Out On The Weekend by Neil Young

May 22, 2025 Ellie Wilkes

Out On The Weekend is the first track off the 1972 Harvest album. Opening with a 12 bar instrumental of easy going country-style acoustic guitar, harmonica and steady drums, it sets the mood for Young’s most famous work of art.

The song has a sad, dreamy feel, and seems to tell the story of a man who is discontented with his life, and is resigned to leaving for a fresh start somewhere new. Despite lyrics such as I’m so down today and see the lonely boy, who can’t relate to joy, Young said that it wasn’t written in sadness.

It just means that I’m so happy that I can’t get it all out. Even when I’m happy it sounds like I’m not and when I try to say I’m happy I try to disguise it. He has said that Out On The Weekend along with Heart of Gold and Harvest were inspired by his love for then-girlfriend Carrie Snodgress.

The song can be difficult to get the hang of - I’ve been trying to master it for a very long time. Young uses finger-picking methods such as hammer-ons and pull-offs, as well as palm muting, and bar chords. It is almost impossible to tab the exact way he plays it but mastering the rhythm is the best way to capture the sound.

Each bar starts with hitting the bass note twice, then a strong strum down on the second beat. The third and fourth beats often have more fingerpicking complexity, but it is good to start with a 1 and 2, 3 and 4, rhythm to get you going.

The first eight bars of the intro switch between Bm and E. In a live performance, shown below, Young puts his thumb over the top of the neck, barring the fifth and sixth strings to play the Bm. This is hard to reach so I use my first finger to play the bass note then move it to the first string to do the hammer-on and pull-off heard in the first bar of the song.

The harmonica comes in after four bars and plays a melody until the verse begins in bar 13. There are some interesting chords throughout the song. Some are barred, some are played further up the neck, others are variations on chords you may already know. They help to give the song an really interesting sound. Here are a few below.

Variation on the A chord, played barring the 1st and 2nd string of the 5th fret, 2nd finger on the 3rd string 6th fret, 3rd finger on the 4th string 7th fret.

Dmaj/A played barring the first 4 strings on the 7th fret, 3rd finger on the 1st string 9th fret.