Sleeps with Angels (1994)

When he died and left that note, it struck a deep chord inside of me. It fucked with me. (Neil Young, Waging Heavy Peace, 2012)

By the time Sleeps with Angels was released in August 1994, it was the “tribute to Kurt Cobain” album. Kurt referenced a Neil lyric in his suicide note. And Neil was “The Godfather of Grunge” in the music press. This is a good story, but it’s unfortunately not completely accurate. The majority of the album was recorded in December 1993 and February 1994, months before Kurt Cobain killed himself in April. That said, Neil had been listening to In Utero in November before recording started and had coincidentally been thinking about Cobain shortly before his death, to the extent that he asked his manager to try to get him in touch. After his death, Shakey author Jimmy McDonough introduced Neil to Nirvana’s Unplugged, in particular the world shattering performance of “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?”. All this led to Neil wanting to get the Horse back in the studio to record some music with Cobain in mind. The title track would be the only song written and recorded after Cobain’s death (is the title a response to “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?”). That said, the vibe of this recording is quite spooky and haunted. It’s not about death, but rather change, particularly accepting the need to change.

Apparently meant to explore the atmospherics of early recordings like After the Gold Rush, the mood of Sleeps with Angels has more in common with Tonight’s the Night. It’s not as bleak, but it’s definitely sadder than the wistful Harvest Moon or soaring Ragged Glory. Throughout the album, Neil seems to be grappling with changes he’s seeing but weary that he has seen them before. Violence, drugs, commercialization, all topics he has trod before, but now he’s seeing it effect the next generation and not just his. Neil harmonizes with himself on the sparse and personal “My Heart,” with tack piano creating a very new sound for him. Which is nothing compared to the sound of Neil playing flute on “Prime of Life,” a song that sounds like it barely made it out of the 80s. If it wasn’t for that spooky flute, I’d guess this was from one of the Geffen albums. One of the most time relevant songs on the album is “Driveby,” which takes one of Neil’s loves (cars) and laments its use in a very 90s news item: drive by shootings. After the strange sounds of the first two songs, this is some proper Neil Young music, with a lovely chorus and loping rhythm that creates an eerie atmosphere.

Of course, the title track is where the album gets its reputation as being the “Kurt Cobain suicide” album. It’s a lyrically minimal song that seems to focus a lot on a Courtney Love analog, as if it’s meant to be from her perspective. At the time a lot of people were blaming Love for being a destructive force and Neil seems to find some empathy in the situation. The sound of the song is also incredibly fitting for the grunge era, with a pummeling drum beat and distorted guitar melody. It wouldn’t be out of place on an album by any of the flannel-wearing 20something led bands of the day. That’s something to note about this album, it’s very emblematic of the albums of the time, right down to the cover’s graphic design. The overlapping typography and murky photo is right out of the Vaughn Oliver/David Carson/Dave McKean playbook.

“Western Hero” is one of two songs that share the same music on the album, an odd choice that Neil likened to a Broadway play. I’m guessing he means this in the way of repeating motifs or themes because Sleeps with Angels contains a lot of that thinking. There are reused lines throughout and “Change Your Mind” in particular recurs a theme of “embracing you/supporting you” lines that appear on other songs. “Change Your Mind” is without a doubt the centerpiece here, and not just for it’s 14-minute length and typically expansive guitar solos. There seems to be an encapsulation of themes that weave in and out of the catchy chorus and stunning guitar work. If I could sum up this theme, it might be protection. To go along with what I said in the first paragraph, perhaps it’s about the need for support systems in people’s lives. We all need people to help get through the stresses of the day, whether it’s death, violence, consumerism, aging, etc. In this way, “Change Your Mind” is strangely fitting for Cobain as well.

The “embracing/supporting” concept returns right away in verse 1 of “Blue Eden,” a bluesy number that plays in the same sonic space as “Sleeps with Angels” and “Change Your Mind,” with its foreboding guitar and slightly ramshackle lumber. Neil plays the blues more on this song than any other. Interestingly this is the rare co-writing credit, this time with the entire Crazy Horse band (maybe it sprawled out of some “Change Your Mind” jams?). “Safeway Cart” continues the dark themes with a bleak look at urban life, as distorted harmonica and Neil’s unique use of a fretboard swipe sound on Old Black give way to hushed vocals. As Briggs would say, this song “has the spook.”

“Train of Love” returns to the music of “Western Hero,” but this time the lyrics meld his love of train themes with the recurring topic of love. I love “Trans Am” despite Neil’s spoken vocal being a little hokey. The guitar and refrain are just lovely, though. In some ways “Trans Am” is a lead in to “Piece of Crap.” The first is a lament, while the latter is a blistering condemnation of consumerism’s tendency to low quality. I can’t say I love when Neil goes for the humor in songs, but it’s a rockin’ song. With the final song “A Dream That Can Last,” maybe it’s really a trilogy of songs as the dominant lyric “The cupboards are bare but the streets are paved with gold” is definitely about inequality and food scarcity in the face of gaudy excess. We also return to the tack piano sounds of “My Heart” to nicely bookend the album. This time it’s punctuated by booming bass drums as if to underscore its points.

In the end, Sleeps with Angels is a confounding album, swinging between typical Neil anti-consumerist themes and darker tones dealing with grief. It’s a downbeat album that he didn’t tour on, didn’t do interviews for, and wanted to speak on it’s own. With as heavy a narrative as this one, I can’t say he was wrong to feel that way.

Top 3:

1. Change Your Mind
2. Sleeps with Angels
3. Driveby

Cut song: Piece of Crap

There are two film documents of Sleeps with Angels. The first is a short chronicle of the recording by Larry Johnson. It’s quite low quality and rough, but one of the most insightful videos on what it’s like to make a Crazy Horse record, complete with some subdued David Briggs energy. Neil is pretty funny throughout…until recording starts and he’s deadly serious (even when playing the flute!). I really like this look at the recording. Neil tends to have films of some type on every album, but sometimes they are just performances. As mercurial as he is, I’m glad he lets fans in to the process a little bit.

The other film is The Complex Sessions, with the band returning to The Complex studio that the album was recorded in months before. The day before, they had just done a critically acclaimed performance at Neil and Pegi’s Bridge School Benefit (the acoustic guitar version of “Change Your Mind” performed there is incredible). While music videos would be cut from this film by Jonathan Demme, it’s much more of a staged performance. They perform four songs. The first three are straight, lovingly performed renditions of some standout tracks including a gorgeous “My Heart” and interestingly lit “Change Your Mind.” The last video is a campy, over-the-top run at “Piece of Crap.” Obviously the latter is straight Neil humor. Typical Neil, always needs that curveball. The gem here is the “Change Your Mind,” though. I don’t totally remember this, but there was an edited down version of this playing on MTV and the radio at the time. I really like what Demme does with the dimming and brightening lights on this. It’s not exactly thematic to the song, but it offers a neat punctuation to the ebb and flow of the music.