With the explosion of punk rock in 1977, some punks had felt that Young and his contemporaries were becoming obsolete, with Young worrying that they were right. Some critics viewed Young's career as declining after the release of 1977's American Stars 'N Bars and 1978's Comes a Time. The line 'It's better to burn out than it is to rust' is often credited to Young's friend Jeff Blackburn of The Ducks. The lyrics, 'It's better to burn out than to fade away.' were widely quoted by his peers and by critics. Young adopted the line and used it in the Crazy Horse version of the song, as well as for the title of his album. During the Different Fur studio sessions, Mothersbaugh added the lyrics 'rust never sleeps', a slogan he remembered from his graphic arts career that promoted the automobile rust proofing product Rust-Oleum. On May 28, 1978, Young collaborated with Devo on a version of 'Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)' at the Different Fur studio in San Francisco and would later introduce the song to Crazy Horse. In 1977, Devo had been asked by Young to participate in the creation of his film, Human Highway, and a scene in the film shows Young playing the song in its entirety with Devo (with Mothersbaugh changing a lyric about ' Johnny Rotten' to 'Johnny Spud').

Life is вЂњjust choice, right now, between fear and loveвЂќ.The song 'Hey Hey, My My.', as well as the titular phrase of the album on which it was featured, 'rust never sleeps,' sprang from Young's collaborations with Devo and, in particular, the band's frontman, Mark Mothersbaugh. I seek to provoke inward thought, and also would love to hear your thoughts to teach and inspire me.ДЇor now, as we go on in our game of life, I leave you this. Some burned brightly but briefly, all sacrificed. AВ few geniuses who built roads other will drive upon who gave much for their art : Risking it all does not mean dying young and in pain, but it does mean sacrifice for your art. There are so many parallels between great artists and great leaders, one of which sits at the core of #OpenLeadership, and that is bravery.Д«ravery to вЂњrisk absolutely everything for the smallest chance that something absolutely amazing could happenвЂќ (per the quote in the вЂњok is not okвЂќ post).Дo you want to be someone about whom is said: вЂњothers will drive on the road he builtвЂќ? Are you brave enough to вЂњthink differentвЂќ? Will you risk it all? (cue many entrepreneurs reading this nodding vigorously вЂњyes, been there done that, got the t-shirt!вЂќ)

The other will drive on the road he builtвЂќ Absolutely not politically correct (so be warned if you google him), he was a genius of a comedian and thinker, who died at 32 and, over 20 years later, the memory of his work is etched into the memories of so many.ДЄs Tom Waits described him: вЂњBill Hicks вЂ“ blowtorch, excavator, truth sayer, and brain specialist. Today I was reminded of the late, great Bill Hicks. In a recent post Ok is not ok, I noted thatВ Neil Young said: вЂњItвЂ™s better to burn out, than to fade awayвЂќ and Kurt Cobain included that in his suicide note.

Its better to burn out than fade away