"Broken Arrow" is a song written by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young and recorded by Buffalo Springfield on their 1967 album Buffalo Springfield Again. It was recorded in August and September 1967 at Columbia Recording Studios and Sunset Sound Recorders. It incorporates musical ideas from "Down Down Down," a demo Young recorded with Buffalo Springfield (later released on their eponymous box set).[1][2]
| "Broken Arrow" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Buffalo Springfield | |
| from the album Buffalo Springfield Again | |
| Released | November 18, 1967 |
| Recorded | August 25 & September 5–18, 1967 |
| Studio | Columbia Recording Studio Sunset Sound, Hollywood |
| Genre | |
| Length | 6:13 |
| Label | Atco |
| Songwriter(s) | Neil Young |
| Producer(s) | Richie Furay Jack Nitzsche Stephen Stills Neil Young |
"Broken Arrow" was confessional folk rock. It consists of three parts in three different time signatures interspersed with snippets of sounds, featuring organ, a jazz combo with piano, bass, drums, and a clarinet. The song begins with audience applause (taken not from a Buffalo Springfield show, as some expect, but rather from a concert by the Beatles) and the opening of "Mr. Soul" (which opens the album) recorded in the studio. The second verse begins with the sound of an audience booing, while the Calliope plays a version of the song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", before sound effects bring on the verse. There is also the sound of a military snare drum that plays drum rolls, first quietly, and getting louder and louder, until the fifth time, an unusual sound effect brings the song to the third verse. The Jazz combo plays an improvisation, first taken up by the clarinet, and followed by the piano, until it fades out. The beating of a heart is then heard until it fades out as well.[3]
Each of the three verses uses surreal imagery to deal with emotions (emptiness of fame, teenage angst, hopelessness), and contains self-references to Buffalo Springfield and Young. They all end with the same lines:
An acoustic solo version of the song appears on the Neil Young live album Sugar Mountain: Live at Canterbury House 1968 which was released on Reprise Records in 2008.[4]
Of the members of the band, only Young was present at the recording. Background vocals from Richie Furay were added on later.[2]
Historical references
editThe Creek Indians held a ceremony after the Civil War that included a breaking of an arrow to symbolize the war's end.[5]
References
edit- ^ "Down Down Down". Neil Young Archives. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
- ^ a b c "Broken Arrow (stereo)". Neil Young Archives. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
- ^ ""Broken Arrow": The unusual song Neil Young wrote after quitting Buffalo Springfield". Far Out. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
- ^ "Sugar Mountain Live at Canterbury House 1968". Neil Young Archives. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
- ^ Davenport, Linda. "History of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma". Retrieved 12 May 2017.
External links
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