Neil Young - Sugar Mountain 

I've played this song every year on my birthday starting at age 16...I'll be 61 in a couple of weeks. I'll play it again ❤️

My brother sang this song every night when he was fighting cancer. He lost his battle in 2012 . Always will remember him singing this beautiful song. Rest in peace Reefer Rick ...

My dad used to sing this song when I was young, we used to sit in his Mercedes late at night and listen to it. He had a broken childhood that I never completely got to understand. He was murdered when I was 9, and I'm standing here at 22. Finally, understanding the applications of what it means to be "leaving too soon". Childhood gone, stepping into the same shoes he left behind. Innocence lost just to walk that road all over again.

My 18 yr old passed a couple of months ago, he loved this song. I listen to it almost everyday now.

Well, I was drawn back to this song this evening, as my youngest son moved out this afternoon, and I sit here and sort the emotions of this monumental change, as a dad of two, the other married and now gone four years. My wife is away on a trip, so I climbed the stairs alone, to the room my boys shared all those years, hearing echoes of so many memories of youthful voices and shenanigans - only to find a silent and empty room. But this is what we raised them to do - to launch out into the world as best we could equip them. So excited for my son, and for us, if wistful over the change. But then I'm drawn back to the pivotal line in "Sugar Mountain": "You can't be 20, on Sugar Mountain..." So true - as a young man HAS to go his own way, as THAT is where his future lies - and he'll never find it staying at home!

this was my little brothers favorite song when he had cancer at the age of 4, when he passed away all i could think of was now he is on his sugar mountain. i always come back to listen to this song

My Grandpa was 19 when this song came out. He played it for My Dad when He turned 19. My Dad played it for Me when I turned 19. I always tell kids to listen to this when they're 19 and it really opens their eyes. Enjoy your teens. *You will be 21, 25, 30, 35 before you know it.*

"How 'bout we make a toast, before we get our horses?" "To what...? We've lost everything."

Haven’t heard enough Neil Young, thought I should explore his music some more. Found this, listened, read the comments, and I’m crying like a child. And I get the feeling most everyone else here would understand what I’m feeling. It’s beautiful. This man really is something else ....

A friend, mentor and fellow Neil Young fan died today. I sang this song once at a gathering, when we just met and his face lit up, never expecting to hear someone play an obscure Neil YOung song out of the blue. His name is Neil Doloricon, a Philippine social realist painter.

When I was 21, I lived in an unincorporated little part of town with a river and a walking bridge, I fell in love with a fair strawberry blonde with green eyes and an old soul, my friend and I would smoke and drink and play and sing this ballad, it was all true. We lived on Sugar Mountain, we thought we’d never have to leave, but we left there too soon, my strawberry blonde died in 2008 at the age of 46, I’ve lost so many friends, but when I hear this I go back to sSugar Mountain for 5 precious minutes,, Tj Struska

I was really drunk in a McDonald’s bathroom when I was 18 and this was playing at like 3am over the McD’s speakers and I had a moment

A beautiful song about leaving one's idyllic childhood, and crossing over into the responsibility and unknowns of being an adult.

I started "adulting" when I was 14. I'm 55 now and damn tired. Just tired.

This is one of the songs of my youth and it always strikes me deeply to listen to it. Today when I heard the line “the candy bars you had and your mother and your dad” it just made me sit right down and cry. Suddenly it brought be back to my childhood. I have listened to it a 1000x and never before heard that line. How we as humans tend to yearn for some of the things in life that are gone forever.

4:08-4:22 My God That lyric is so masterfully written. I'm over 40 now and have been on my own now since I was 19 and it still gets me, with how harsh the truth of it really is! Hey if any of you kid's are reading this comment, enjoy yourselves... please 🙏 You'll thank me later...

I can't believe he wrote this at age 19. So wise.

I played this song to my girl friend when she was turning 20, on her birthday.... Fast forward after 41 years of marriage and I still play this song for her.... She will always be my Sugar Mountain girl - forever.

I'm 20 and this hits like a ton of bricks.

"Sugar Mountain" is one of Neil's precious songs about his childhood in Canada.We are grateful for his appreciation of the wildlife and his beautiful spirit.

