NOVEMBER 12, 1964 – On his 19th birthday, Neil Young, who was a member of The Squires, wrote “Sugar Mountain” at the Victoria Hotel in Fort William, Ontario (now Thunder Bay), where he had been touring with his Winnipeg band the Squires. Its lyrics are reminiscences about his youth in Winnipeg, Manitoba (“You can’t be 20 on Sugar Mountain”).
The first known recording of the song was made on December 15, 1965 for a demo record at Elektra Records in New York City; this version appears on the “Early Years” disc on “The Archives Vol. 1 1963–1972.” The first formal release was a recording of the song made on November 10, 1968, as part of a live performance at Canterbury House in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This recording was released as the B-side of Young’s 1969 single “The Loner” (and again as the B-side of the “Cinnamon Girl” the following year), but was not collected on an album until the 3-LP compilation “Decade” was released in 1977.
LYRICS:
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