Search by Title

A	B	C	D	E	F	G
H	I	J	K	L	M	N
O	P	Q	R	S	T	U
V	W	X	Y	Z	#

Browse Categories Random Songfact Random Category Add to Songfacts Take the Quiz SongFAQ Get the Newsletter E-Mail Us Message Boards Full Interviews Lyrical Pursuit Song Fallacies

Songfacts:  You can leave comments about the song at the bottom of the page.

This is an alternate version of Young's song "My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)." The lyrics are slightly different, and this is electric, while "My My, Hey Hey," is acoustic.

Young recorded this with the band Crazy Horse. It was the first time Young recorded with them since Zuma in 1975.

In the biography of Neil Young, Shakey by Jimmy McDonough, Neil points out that this song came about when he was jamming with the band Devo). The line "Rust never sleeps" was uttered by Mark Mothersbaugh, and Neil, loving the impromptu line, acquired it and would play the song live with Crazy Horse. (thanks, Chris - Philadelphia, PA)

The lyrics refer to "The King" and Johnny Rotten as rockers whose legacies live on. The king is Elvis Presley and Johnny Rotten was the lead singer of The Sex Pistols.

This is the last song on the electric side of Rust Never Sleeps. The first side (first 5 songs on the CD) are acoustic.

This was included on Live Rust, a concert album and video featuring Young playing against a backdrop of comically enormous amps and microphones.

Comments:

"Out of the blue and into the black" was a Vietnam War-era phrase that originally referred to jumping out of the daylight into the darkness of a Vietcong tunnel, and was later generalized to refer to various situations, including death.
- Kevin, Ottawa, ON

In Kurt Cobain's suicide letter, he used the lyric "its better to burn out than to fade away."
- Rob, Cleveland, OH

Out of the blue and into the black. If the song alludes that the King (ELvis) is gone, with gone meaning dead, then blue would be life, black would be death. This is also supported by "once you're gone, you can't come back." Johnny Rotton still makes music to this day. Elvis can't come back for obvious reasons. The song seems to say all this happens "when you're out of the blue and into the black." Therefore, you can't come back when you're dead or into the black. There was a post saying that this lyric was about money. If it were so, then why weren't the lyrics "out of the red and into the black"? Or does "out of the blue" meaning somebody who just shows up out of nowhere?
- Altur Rang, Voorhees, NJ

Great song. This song is kind of like an extension of "Cinnamon Girl" musically (which has to be the "first" "grunge" song ever), but with much more meaningful lyrics.
- David, huntington beach, CA

Can you imagin better song about the rock and the way rock is going to?
- Tom, Cracov, MD

what he's implying with his reference to "the king" and "johnny rotten" is that it's better to "burn out" aka Elvis than to "fade away" into obscurity like that talentless tool john lydon aka "johnny rotten"
- topper, Perth, Australia

I'm listening to the live version of this song from Live Rust as I type this. This song is the original "grunge" song--fuzztone, intense emotions, and all of that. Bands like Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and Nirvana have said they based their sound on what Neil did in the late 70s. Neil toured with Pearl Jam back in the 90s at one point.
- Pat, Albuquerque, NM

I think R.E.M. borrowed heavily from this song when they wrote "The One I Love".
- Steve, Fenton, MO

Noel Gallagher performed this song at the Oasis concert which was recorded and released as Familiar to Millions, eliminating the verse about the King and Johnny Rotten. It's a great version. For anybody who knows the work of D Richmond, he does a pretty killer version too.
- J, Port Huron, MI

Out of the Blue means out of depression and into the Black means into the void of death (suicide) or out of the blue means out of nowwhere and inot the black still means death, this with the lines once you're gone you can't come back is an ode to the live fats, die young life style of rockers. Punk rock was huge at this time and people like Nei l Young were being considered old music or dinosaurs. He is acknowledging this but at the same time, this song made him popular again. The song inspired many grungr artist such as Kurt Cobain wh oused it in his suicide note.
- Zach, Boston, MA

the lyric: "It's better to burn out, than to fade away" was found written by Kurt Cobain when he shot himself to death.
- james, victoria, Canada

Eric and Matthew have it right.
- Johnny, Los Angeles, CA

I prefer the more poetic interpretation of "Out of the blue and into the black". Its what one experiences when one leaves the planet. Also, "once you're gone, you can't come back." . smoke em if you got em
- Neil, none, CA

Dave, out of the blue means coming from nowhere, like Elvis did. Into the Black means getting a lot of money, because in the old days (I'm 13) they wrote income on black ink and lost money in red.
- Johnny, Los Angeles, CA

Any ideas as to what "Out of the blue, and into the black" means?
- Dave, Richland, Canada

I believe Neil was one of the few rock stars who was ready for the changes to come in pop music. When he sang "rock'n'roll will never die" he was aware that the spirit of the music is ever-present, whether in punk, blues, hip-hop, etc.
- Eric, Audubon, PA

its also a acoustic version of hey hey my my
- stian, Norway, Norway

Actually in this electric version Young changes the lyric at the end to "IS this the story of Johnny Rotten?" - leaving it to the listener to decide. The song is really about rock being more than any one individual - the essence will live on beyond the King (Elvis) or Rotten. Jeff Blackburn deserves at least partial credit for writing this song.
- Rich, Winchester, England

If you own the album you will see in the liner notes that it is "DEDICATED" him.
- Daniel, Cape Breton, Canada

In 1977, Elvis, The King of Rock 'n' Roll, died. At the same time, Johnny Rotten and the Sex Pistols broke out. What Young is saying is the King (Elvis) is gone, but his spirit, or the spirit of rebellion in rock, lives on in Johnny Rotten and punk rock.
- Matthew, New York, NY

Are you sure the whole song is about Johnny Rotten? I always thought that his name was mentioned mainly because it rhymed with "forgotten."
- Neil, San Diego, CA