“In 1965 I was up in Canada, and there was a friend of mine up there who had just left a rock'n'roll band (...) he had just newly turned 21, and that meant he was no longer allowed into his favourite haunt, which was kind of a teeny-bopper club and once you're over 21 you couldn't get back in there anymore; so he was really feeling terrible because his girlfriends and everybody that he wanted to hang out with, his band could still go there, you know, but it's one of the things that drove him to become a folk singer was that he couldn't play in this club anymore. 'Cause he was over the hill. (...) So he wrote this song that was called "Oh to live on sugar mountain" which was a lament for his lost youth. (...) And I thought, God, you know, if we get to 21 and there's nothing after that, that's a pretty bleak future, so I wrote a song for him, and for myself just to give me some hope. It's called 'The Circle Game.'" - Joni Mitchell

Mid-summer, 1973, Round Hill Virginia annual county fair. I was thirteen and a fifer in a Fife & Drum corps, the Mount Vernon Guard. We did two performances on that spectacular summer afternoon. As we idled away the time between performances we sky-larked around the tents and rides. Then this song came on, playing from someone's portable radio. It literally stopped me dead in my tracks. I stood stock still for a few minutes and drank in the lyrics and their meaning. I suddenly realized, with excitement and fear, that I too would be leaving the comfort and security of family, friends and familiar surroundings...my own Sugar Mountain.... as I headed off into Life's great unknown just a few short years away. I made a point to burn in every sight and detail, the early evening's blazing sunset, the gradually darkening vermilion sky, Bucky Wolford and Mikey Marx, heads back, laughing riotously over a win at a nearby arcade, the magic of beauty, innocence and youth....and yes, I had my first cigarette at that fair.

This song reminds of the time when me and my cowboy buddy almost became part of a tree.

At the top of a mountain in Alaska, 1980. Looking out over the vast horizon, this song was always in my head. It was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. I was with someone I loved very much, and we were skiing! The one thing I always wished for, was that someday, my dad could see this place, too. Things didn't go the way I thought they would, but I still hear this song and it takes me right to that place in my mind. I was 18 then. I'm 63 now. I remember it like a picture in my mind. I feel like going back...

I wish I was innocent again, and didn’t have this melancholy cynicism running thru my brain.

Can't help but feel a sense of nostalgia when listening to this -- the melody alone puts you in that headspace.

Neil Young has a way of stirring up the deep emotions...at least for me he does. This is one in particular I have always loved...

universally timeless. Every generation will find meaning in this poem.... Wonder, rebellion and self realization... The human condition.

Every song has a story, so here’s mine. I’m currently 17 years old. Things aren’t like they used to be, for the last year or so. I can’t enjoy stuff anymore like I used to when I was younger. I don’t care as much about things as I used to when I was younger. I used the have a new crush every week, but I haven’t felt anything like that in the last year. I figured that it could be a depression, but I didn’t feel depressed. I could still enjoy life, but it was just.. different. I can’t find the intense feeling of joy and happiness like when I was a child, and that’s when I realised: the child inside me is gone. I’m not a kid anymore. I don’t know what happened to him, maybe it’s just because I’m older, maybe it has to do with my mother passing away. But he just isn’t there. A little while back I felt like singing Sugar Mountain, and all of a sudden the lyrics just became very real. I understood the meaning of the song the first time I heard it, but now the song really connects. It doesn’t make me sad and I’m not feeling melancholic in any way. I simply changed and that isn’t bad nor good, it’s just what it is. But this song just became so much more beautiful, and it gives me that indescribable feeling only the very best songs can give you. To Neil Young, one of my favourite artists.

We can't be 20 on Sugar Mountain. Growing up as a child and learning that everything wonderful can't last when you grow up. Magical lyrics Neil Young....thank you.

This one always makes me misty...reminds me of younger days and continuing my life’s journey without 3 of my best friends...thank you Uncle Neil for helping to keep them in my heart and soul....💔

I was 20 when I got married and had my first baby....That is when Sugar Mountain became an untouchable place. I’m 45 now. How beautiful and special that place was 🖤

my daughter and mine favorite song she died six years ago so I play it for us

This song goes way back to my trippy hippie days...life has passed so fast..."carefree" younger days...now replaced by long lonely days...this song plays on....

In 1978 when I did my military service my friend had Neil Young's music cassette and we listened to this beautiful song. After many years I remember those good times with a slight melancholy

The raw authentic beauty of this song can never be duplicated.

I was stunned to learn that Neil was only 19 when he wrote this and there were over a hundred stanzas. The wisdom and poetic sensibility is astounding. I was fine and then at the very end it made me cry because it's such a wistful sentiment. And then I hear the people applaud?! This was live?! Amazing. Absolutely amazing...

