"I Believe in You" is a song written by

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

that was first released on his 1970 album ''

After the Gold Rush ''After the Gold Rush'' is the third studio album by the Canadian-American musician Neil Young, released in September 1970 on Reprise Records, catalogue number RS 6383. It is one of four high-profile albums (all charting within the top fifteen) ...

''. It has also been covered by other artists, including

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

Robin Zander Robin Wayne Zander (born January 23, 1953) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Cheap Trick, but is also a solo artist. Zander was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 as a ...

and

Rita Coolidge Rita Coolidge (born May 1, 1945) is an American recording artist. During the 1970s and 1980s, her songs were on '' Billboard'' magazine's pop, country, adult contemporary, and jazz charts, and she won two Grammy Awards with fellow musician and t ...

. Coolidge's version was released as a single and was a minor hit in Canada.

Lyrics and music

"I Believe in You" is a slow love song. Music critic

Johnny Rogan John Rogan (14 February 1953 – 21 January 2021) was a British author of Irish descent best known for his books about music and popular culture. He wrote influential biographies of the Byrds, Neil Young, the Smiths, Van Morrison and Ray Davies. ...

describes it as being the closest Young came to writing an

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ballad during this phase of his career. Rogan described the

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

as being "sparse". To

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic Denise Sullivan, the "restraint" of Young's piano melody as well as the rest of the instrumentation adds to the song's poignancy. Music author Nigel Williamson describes "I Believe in You" as being the song on ''After the Gold Rush'' which best fits the "confessional singer-songwriter mode", suggesting that it is similar to some

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...

songs. Sam Inglis regards it as one of the best of Young's songs in which he tries to rationalize his behavior to women he has left. Although the title of the song seems to be positive, the lyrics suggest that he is unsure of his ability to love and reluctant to enter the new relationship. Ken Bielen describes the dilemma of the song as being "a matter of trust" and that the singer isn't even sure where love fits into his life. In an interview with ''

Spin Magazine ''Spin'' (stylized in all caps) is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. Now owned by Next Management Partners, the magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012. Histor ...

'' Young stated:

What am I talking about? "Now that you've made yourself love me do you think I can change it in a day?" That's a heavy one. That song has the most haunting lyrics. "Am I lying to you when I say I believe you?" That's the difference between the song and the poem. The song makes you think of the
hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...
and the hook is "I believe in you", but the rest of it is in a whole other place.

On the other hand, Sullivan finds some of the lyrics to be reassuring to the woman he is addressing, such as the line "Now that you found yourself losing your mind are you here again?"

Neil Young version

"I Believe in You" was one of the first songs recorded for ''After the Gold Rush''. It was one of two songs from the album that Young was able to finish recording with

Crazy Horse Crazy Horse ( lkt, Tȟašúŋke Witkó, italic=no, , ; 1840 – September 5, 1877) was a Lakota war leader of the Oglala band in the 19th century. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by wh ...

during the 1969 sessions at

Sunset Sound Sunset, also known as sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon due to Earth's rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth (except the North and South poles), the equinox Sun sets due west at the moment of both the spring ...

in Hollywood, CA. "I Believe in You" was later included on Young's 1977

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

Decade A decade () is a period of ten years. Decades may describe any ten-year period, such as those of a person's life, or refer to specific groupings of calendar years. Usage Any period of ten years is a "decade". For example, the statement that "du ...

''.

Cover versions

Rita Coolidge released a cover version of "I Believe in You" for her self-titled debut album in 1971. Rogan described Coolidge's version as being more "sultry" than Young's. Coolidge also released it as a single, which was unsuccessful in the U.S. but charted at No. 38 in Canada. It also reached No. 16 on Canada's Adult Contemporary chart.

covered it on her 1973 album ''

Don't Cry Now ''Don't Cry Now'' is the fourth solo studio album by Linda Ronstadt and the first of her studio releases for Asylum Records, following six albums recorded for and released on Capitol Records including three she recorded as a member of The Stone Po ...

''. Robin Zander covered the song on his 1993 self-titled album.

critic Tom Demalon described it as a "tasty cover." Fellow Allmusic critic Sullivan praised Zander's vocals but criticized the synthesizers and "cold" drum sounds on his version.

References

{{authority control 1969 songs Songs written by Neil Young Neil Young songs Rita Coolidge songs Robin Zander songs Linda Ronstadt songs Song recordings produced by David Briggs (record producer) Song recordings produced by Neil Young 1971 singles Crazy Horse (band) songs