This song here was written by Ian Tyson. He's a Canadian. He's living out in Calgary on his ranch right now outside of Calgary. I think the royalties from this song had something to do with his ranch and he was real happy for that. But when I just a kid - sixteen or seventeen years old - I went to this place out near Winnipeg where I grew up and it's called Falcon Lake. It's just one of those first times when you really got away from home and were on your own. I was just kind of feeling it for the first time. There was this little kind of a restaurant place with a jukebox in it that was there. And I used to go there. And I think I spent all my money playing this next song - over and over again. It was the most beautiful record that I've ever heard in my life and I just could not get enough of it. Neil Young Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee, USA August 18, 2005

A few weeks after recording our single, Jack Harper and I went on a summer vacation to Falcon Lake, about one hundred miles east of Winnipeg. [...] There was a little place with a jukebox, and I would play “Four Strong Winds” by Ian & Sylvia, over and over, learning all the words and singing along. I loved that song. I had the feeling that it was about my life, and the music touched me deeply. I completely related to it and lived it every time I listened. It was everything to me. There was something about how immersed I was in that song that made me realize I had to get the same quality into my own music. I started singing along, loudly if I was alone and quietly if anyone was near enough to hear me. I knew my voice was high and I could tell that I sang in a different way from real singers, but in my soul, in my heart, I knew I was really singing and it felt right. Neil Young Special Deluxe October 2014

Here's a song. When I was just a little teenager. I used to listen to this song. I used to go to a lake up there on the weekends and try to pick up girls. I was just practicing at that time. I really didn't know how to really screw it up yet. Anyway - Ian Tyson and Silvia Fricker they wrote this song - I think they wrote it together. Of course, they're not together anymore. Neil Young Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Kansas, USA January 12, 1989

“Four Strong Winds” by Ian & Sylvia speaks to me always. It occupies part of my heart. There is a feeling in it. I love the prairies, Canada, my life as a Canadian. Neil Young Waging Heavy Peace Sept 2012

One of my favorite songs from anywhere, this is the song that I had to play over and over on the jukebox until I ran out of coins. I really did that as a young man of maybe 15. Neil Young NYA - Now Showing in the Hearse Theater May 26th, 2020