Funny how this song just hits that vibe when you're homesick for that past life u left behind

Glad to see this video still exists. I used to watch this in 8th grade (I am 28 now).

Ain't nothing like listening to Neil Young when the world feels like it's gone crazy. His lyrics mean so much with the timeless melodies and raspy gold voice, not perfect but perfect enough. Love ya Neil. KonaRose Kona side in coffee belt ♥

This is such a perfect song. it fits me perfectly and have requested they play it at my funeral.

One of his finest ballads, It could have been an highlight in many of his albums, but Neil has so many brilliant songs in his catalogue that he did not publish it until the compilation "decade". Neil is simply the best songwriter ever.

Small club outside of town late 71', go in and have a beer. Local guy singing with acoustic not altogether that good, beered up, and just packs up and leaves. Guy walks up to the owner and asks to play and owner says I can't pay you but you can pass the hat. Guy gets his guitar and adjusts his mic and starts playing Sugar Mountain. My buddy says, "He sounds just like......" We turned around................and it was !

Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain With the barkers and the colored balloons, You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon, You're leaving there too soon. It's so noisy at the fair But all your friends are there And the candy floss you had And your mother and your dad. Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain With the barkers and the colored balloons, You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon, You're leaving there too soon. There's a girl just down the aisle, Oh, to turn and see her smile. You can hear the words she wrote As you read the hidden note. Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain With the barkers and the colored balloons, You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon, You're leaving there too soon. Now you're underneath the stairs And you're givin' back some glares To the people who you met And it's your first cigarette. Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain With the barkers and the colored balloons, You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon, You're leaving there too soon. Now you say you're leavin' home 'Cause you want to be alone. Ain't it funny how you feel When you're findin' out it's real? Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain With the barkers and the colored balloons, You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon, You're leaving there too soon. Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain with the barkers and the colored balloons, You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon, You're leaving there too soon

Neil Young is such an exceptional talent and an inspiration to families who have children with CP. I have been caring for my son for 30 years now but on quiet evenings such as this I pause and listen Young. May he continue to Wage Heavy Peace for years to come.

Amazing that at 50 years I finally hear what he is saying.

Chorus] Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain With the barkers and the colored balloons You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain Though you're thinking that You're leaving there too soon Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain With the barkers and the colored balloons You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain Though you're thinking that You're leaving there too soon [Verse 1] It's so noisy at the fair But all your friends are there And the candy floss you had And your mother and your dad [Chorus] Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain With the barkers and the colored balloons You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain Though you're thinking that You're leaving there too soon [Verse 2] There's a girl just down the aisle Oh, to turn and see her smile You can hear the words she wrote As you read the hidden note [Chorus] Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain With the barkers and the colored balloons You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain Though you're thinking that You're leaving there too soon [Verse 3] Now you're underneath the stairs And you're giving back some glares To the people who you met And it's your first cigarette [Chorus] Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain With the barkers and the colored balloons You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain Though you're thinking that You're leaving there too soon

I don't cry for my "lost youth" when I listen to this beautiful song; I grew up in the '60's in white American suburbia. No, I lament the loss-of-childhood most young kids in the world seem to suffer at the back hand of poverty, neglect, abuse, human-trafficking, etc. I wish that they could have/have had it as good as we had it. Now that doesn't mean, let's stuff America with every last human being on Earth. That's ridiculous. No, those countries need to change. Every country deserves a "Sugar Mountain".

My father died 6 months ago and this was one of his favorite songs. I like to think that papa is just up there on Sugar Mountain. I love you ❤️

"Sugar Mountain" uses an amusement park as a metaphor for childood. When we're little kids, life seems like a magical carnival. We spend our time playing and having fun. Mom and Dad are around to take care of us, and we don't even know that we could ever want more out of life. But time goes by, we get older, and the things that once made us happy DON'T make us happy any more. As we become teenagers, we start to take an interest in sex, and we start to develop that charming adolescent sarcasm and cynicism. The homes and families we loved as children can start to feel like a prison, and we start to long to escape from them. "You can't be 20 on Sugar Mountain," and you can't remain an innocent, happy child forever. But even when we begin the necessary process of growing up and becoming independent, somewhere deep inside us, there's still a piece of the little children we once were, and we know we'll miss the things we left behind. Even though we know we HAVE to grow up, we sometimes wish we could stay carefree kids just a LITTLE longer.

