Song of the moment: I Don't Want to Talk About It

You probably know this song from Rod Stewart's cover version, recorded at Muscle Shoals in 1975 for his Atlantic Crossing album.  It was a hit on both sides of the pond, reaching #1 on the UK Singles Chart (1977) and climbing into the top fifty on the Billboard Hot 100 (1979).  The band Everything But The Girl would have another top-ten UK hit with it in 1988.

It's too bad the song's composer has never had the same amount of exposure.  Georgia-born Danny Whitten is best remembered as one of the founding members of the rock group Crazy Horse.  Written with Nils Lofgren, "I Don't Want to Talk About It" was included on the band's 1971 self-titled release, which would sadly be Whitten's last.  He had been abusing heroin since the late '60s, and his alcohol and drug addictions were spiraling out of control - to the point that bandmate Ralph Molina finally sacked him during rehearsals for Crazy Horse's upcoming support tour.  On November 18, 1972, Neil Young gave Whitten $50 and a plane ticket to Los Angeles when he proved unable to keep up with the other musicians during the recording sessions for Harvest.  Young received a phone call at his Bay Area ranch later that night - Danny was dead at 29 of an overdose of Valium and vodka.

Young's deep grief over the loss of his friend and musical cohort can be traced through several of his songs (such as "Don't Be Denied" - written the day after Whitten's death - and "The Needle and the Damage Done") as well as through entire albums (the dark, edgy Tonight's The Night).  Young admitted to his biographer Jimmy McDonough that he "felt responsible.  But really there was nothin' I could do - I mean, he was responsible.  But I thought I was for a long time. [...] Danny just wasn't happy.  It just all came down on him.  He was engulfed by this drug.  That was too bad.  Because Danny had a lot to give, boy.  He was really good" (Shakey, pp. 389, 390).  And this mournful, haunting ballad - augmented by Whitten's soul-weary lead vocal, the CSN-esque backing harmonies from the rest of the Horse, and the shimmering slide guitar from guest musician Ry Cooder - proves it.  

I can tell by your eyes that you’ve prob’ly been cryin’ forever,

And the stars in the sky don't mean nothin’ to you, they're a mirror.

I don't wanna talk about it, how you broke my heart.

If I stay here just a little bit longer,

If I stay here, wont you listen to my heart, whoa oh, heart

If I stand all alone, will the shadow hide the color of my heart;

Blue for the tears, black for the nights we’re apart

And the stars don’t don't mean nothin to you, they're a mirror.

I don't wanna talk about it, how you broke my heart.

If I stay here just a little bit longer,

If I stay here, wont you listen to my heart, whoa oh, heart?

My heart whoa oh heart

I don't want to talk about it, how you broke my heart.

If I stay here just a little bit longer,

If I stay here, wont you listen to my heart, whoa oh, heart?

My heart whoa oh heart.

My heart whoa oh heart.

My heart whoa oh heart.

(lyrics courtesy of Wikipedia)