The one Neil Young song Bob Dylan hates as it ‘sounds like me’

Music legend Bob Dylan has little love for one Neil Young song as he says it “sounds like me” and “should as well be me.”

While Dylan and Young would become close friends soon after the “sounds like me” incident, there was a time when the Mr. Tambourine Man songwriter “used to hate” when one of Young’s songs would come on the radio. In an interview dated December 1985, Dylan recalled living in Phoenix, Arizona, and the radio station would frequently play a Young classic. Though the song from Harvest is beloved by listeners today, it appears Dylan is no fan of the song as he believes it sounds too much like him.

Dylan suggested he “never got over” Young sounding like him on the song and unfavourably compared it to the “people living in trees” during Woodstock outside of his home. Though he “always liked” Young and his work, Dylan took issue with one song in particular, and made his hate for it clear in an interview over a decade after the song was frequently on the airwaves.

He said: “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.’ There I was, stuck on the desert someplace, having to cool out for a while. New York was a heavy place.

“Woodstock was worse, people living in trees outside my house, fans trying to batter down my door, cars following me up dark mountain roads. I needed to lay back for a while, forget about things, myself included, and I’d get so far away and turn on the radio, and there I am, but it’s not me. It seemed to me somebody else had taken my thing and had run away with it, you know, and I never got over it. Maybe tomorrow.”

Despite Dylan’s hatred of the classic Young track, it appears the two remained close friends after the radio play horror for Dylan. The pair, along with The Band, played a storming benefit at Kezar Stadium, which was described in a review from Cult Following as a “match made in heaven”.

Young also aired his praise for the Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, starring Timothée Chalamet. The Heart of Gold and Harvest Moon songwriter shared he had once thrown Dylan off of his tour bus, though had no idea who he was at the time.

He wrote: “I love Bob Dylan and his music. Always have. He’s a great artist. Once he was on my bus and I didn’t recognise him and threw him off but that’s another story. This movie is a great tribute to his life and music. I think if you love Bob’s music you should see this great movie. I loved it.”

Though Dylan may not have seen A Complete Unknown, he did read the script with director James Mangold to suggest a few changes. At the end of their session, Dylan is said to have written “go with God” on a signed script for Mangold.

Producer Peter Jaysen, speaking on The Town podcast, said: “At one point, they sat there and they read the entire script out loud with Jim Mangold reading every part and stage direction and Bob Dylan only reading lines and dialogue for himself.

“Through that process, he sat there writing notes on the script. And at the end of the last session with Jim Mangold, he signed the script and said: ‘Go with God.’”

Dylan is set to perform both the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour and the Outlaw Music Festival show across the United States until mid-September. Young is also on tour, taking his Talkin’ to the Trees album on the Love Earth tour across Europe and later North America.

Young will headline Glastonbury Festival’s Pyramid Stage for the second time, in a performance which very nearly did not happen. The 79-year-old rocker initially said he would not be performing at the festival, but a day later confirmed his involvement.

Young confirmed his decision to play Glastonbury with the Chrome Hearts, writing: “Due to an error in the information received, I had decided to not play the Glastonbury festival, which I always have loved.

“Happily, the festival is now back on our itinerary and we look forward to playing! Hope to see you there!” Festival organiser Emily Eavis has also confirmed the news of Young’s slot at the festival, confirming he will be playing a headline slot on the Pyramid Stage.