Such a hauntingly beautiful song. I can never listen to it without getting tears in my old. Such a magical melody!

neil ! momeries just flow through my mind ! when i listen too your songs! its like you've captured my life as i had never seen it !. at 65 now ! memories are all i have left . thanks for bringing them back !!!!!!!!!!!

I & a lot of my friends in Australia have been down a similar path in oz we say head up keep moving . Now I have grown up kids of my own . My mates and I get together regularly & talk about things it helps me a lot god bless them

my 1st boyfriend introduced me to Neil young's music, still love Neil to this day, many years later. One special thing i remember is after my boyfriend, fiance died Neil was going to be at the Nassau coliseum I wrote to the local radio station asking how i could buy tickets and not be ripped off, well they gave me tickets not on the floor but one rise over the floor which was so much better. me and my friend Debra had the time of our lives, was awesome!!

1968! That's when life was still fun. Before Charlie's family. The summer of love. Before we all grew up, had to cut our hair.get jobs. Where's all the time gone? At least we still have music to take us back. Love Ya'll. Anyway, until the Golden Seed takes us home. Peace.

I loved this song in 1979 when I was a senior in high school. Thought I would be 18 forever.

Oh, to live on sugar mountain With the barkers and the colored balloons You can't be twenty on sugar mountain Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon You're leaving there too soon It's so noisy at the fair But all your friends are there And the candy floss you had And your mother and your dad Oh, to live on sugar mountain With the barkers and the colored balloons You can't be twenty on sugar mountain Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon You're leaving there too soon 🎵🎶🎵🎶 There's a girl just down the aisle Oh to turn and see her smile You can hear the words she wrote As you read the hidden note Oh, to live on sugar mountain With the barkers and the colored balloons You can't be twenty on sugar mountain Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon You're leaving there too soon Now you're underneath the stairs And you're giving back some glares To the people who you met And it's your first cigarette Oh, to live on sugar mountain With the barkers and the colored balloons You can't be twenty on sugar mountain Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon You're leaving there too soon 🎵🎶🎵🎶 Now you say you're leaving home 'Cause you want to be alone Ain't it funny how you feel When you're finding out it's real Oh, to live on sugar mountain With the barkers and the colored balloons You can't be twenty on sugar mountain Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon You're leaving there too soon Oh, to live on sugar mountain With the barkers and the colored balloons You can't be twenty on sugar mountain Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon

Blew out my brother's stereo speakers on my bday (20th). Neil is my #####1!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

i'm a junior in high school, and i discovered this song back in middle school. my sugar mountain was georgia, where my aunt and my cousins lived. we'd go there every year, my cousins and i running through the hilly streets, my aunt being so kind to me, listening to the beatles. i can't think about how far away i am from that time in my childhood, and how little time i have left, without bawling my eyes out. can't ever make it through this song with dry eyes.

this song reminds me of my dad who died 6 mos. ago. it's almost unbearably painful to listen to, but it makes me feel closer to him and for that i'm grateful i miss you dad, xoxoxo. i hope you know how much i loved you.

My life's soundtrack is "Live, Rust" . Sugar Mountain is the song my deceased baby sister couldn't pronounce when I was in high school. I can't listen to this song unless I plan ahead. Nows a good time at 4 AM. Love you kiddo.

the beauty of this song is so unique, it is so light and caressing but at the same time it deals with the fleetingness of life and the beautiful things in it, especially the small ones… enjoy while you can

At 65..I sit and play guitar/sing this song over and over lately..it's comforting!!

A good friend of mine died yesterday for Covid. We shared a love of this song. and Neil Young.

One of the GREATEST Songs of All Time..................

So stunningly simple yet eternally & wistfully dreamy.

One of this black Detroit chick's favorite neil young songs reminds me of my great childhood in the 50s and 60s and when I turned 20 and faced some of the ugly times of the days to come. I would give all my tomorrows for a single yesterday as that kris kristofferson song said. But to those who miss their love ones i say they' are are in a happy better place and you will see them again. When I saw my dad after he died I was still angry at how he suffered from cancer but he shook his head and kept smiling as to say it doesn't matter what you go through on earth just makes it to the other side with God cause he was extremely happy. I look forward to my homecoming .

Thanks for the beautiful impressions of Winnipeg.....my family's from Quebec and Ontario. Never been further west than Toronto.....

Sent this to my son on his 20th birthday, everything about this song fit our rural lifestyle. Even the boy at the end of this video looked like him. It was my way of saying “ we needed to move on” and we did. Now just have cherished memories .

