"Will to Love" was written in one night, in one sitting, in front of the fireplace. I was all alone in my house and I was really high on a bunch of things. This was a long time ago. I really don't abuse myself like I used to. I don't think I'd still be here if I did. But I was really out there and I wrote the whole thing and put it together. None of the verses are exactly the same length. They're all a little different. I made it through once on the tape. And then I went to record with Crosby, Stills and Nash in Florida after that. I took the cassette along and said, "Listen to this song I wrote." I played it for David and he loved it. He said, "Wow, that's great just the way it is." We tried to learn it but could never get it as a band song. I couldn't sing it. I couldn't sing past the second verse without forgetting what I was doing, losing it totally, and getting all pissed off because it didn't sound right. I couldn't get through it. I never have sung it except for that one time. That's what I used for the record. A Sony cassette machine which I transferred to twenty-four-track and then I played it back through my Magnetone stereo reverb amp. I bought two tracks of the cassette up on a couple of faders with the stereo vibrato in it, then I mixed them in with the original cassette for that sound of the fish. I overdubbed all of the instruments on it and mixed it in the same night. Up in a place called Indigo Ranch. It was on a full moon. What a night it was, man, unbelievable. I ordered all of the instruments from Studio Instrument Rentals, the drums, the bass, the amps, the vibes, all the percussion stuff. We had them set it up like a live date. I made the transfer of the cassette onto the sixteen-track and then I started overdubbing all the parts. They thought it was going to be a live session! They were all set up and ready to go. I just walked from one instrument to another and did them all, mostly in the first take. And then mixed it at the end of the night. It took us about eight hours to finish the whole thing and make it sound like it does now. I think it might be one of the best records I've ever made. I think as a piece of music, and sound and lyric and spirit, it's one of the best. And that's why it's important for me as an artist to able to record a song when I want to. I will never stand for anybody trying to take that away from me. Neil Young Interview with Bill Flanagan 1986

There is a song that I wrote in the middle of the night in front of my fireplace at the ranch that I think stands alone in its form and consciousness. It is a fairly long song that is pretty ambitious in a few ways. It was 1976. I recorded this song on a little Sony cassette player that had “Life is a shit sandwich. Eat it or starve” on a plastic strip label, applied by Briggs during the Zuma sessions right below the Sony brand marking. The door for the cassette opened right below the label so you saw it every time the cassette was inserted or removed. Sitting on the floor late at night, I recorded in front of the fireplace with the cassette on the hearth, three feet from the fire, and you can hear the crackling and hissing of the fire as I played my old Martin guitar and sang “Will to Love,” the story of a salmon swimming upstream. Laden with my own feelings of love and survival, the recording stands alone in my work for its audio vérité style, a live sketch of a massive production number with only the highlights presented, fragments of parts, the sound of the fire, the underwater sound created by vibrato. [see Chapter 67 of Waging Heavy Peace for an entire chapter on Will To Love] Neil Young Waging Heavy Peace Sept 2012

‘Will to Love’ was cut on the floor in front of my home fireplace on a cassette, then transported to Indigo in Malibu for a night to remember. . . . finishing it with Briggs. Neil Young NYA - Album of the Week - American Stars & Bars November 20, 2019

WILL TO LOVE came and I sang it one time only, right away in front of the fireplace with a cassette recorder. that was the moment. Sometimes that happens. No thinking. just be there. then i went with briggs and added the rest in the studio. Neil Young NYA Letters To The Editor March 29th, 2020

Letter: When was the initial ranch fireplace session for “Will To Love”? NY: 4/25/76 Neil Young NYA Letters To The Editor June 3, 2021

[After hearing a request for Will To Love] Will To Love. I only sang that once when I recorded it. I was reading it then too. Neil Young HORDE Festival Tent Show Polaris Amphitheatre, Columbus, Ohio, USA July 30, 1997