This is a song about outer space. Neil Young The Boarding House, San Francisco, California, USA May 25, 1978, Late Show

This is one of my favorite songs coming up here. I wrote this song - I wrote a couple of songs in one night. Three songs in one night - a world record - for me. Anyways, this song - Cortez The Killer and this song ... Neil Young The Boarding House, San Francisco, California, USA May 26, 1978, Early Show

Here's a close encounters of the finest kind. Neil Young The Boarding House, San Francisco, California, USA May 26, 1978, Late Show

Here's an extraterrestrial folk song. Neil Young The Boarding House, San Francisco, California, USA May 27, 1978, Late Shown

The album Zuma is the first album we made with Crazy Horse after Poncho joined the band. It’s one of my favorites. The cover is by Mazzeo and came out of a conversation we had on a day trip from the ranch to Zuma. We set up a Green Board control room in Briggs’s den. We played in the garage. One day Bob Dylan, who lived nearby, came along and sang a blues tune with us. On a break, Bob and I took a walk around the neighborhood, talking about the similarity in some of the paths we had each taken. It was the first time we had ever really talked. I liked him. Back at Briggs’s, we kept playing day after day and partying at night. We did the original “Powderfinger” and held it back. We did “Sedan Delivery” and held it back. My song “Born to Run” was recorded, left unfinished, and held back. “Ride My Llama” was completely finished and mixed and held back. We recorded a lot of tunes and held them back, but we released “Cortez,” “Don’t Cry No Tears,” “Stupid Girl,” and a bunch of other tracks on Zuma. It has a great feeling to it. Today I like listening to all of those tracks together in a compilation I call Dume that is in The Archives Volume 2. Those were some of the finest, most alive days of my life. I was getting past the lost relationship with Carrie, living the life with my best friends, making some good music, and starting to get a grip on something: an open future in my personal life and a new future with Crazy Horse after Danny. Neil Young Waging Heavy Peace Sept 2012