Out of many choices, one of my favorite tracks is "The Ocean," a collaboration between Neil Young and Pearl Jam released on the "Mirror Ball" album back in 1995. Actually, it's not really a collaboration, with Pearl Jam just serving as his backing band, with Eddie Vedder largely absent (with the notable exception of another stand-out song from the album, "Peace & Love).
The song features a lof of great chestnuts from the voice of Young, with a stream-of-consciousness style that riffs on everything from the O.J. Simpson trial to Indian chieftains.
"People my age, they don't do the things I do." I always remembered that line when I would drive boats with men twice my age following my commands with me being so scared that I felt the need to go to the bathroom every 15 minutes. Unfortunately, bridge shifts on a Coast Guard cutter are typically four hours long, with no bathrooms despite the need to imbibe enormous quantities of Diet Mountain Dew so that I wouldn't run over a sailboat that wouldn't put on its running lights in the middle of the night.
This song features a great riff at the beginning that carries forth the rhythm for the rest of the song, without choruses. I have always believed that it takes a helluva good band to back Neil Young, and Pearl Jam is one of the few that were able to do it without embarrassing themselves. And this was near the start of their career.
Album version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_uHkAngzHw&feature=related
Live version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt98mHPI4mo
