What that song is saying is that I really don't have the freedom to have an affair. If I was going to have an affair, if I went into a bar and saw some woman in the bar and I was thinking, well, you know...my wife's miles and miles away, could just do this, you know. But I really can't do that, I mean I can't do it... period, because you know. I don't have that anonymous thing, there's too... that's part of what those lyrics are about, you know. Neil Young BBC Radio Interview with Richard Skinner Broken Arrow #49 transcription December 10, 1989

Here's a song for you - it's gonna be on my next record with that last song and a bunch of other songs. It's about a big ball. It's about a real big ball hanging from a chain. And it's swinging between all the new buildings down here in Houston. People looking out those windows going, "Oh god, I hope it don't hit us." Because it's big. The secretaries are scared. Nobody knows who's controlling it. But I'll tell you, it's awful big and there's a ballroom inside. And we're all in there dancing. It's a place where we can go and try to get away from things. A place where we can take our honeymoon. A place where you can take your sweetheart and have a good time while you wreck your other home. That's the Wrecking Ball room, it is. Neil Young Music Hall, Houston, Texas, USA January 15, 1989

Here's a song for all you married people out there. You don't have to be married though. You can still hear it. It's about a place that's a little bit downtown and it's a little bit uptown. A kind of middle-of-the-road kind of place. A place where you can go and have a good time. The door's always open. There's a bit of a cover charge but you can't tell right away. When you get inside it looks just like any other place. But then you see her standing across in the corner. Suddenly it doesn't look like any other place you've ever been before. But you know you're married. Later on - having a dance at the Wrecking Ball. It's that club everybody has to go to. Neil Young National Tennis Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia April 12, 1989

I've got another album coming out in a little while. I finished it up. A couple of these songs are from it and the ones we're playing later on - some of those will be from it too. This is a song about a big ball. It's a very big one. Just swinging back and forth out there somewhere. It's kind of a wrecking ball I think. And it's just swinging down in maybe New York right now - between the buildings. But inside the ball is a beautiful ballroom where me and this lady - who stars in the role opposite me in the song - are dancing. And as we look out windows we can see the buildings flying by. And the floor is a little uneven. So I need the help of the Restless - my new band - the Restless - from the soap opera - Neil Young and the Restless. But they're just Restless - they're not really here. Neil Young Fox Theatre, St. Louis, Missouri, USA January 11, 1989