Neil Young Dusts off ‘Pardon My Heart’ for First Performance in 50 Years

Neil Young has dug deep into his archives for the latest addition to his Fireside Sessions, pulling out “Pardon My Heart” for its first performance in over 50 years.

The live rendition was shared to his Neil Young Archives website as part of his Fireside Sessions series, which just days ago resulted in a rare performance of the track “Silver and Gold” on Wednesday (Dec. 25). Now, the second entry in the series has gone even deeper, resulting in an exceedingly-rare version of “Pardon My Heart”.

Originally released on Neil Young & Crazy Horse‘s Zuma album in November 1975, the track had only ever been played twice previously, and not at all since its official release.

Its debut performance took place at the Bottom Line in New York on May 16, 1974, when Young performed a surprirse set following a Ry Cooder show. Appearing as the penultimate song of the set, Young prefaced its debut by describing it as “a love song I learned recently”.

“I wrote it too,” he added. “This is a love song. It’s one of the saddest love songs I’ve ever heard.”

Just three months later, the track received its final live appearance when it was performed during Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s reunion tour in New York on Aug. 15.

“Pardon My Heart” was penned by Young about the disolution of his relationship with Carrie Snodgress, who also inspired much of his Homegrown album. Despite being recorded throughout 1974 and 1975, Homegrown did not see a release until 2020.

Though it currently remains to be seen whether more Fireside Sessions performances will arrive, Young also used his first entry in the series to announce that he would be releasing a new album titled Talking to the Trees, which will be accompanied by a North American and European tour with his new band, the Chrome Hearts.