend on obscuring it. But a person should never stop searching for it.

I think this is a song that resonates differently for each person that listens to it.