Yoko Miwa interprets Neil Young

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“One of my favorite Yoko Miwa performances,” says our webmaster, Jason Crane, “is this recording of Yoko playing Neil Young’s ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart.’ This song, from Neil’s 1970 masterpiece After The Gold Rush, is deceptively simple. A lilting melody that repeats and uses very few notes. This makes it perfect for Yoko to use as a vehicle for communicating emotion, which she does so effectively in this performance.”

“Supposedly this song was written by Neil for his friend and bandmate Graham Nash, who’d recently broken up with Joni Mitchell. Here’s Neil’s original version, which was released as a single in 1970 and was his first Top 40 hit as a solo artist.”

“This song has been covered dozen of times by a wide variety of musicians. Here’s a completely different take by the band St. Etienne. This was their first single, released in 1990, 20 years after Young’s own single.”

“There’s also a heartbreaking version on Anonymous Choir’s version of the album After The Gold Rush. Here they are performing it live.”

“The breadth of interpretation possible with this song shows just what a brilliant songwriter Young is.”