Over 50 years after its release, and hundreds of songs later, “Heart of Gold” remains Neil Young’s biggest hit. It is his only #1 and far and away his most streamed song. As a result, it’s far and away his most covered song as well. But it’s not that often that it’s covered by a fellow songwriter of…well, similar repute.
Fiona Apple is, in many ways, the opposite kind of songwriter than Neil Young, at least in the sense that she is either nowhere near as prolific as Young—or at least far more careful as to what songs she will release. In a career spanning nearly 30 years, she has released only five studio albums. Young has released 45 in his nearly 60-year career doesn’t even count the archives releases including multiple other full albums he scrapped. But their careers do have some similarities. They are famous for being artistically uncompromising. As others have noted, early commercial success has helped both of them chart their own courses. And they have both, at times, had reputations for being prickly.
So even though Apple has waited nearly 30 years to record her own cover of a Neil Young song, there’s something fitting about it. Apple is a pianist so she replaces the guitar riff and the harmonica melody with her piano. She mostly sings the melody the same, making only tiny little changes. She’s accompanied by only drums and bass until the second repetition of the instrumental hook, where she’s joined by a string section echoing the pedal steel. She adds additional vocals for the final chorus.
It’s a faithful cover but it’s unmistakably Fiona Apple. She has indeed made the song her own.
Now that’s gorgeous!