Neil Young Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Paul Williams

Critical Essay by Paul Williams

Buffalo Springfield … is a lovely, moving experience. You have to be into it, however; chances are you won't even like it on first hearing. All the songs seem to sound alike…. There are certain samenesses in the Springfield's material, and if you hear them on one of their rare off nights, you'll be quite bored. But what the Springfield does is rise above these samenesses, employing beautiful changes and continually fresh approaches within their particular framework. The more you listen to this album and become familiar with it, the more you'll see in each song. (pp. 47-8)

But the album, despite it all, is beautiful. Every track on it will entrance you, at one time or another. "Clancy" will probably be first—both melody and lyric hit very hard, and once the rhythm changes and the phrasing sink in, you're done for. The objectivity of the song is heartbreaking: "Who...
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