"Heart of Gold" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter 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...

. Released from the 1972

1972 in music

-Events:*January 17 – Highway 51 South in Memphis, Tennessee is renamed "Elvis Presley Boulevard"*January 20 – The début of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon at The Dome, Brighton, is halted by technical difficulties,...

 album Harvest, it is so far Young's only U.S. #1 single. In Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, it reached #1 on the RPM

RPM (magazine)

RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...

national singles chart for the first time on April 8, 1972, on which date Young held the top spot on both the singles and albums charts. Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

ranked it #297 on their list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

The song, which features backup vocals of James Taylor

James Taylor

James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....

 and Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...

, is one of a series of soft acoustic pieces which were written partly as a result of a back injury. Unable to stand for long periods of time, Young could not play his electric guitar and so returned to his acoustic guitar, which he could play sitting down.

"Heart of Gold" was taped during the initial sessions for Harvest in early 1971

1971 in music

-Events:*February 1 – after months of feuding in the press, Ginger Baker and Elvin Jones hold a "drum battle" at The Lyceum.*February 8 – Bob Dylan's hour-long documentary film, Eat the Document, is premièred at New York's Academy of Music...

 at Quadrafonic Studios in Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

. Ronstadt and Taylor were in Nashville at the time for an appearance on Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash

John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...

's television program, and the album's producer Elliot Mazer

Elliot Mazer

Elliot Mazer is a producer, executive, technologist, and project leader. Elliot produced multi-platinum albums for artists including Neil Young, Janis Joplin, and Linda Ronstadt. He was the recording engineer of the live Last Waltz Concert. Meanwhile he has also built, designed, owned and operated...

 arranged for them to sing backup for Young in the studio.

Originally this song was meant to segue

Segue

A segue is a smooth transition from one topic or section to the next.-In music:In music, segue is a direction to the performer. It means continue without a pause. It comes from the Italian "it follows". The term attacca is also used in classical music.For written music it implies a transition...

 with "A Man Needs a Maid", and was therefore played on piano. It was played in this manner during Young's solo shows in 1971, but he abandoned this approach midway through the tour and began to play it on guitar as it is now known. Additionally, one line that was cut when the two songs became separate entities was "Afraid/A man feels afraid" An example of the segued version appears on Young's 2007

2007 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2007.-January:*January 1 - George Shearing is knighted for services to music in the Queen's New Year Honours List. Evelyn Glennie becomes a Dame...

 release 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...

.

Young wrote in the liner notes

Liner notes

Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...

 of his 1977

1977 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1977.-January–February:*January 1 – The Clash headline the gala opening of the London music club, The Roxy....

 compilation album Decade: "This song put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch

Ditch Trilogy

The Ditch Trilogy refers to a trio of rock music albums by Neil Young made in the wake of his chart-topping best-seller, Harvest. The moniker derives from a quote by Young, printed in the self-penned track-by-track liner notes to his career summary compilation Decade of 1977...

. A rougher ride but I saw more interesting people there." This statement was in response to the mainstream popularity that he gained as a result of the number-one status of "Heart of Gold".

In 1985, Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

 admitted that he hated this song, despite always liking Neil Young:

The only time it bothered me that someone sounded like me was when I was living in Phoenix, Arizona, in about '72 and the big song at the time was "Heart of Gold." I used to hate it when it came on the radio. I always liked Neil Young, but it bothered me every time I listened to "Heart of Gold." I think it was up at number one for a long time, and I'd say, "Shit, that's me. If it sounds like me, it should as well be me."

"Heart of Gold" has been covered by Tanya Donelly

Tanya Donelly

Tanya Donelly is an American Grammy-nominated singer songwriter and guitarist based in New England who co-founded Throwing Muses with her stepsister Kristin Hersh. She then went on to work in The Breeders and Belly in the 1990s...

, Matchbox Twenty

Matchbox Twenty

Matchbox Twenty is an American rock band, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1995...

, Tori Amos

Tori Amos

Tori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...

, Free Dominguez, Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash

John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...

, Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson

Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...

, Richard Lloyd, Bettye Lavette

Bettye LaVette

Bettye LaVette is an American soul singer-songwriter who made her first record at sixteen, but achieved only intermittent fame until 2005, with her album, I've Got My Own Hell to Raise...

, Birds and Batteries, Zakk Wylde

Zakk Wylde

Zachary Phillip Wylde , best known by the stage name Zakk Wylde, is an American musician, songwriter, and occasional actor who is best known as the former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and founder of the heavy metal band Black Label Society. He was the lead guitarist and vocalist in Pride & Glory,...

 (with Black Label Society

Black Label Society

Black Label Society is a heavy metal band formed by Zakk Wylde, with nine studio albums, one live album, two compilation albums, one EP, and three video albums released since formation of the band.-Formation and Sonic Brew :...

), Boney M

Boney M

Boney M. is a Eurodisco group created by German record producer Frank Farian. Originally based in Germany, the four original members of the group's official line-up were Jamaicans Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett, Maizie Williams from Montserrat and Bobby Farrell from Aruba...

