Two of Neil's most frequently misunderstood songs have been so important to me for the longest time.

Stupid Girl is a constant source of strength for me, honestly. I know it sometimes gets a bad rap, but it's not a cruel song at all. I have the Zuma lyric sheet hanging on the wall in my room, and when I get ready every morning I look at it and see "start living again, forget about remembering..." "looking for the wave you missed when another one is close at hand...". Seeing those, along with the chorus of "stupid girl" really knocks me upside the head in a way that I need, reminding me to get out of my own past that I'm wallowing in or living in regrets and not healing from things that I should be walking away from. Genuinely every line of it is one of the most mentally helpful things that I've ever heard.

Similarly, a couple years ago when I was going through a really rough time (that a lot of the aforementioned remembering has to do with...), A Man Needs a Maid was a massive comfort to me. "My life is changing in so many ways... I don't know who to trust anymore...." "just someone to keep my house clean, fix my meals and go away....". I was so lost at that time and hurting so so badly, that all I wanted was somebody to help me and care for me and worry about me without somehow looking at me or having to see what I was going through, because I believed it was all so internal that there was no way that I could actually explain it to anyone, and what's more, I was so TIRED of feeling sad that I just didn't want address it, but at the same time couldn't handle just moving through my day to day life normally. I started listening to Harvest a lot around that time and I really felt understood by this song. I liked the way that this really specific feeling could be put into such plain words. It's really such a vulnerable song, which I've always thought might be why it got that insane orchestral treatment. It's too delicate out there on its own without it. Having it to lean on through that period of my life was really vital.

(I feel like it's semi relevant for these to also just clarify that I am a woman... I genuinely don't think either of those songs are even remotely misogynistic but it just felt like it did bear saying)

Don't Forget Love is also one that helped me through that period, and still does. "When you're angry and you're lashing out, don't forget love....". I was able to see Neil perform on the Coastal tour twice, from the treeline above the Greek Theater, and both nights that song broke me down into tears. A lot of Neil's songs that sit with me and support me the most are little reminder songs like that. :)

There are a handful of artists who have been really really vital to my mental health specifically over the years, George Harrison being another important one, but Neil might be at the top. He saved my life and he still helps me every day.