"Don't Let It Bring You Down" is the seventh track on Neil Young

Neil Young

Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...

's album After the Gold Rush

After the Gold Rush

After the Gold Rush is the third studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young. Released in August 1970 on Reprise Records, it was one of the four high-profile albums released by each member of folk rock collective Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the wake of their chart-topping 1970 album Déjà Vu...

. It was written by Young. It also appears on the 1971 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young live album Four Way Street as well as Young's 2007 album Live at Massey Hall 1971

Live at Massey Hall 1971

Live At Massey Hall 1971 is a live album by Neil Young. Released in 2007, the album features a solo, acoustic performance from Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada on 19 January 1971 during the Journey Through the Past Solo Tour. It is the second release in Young's Archives Performance Series.. It...

, which was recorded in 1971. John Reed wrote an arrangement of this for The Hampton String Quartet

Hampton String Quartet

The Hampton String Quartet considered by many to be one of the founders of the "alternative music" genré of chamber music is a string quartet specializing in rock music and other popular styles, playing serious chamber music arrangements of songs using classical composer influences and frequently...

 in 2006.

On the CSNY Live Album Four Way Street, Young says, "Here is a new song, it's guaranteed to bring you right down, it's called 'Don't Let It Bring You Down'. It sorta starts off real slow and then fizzles out altogether." The crowd then roars with laughter.

Cover versions

The song was covered by Sting's pre-Police band Last Exit

Last Exit (British band)

Last Exit was a British jazz fusion band formed in Newcastle upon Tyne England in 1974, and is best remembered as the group Sting was in before finding stardom with The Police. The band name came from the book Last Exit to Brooklyn...

, as part of their 1974 Impulse Studio Demos.

It was also covered by Victoria Williams

Victoria Williams

Victoria Williams is an American singer-songwriter and musician, originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, although she has resided in Southern California throughout her musical career. She is noted for her descriptive songwriting talent, which she has used to immerse the listener of her songs into a...

 on the 1989 anthology album The Bridge: A Tribute to Neil Young

The Bridge: A Tribute to Neil Young

The Bridge: A Tribute To Neil Young is a 1989 anthology album that features a variety of alternative rock bands covering songs written by Neil Young. A portion of the profits from the album were donated to The Bridge School, which develops and uses advanced technologies to aid in the instruction of...

.

Annie Lennox

Annie Lennox

Annie Lennox, OBE , born Ann Lennox, is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving minor success in the late 1970s with The Tourists, with fellow musician David A...

 covered the song on her 1995 Medusa

Medusa (Annie Lennox album)

Medusa is the second solo album by the Scottish singer Annie Lennox, released in March 1995. It consists solely of cover songs, all originally recorded by male artists. It entered the UK album chart at No. 1 and peaked in the US at number 11, spending 60 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart. It has...

album; her version also appeared in the movie American Beauty

American Beauty (film)

American Beauty is a 1999 American drama film directed by Sam Mendes and written by Alan Ball. Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, a middle-aged magazine writer who has a midlife crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenage daughter's best friend, Angela...

(1999), although it wasn't included on the film's soundtrack album

American Beauty (soundtrack)

American Beauty is a 1999 soundtrack album to the film of the same name starring Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening. The soundtrack features two excerpts from the film's score, composed by Thomas Newman, which won several awards...

.

A performance of the song by Seal

Seal (musician)

Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel , known simply as Seal, is a British soul and R&B singer-songwriter, of Nigerian and Brazilian background. Seal has won numerous music awards throughout his career, including three Brit Awards—winning Best British Male in 1992, four Grammy Awards, and an...

 appears on his 2006 live album One Night to Remember

One Night to Remember

One Night to Remember, Seal's second live album, was recorded at the Kesselhaus in Düsseldorf, Germany. The 2006 release was a two-disc set, containing an audio CD as well as a DVD which featured a video registration of the entire concert...

.

The alternative rock band Q And Not U

Q and Not U

Q and Not U was a post-hardcore band from Washington, D.C., signed to Dischord Records. Members John Davis, Harris Klahr, Christopher Richards, and Matt Borlik formed the band in 1998...

 covered the song for their compilation album "Don't Know When I'll Be Back Again".

The 1990s alternative rock band Weeping Tile

Weeping Tile (band)

Weeping Tile was a Canadian rock band in the 1990s.-History:The band was started by singer-songwriter Sarah Harmer in 1993, when she was invited to fill in for the opening band at a Thomas Trio and the Red Albino concert in Ottawa...

 covered the song on their first album, "eePee".

Australian electronic artist Apell covered the song in drum'n'bass style on his 2008 album "Reconstituted".

Alexa Ray Joel covered the song on her 2006 EP entitled "Sketches."

The Danish band Kellermensch covered the song in a hard rock/metal version on the 2009 album Kellermensch.

Wolfmother

Wolfmother

Wolfmother is an Australian rock band from Erskineville, Sydney. Formed in 2000, the group was originally a trio composed of vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, bassist and keyboardist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett. Wolfmother released their self-titled debut album in October 2005,...

 played this song acoustically in 2009 and included it on the Japanese version of Cosmic Egg

Cosmic Egg

Cosmic Egg is the second studio album by Australian rock band Wolfmother, released on 23 October 2009. It is the first album by the second lineup of the band, featuring vocalist, songwriter and lead guitarist Andrew Stockdale, bassist and keyboardist Ian Peres, rhythm guitarist Aidan Nemeth and...

.

Chris Cornell

Chris Cornell

Chris Cornell is an American rock musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Soundgarden and as the former lead vocalist for Audioslave. He is also known for his numerous solo works and soundtrack contributions since 1998...

 has covered it live on his acoustic Songbook show at the The Troubadour (Los Angeles).