THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,555) Buffalo Springfield — “Expecting to Fly”
Off of Buffalo Springfield’s second LP and reaching #98, here is “perhaps the most beautiful melody Neil Young would ever create and the most ethereal singing from just about anyone of his era” (serendipity_, https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/the-buffalo-springfield/expecting-to-fly-everydays/), “perhaps Neil’s best and certainly most haunting song” (Glicksman1, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s8EUL-O3hRA&pp=ygUkYnVmZmFsbyBzcHJpbmdmaWVsZCBleHBlY3RpbmcgdG8gZmx5), “perhaps one of the most underrated songs in the history of rock and roll”. (metaspherz, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s8EUL-O3hRA&pp=ygUkYnVmZmFsbyBzcHJpbmdmaWVsZCBleHBlY3RpbmcgdG8gZmx5). Perhaps.
The “brilliant” song “employed lush psychedelic textures and brooding, surrealistic lyrics that stretched rock conventions to their breaking point.” (Richie Unterberger, https://www.allmusic.com/album/buffalo-springfield-again-mw0000198017) It is “extraordinarily beautiful . . . . a haunting, delicate experience, with Young’s cracked-falsetto vocals at their sweetest and most plaintive . . . a fragile ballad of loss, of regret for someone leaving, and for all the things remaining unsaid” (Martin Crookall, https://mbc1955.wordpress.com/2021/12/06/the-infinite-jukebox-buffalo-springfields-expecting-to-fly/), “an extraordinary early masterpiece . . . a beautiful, melodic, lushly orchestrated, deeply melancholy meditation on loss and failed relationships that showcased an astonishing level of artistic and temperamental maturity for somebody aged only 22 years”. (the needlefish, https://theneedlefish.com/2023/11/19/songs-of-the-day-buffalo-springfield-bluebird-expecting-to-fly/)
“Expecting to Fly” “still gives me chills”. (metaspherz, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s8EUL-O3hRA&pp=ygUkYnVmZmFsbyBzcHJpbmdmaWVsZCBleHBlY3RpbmcgdG8gZmx5) “No matter how many times I listen to this song, it always sends a shiver up my spine.” (coloradoyeti3091, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s8EUL-O3hRA&pp=ygUkYnVmZmFsbyBzcHJpbmdmaWVsZCBleHBlY3RpbmcgdG8gZmx5) Me too.
Matthew Greenwald writes that:
One of Neil Young’s most beautiful and graceful early compositions, “Expecting to Fly” was indeed a surprise to many listeners, especially juxtaposed along such scathing compositions as “Mr. Soul.” Young’s sense of craft and the ability to accurately convey the bittersweet emotions of the end of a relationship are positively spellbinding. Built around extremely simple and subtle chord changes, and a melody and feel that recall the early work of Tim Hardin (both Stills and Young were huge fans), it’s one of Young’s finest early works. Recorded with session arranger Jack Nitzsche during one of the periods when Young had temporarily left the Springfield, it was and is (for all intents and purposes) his first solo work. The recording and Nitzsche’s string arrangement (which has been described as “Phil Spector on acid”) fit the song’s grandeur and sense of grace perfectly. Young was to explore similar emotional avenues with orchestral arrangements down the road, but “Expecting to Fly” is possibly his finest work in this idiom.
Live ’68:
Live ’69:
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