"The Old Laughing Lady" 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 1968 debut solo album ''

''.

Music and lyrics

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 Matthew Greenwald describes "The Old Laughing Lady" as a "striking mood piece." He describes the music as being "built on some simple, downcast chord changes, in a modal D guitar tuning," which he says gives the song depth and grandeur. 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 the song's use of

string instruments String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the Str ...

and a "ghostly girl chorus" as giving it an "eerie effect." Young biographer Jimmy McDonough remarks on the song's "sweet, sad

countermelodies In music, (German for ''primary voice'') or is the main voice, chief part; i.e., the contrapuntal or melodic line of primary importance, in opposition to . (German for ''secondary voice'') or is the secondary part; i.e., a secondary contrapu ...

passing from strings to

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

with beautiful restraint." According to music critic Nigel Williamson, the production by

Jack Nitzsche Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche ( '; April 22, 1937 – August 25, 2000) was an American musician, arranger, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He first came to prominence in the early 1960s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spec ...

helps give the song a sense of mystery. The song contains four verses but no

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the vi ...

. The changes in mood and tone over the course of the song are reminiscent of Young's earlier song " Broken Arrow" that he wrote and performed as a member of

Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield was a rock band formed in Los Angeles by Canadian musicians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin and American musicians Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely known for the song "For What It's Worth", relea ...

. ''

Rolling Stone Magazine ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its cov ...

'' critic Gary Von Tersch considers "The Old Laughing Lady" to be the more effective of the two, because he considers it to be "tighter, more mature and

ave ''Alta Velocidad Española'' (''AVE'') is a service of high-speed rail in Spain operated by Renfe, the Spanish national railway company, at speeds of up to . As of December 2021, the Spanish high-speed rail network, on part of which the AVE s ...

more of the quiet explosion to it that Young obviously intends. The themes of "The Old Laughing Lady" include love, death, alcoholism and alienation. The old laughing lady of the title can be a

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...

for either death or alcohol. The song describes how the old laughing lady affects the lives of those she interacts with.

Writing and recording

"The Old Laughing Lady" was written earlier than most of the songs on ''Neil Young''. According to Young, he wrote it one day on a napkin while drinking coffee in a coffee shop without knowing what prompted it. A version was recorded by

for their 1968 album ''

Last Time Around ''Last Time Around'' is the third and final studio album by the Canadian-American folk rock band Buffalo Springfield, released in July 1968. The line-up at the time officially consisted of Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay, Dewey Martin, ...

'' in January 1968. An even earlier version was tried out during the sessions for Buffalo Springfield's earlier album ''

Buffalo Springfield Again ''Buffalo Springfield Again'' is the second album by Buffalo Springfield, released on Atco Records in November 1967. It peaked at #44 on the Billboard 200. In 2003, the album was ranked number 188 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the 500 gr ...

''. In the version on ''Neil Young'', Nitzsche used a vocal muting technique that makes Young sound "a million miles away, but right there."

Reception

''Neil Young FAQ'' author Glen Boyd described "The Old Laughing Lady" as having "stood the test of time" since ''Neil Young'' was released. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' contributor Mark Richardson describes the song as having "echoes of the great music to come" from Young's later career. In 2014 the editors of ''

'' ranked it as Young's 63rd all time greatest song , describing it as "California psychedelia with the sun sucked out." Young included "The Old Laughing Lady" on his 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 ...

''. A live version was released on Young's 1993 album ''

Unplugged Unplugged may refer to: *Acoustic music, music not produced through electronic means *Unplugged (B.A.P song), "Unplugged" (B.A.P song), 2014 *Unplugged (Modern Family), "Unplugged" (''Modern Family''), a 2010 episode of ''Modern Family'' Albums a ...

'', although Rogan felt that version lacked the mystery and sadness of the original.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Old Laughing Lady Songs about old age Neil Young songs Songs written by Neil Young 1968 songs Song recordings produced by Neil Young Song recordings produced by Jack Nitzsche