My absolute favorite Neil Young song... beautiful melody and poignant lyrics...Who could listen to this song and not be moved? Neil Young is one of the great poets of our time.

Song makes me feel weird but comfortable too. 70's kid- it's how it is. Comfort in discomfort.

I first heard this song late 71/early 72. It was on the flip side of Heart Of Gold. I just fell in love with it and still am to this day. It's a song that every adult can relate to.

I took my Son to Six Flags Great Adventure, NJ. He has Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy. I can't help thinking we left too soon. Wonderful ❣️ song Neil. Thank You.

tears, smiles, beautiful memories just flow listening to my 1979 feel good song...just graduated high school and all was good and kind....now my husband of 38 years plays and sings the Neil Young favorites of mine and I again, tear up, smile, and remember...thank God, Neil, and Mark (my husband) for beautiful music and moving understanding.

I can't listen to this now! I have to spend all my money or I'm going to die!

My mother sent this to me today on my 20th. this song is beautiful.

This is one of my 3 fav. NR songs...Vastly underrated even by him!!!

In '77 I was 16 and Neil released Decade. I was blown away and I can still sing every word of every song. Sugar Mountain was on it as well as so many other N. Y. Classics. I remember how impressed I was that Neil had been recording and performing for an entire decade! An entire decade! To a 16 year old that may as well have been a century. Here it is 40 years on and Neil's still going strong! It's a good thing.

Discovered Neil through my high school boyfriend. And was changed forever. Love him still at 62!!!

I dont agree with his Spotify / Joe Rogan position, but the man is an international treasure. This was the main song we played for my fathers funeral. Much love to Neil.

Ran into an old friend from of mine from childhood. Known him for 50+ years. Time has taken it's toll on both of us, but just for a little while, we remember what it was like being just little kids with a best friend in a big friendly world.

My parents made me bedtime CDs when I was a kid. This was always on there, and it sounds like safety and comfort but still the pain. Yknow?

*THE TREE IS A STAND USER*

I wanted all my adolescent life to be an adult. Now I'm here, i spent so long looking twords the future, ignoring my 150. Now I sit here tearing up inside and I realize I wasted all my time on sugar mountain wishing I was elsewhere.

im on the mountain right now. i hope i never leave.....im 14 and can appreciate the real music in life.

Sugar mountain is wherever you were raised.

I swear... I haven't heard this song in 30 years or more. By the number of hits up there, its not exactly a top-40 type that's jammed down your throat, or gets much air-play anywhere... but it's a GEM, that you have to search out. It's worth the search because it gave me goose-bumps, and reminded me what a wonderful childhood I had.

My Mother met/remarried. Was soon to be my adopted Father, played this song after proposing to her on Christmas day, in bed. I woke up to a father for Christmas of 98'.

So many people just don't undertand the beauty of Neils voice. Deffinatly one of the all time best for me.

This song reminds me to always use up what I'm given before the sun sets.

My husband played his guitar every morning while I would dress for work . We love Neil and all his music❤

Oh thats why she was named sugar mountain. steel ball run really couldn’t stop being sad…

Neil has put the words to my feelings on how I miss the innocence of not knowing anything about everything but so exited to find out what it all means, but yes, he puts my feel into words as though he was in my mind......and felt the sadness that was there.

Riding my ten speed over the Hyperion Bridge, listening to this tune in my head, I realized my life had meaning and I could be something special.

"Sugar Mountain" brings back all the good times I love to remember with my family, friends and everyone who influenced those special years! I like to visit this special place from time to time with Neil, when it's that Autumn evening alone! 🍃🌹🍃🌹✌🎵💕🙏🙇

Living legend, everything you take in is gold. Thanks Neil Young, you have made my life easier to live

I came here to type a ‘JoJo reference’ , but listening to this song really gave me a wholesome and calming feeling

Again, Neil Young, thank you. This song is magic, a big of dreaming and a bit of make believe......and a bit of where we would all love to live.

Neil can be an aquired taste. God bless those who stick with it, and aquire that taste. Those who don't, God bless them as well, but I think you're missing out. The man is a poet. May I suggest "old man", as another song to try. There are many others, but it's just a start.

Stationed in Denver, 1970, in the USAF, I was going to Tech School and had my radio on in the barracks late at night. This song would play almost every night, as I laid on my bed in the dark. My first base after Tech School was in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. Listening to the song at night, I realized I no longer lived on Sugar Mountain. Haven't ever decided if I left there too soon...