In Nashville, Young resumed his sessions at Quadrafonic, and on December 2, 1974 [sic], came the ultimate ballad of failed romance: “Separate Ways.” The song begins in the middle of a doomy chord; Tim Mulligan lunged for the record button just as Young and the band dove into the song. Levon Helm rattles out a slow counterpoint as Ben Keith spins up a stark, bird-on-the-wire steel solo that has to be one of the lonesomest sounds ever recorded. “I won’t apologize / The light shone from in your eyes / It isn’t gone / And it will soon come back again,” sings Young, sounding dead. This was powerful, painfully sad stuff, and it was goodbye. Jimmy McDonough "Shakey" by Jimmy McDonough 2002

Letter: But the highlight of the show for me was a song I'd never heard before. Separate Ways. It somehow felt like the centerpiece song of the tour [the 1993 Booker T and The MGs tour], and of course, it was the only version of the song I knew until the recent Archival releases. I still can't believe that the harmony backing vocals were a new addition to the song at that time, as ’70s versions now show. It's still how I hear the chorus, even when I listen to the versions (Stills/Young Band version is my personal fav). NY: ‘Separate’ ways was written for back grounds, but they were never recorded and added for the original version, It’s basically incomplete. Recently, I stayed with what we did. I did not want to add them years later. I have tried many ideas on this to solve it with using only the original recordings. One more idea left to try… Neil Young NYA Letters To The Editor September 29, 2021