, Carla Cook, Lawrence Gowan

Lawrence Gowan

Lawrence Gowan is a Scottish-born Canadian musician. Gowan has been both a solo artist and the current keyboardist and vocalist of the band Styx. His musical style is usually classified in the category of progressive rock.-Career:...

, Stereophonics

Stereophonics

The Stereophonics are a Welsh rock band now living in turners x that formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in Cynon Valley, Wales. The band currently comprises lead vocalist and guitarist Kelly Jones, bassist and backing vocalist Richard Jones, drummer Javier Weyler, guitarist and backing...

, Rockapella

Rockapella

Rockapella is an American a cappella musical group formed in 1986 in New York City. Their name is derived from the words "rock" and "a cappella". They sing original vocal music and a cappella covers of pop and rock songs; over time, their sound has evolved from high-energy pop and world music...

, Roxette

Roxette

Roxette are a Swedish pop music duo, consisting of Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle . Formed in 1986, the duo became an international act from the late 1980s, when they released their breakthrough album Look Sharp!...

, Kiki Dee, Backburner, Hanah, Ossifar, the James Last

James Last

James Last is a German composer and big band leader. His "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and the United Kingdom. His composition, "Happy Heart", became an international success in interpretations by Andy Williams and Petula Clark...

 Orchestra, Five for Five, Sally Dworsky

Sally Dworsky

Sally Dworsky is an American singer-songwriter. She has been an important voice actress and singer in animated films such as Shrek, The Lion King and The Prince of Egypt in addition to releasing her own albums. She has also performed on A Prairie Home Companion. Her brother is Richard Dworsky...

, Channeling Owen, Stoney LaRue, The Bad Plus

The Bad Plus

The Bad Plus are a jazz trio from the United States, consisting of pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson, and drummer Dave King, originating from Minneapolis, MN.-History:...

, Dave Matthews

Dave Matthews

David John "Dave" Matthews is a South African–born American musician and occasional actor, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band...

 and Jimmy Buffett

Jimmy Buffett

James William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...

 (with the Coral Reefer Band), and as a Karaoke

Karaoke

is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...

 backing track. It is also heard briefly in the 1984 film Iceman

Iceman (film)

Iceman is a 1984 science fiction film from Universal Studios. The screenplay was written by John Drimmer and Chip Proser, and was directed by Fred Schepisi. The cast included John Lone, Timothy Hutton, Lindsay Crouse and Danny Glover....

.

In 2005, "Heart of Gold" was named the third greatest Canadian song of all time on the CBC Radio One

CBC Radio One

CBC Radio One is the English language news and information radio network of the publicly-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial free and offers both local and national programming...

 series 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version

50 Tracks: The Canadian Version

50 Tracks: The Canadian Version was a Canadian radio series, which aired across Canada on CBC Radio One in 2005. The show, hosted by Jian Ghomeshi, was a competition to determine the 50 most essential songs in English language Canadian pop music history...

. It ranked behind only Barenaked Ladies

Barenaked Ladies

Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian alternative rock band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart. Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto...

' "If I Had $1000000

If I Had $1000000

"If I Had $1000000" is a song by the Canadian musical group Barenaked Ladies from their album Gordon. Composed by founding members Steven Page and Ed Robertson, the sing-along track has become one of the band's best-known songs, and is a live show staple, despite never having been a true single...

" and Ian and Sylvia

Ian and Sylvia

Ian & Sylvia were a Canadian folk and country music duo which consisted of Ian and Sylvia Tyson, née Fricker. They began performing together in 1959, married in 1964, and divorced and stopped performing together in 1975.-Early lives:...

's "Four Strong Winds

Four Strong Winds

"Four Strong Winds" is a song written by Ian Tyson in the early 1960s. It was first recorded by The Brothers Four in a version that "Bubbled Under" the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1963...

" (which itself was covered by Young on his 1978

1978 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1978.-January–April:*January 14 – The Sex Pistols play their final show at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom....

 album Comes a Time

Comes a Time

Comes a Time is the ninth album by Neil Young, and a return to the country/folk rock sound of Harvest . Many of the tracks include harmony vocals from Nicolette Larson. Originally, it had started out as a solo record, but when Young played it for Reprise executives they asked him if he wouldn't...

).

The song was included (along with Young's song "Harvest Moon

Harvest Moon (album)

Harvest Moon is the twenty-first studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young, released in 1992. Many of the musicians appearing on it also appeared on his 1972 album Harvest, and this album is considered by many to be a pseudo-sequel to Harvest....

)" on the soundtrack of the 2010 movie Eat Pray Love and is referenced in "You and I" by Lady Gaga

Lady GaGa

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...

with the line "On my birthday you sang me A Heart of Gold/With a guitar humming and no clothes".

Chart performance

Chart (1972)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
Canadian RPM Top Singles	1
Norwegian Singles Chart	4
Dutch Top 40	8
U.K. Singles Chart	10