[1] In addition to After the Gold Rush, it also appears on the compilation albums Decade, and Greatest Hits, and on Live Rust.
An a capella version of the song was a hit in many countries in 1974 for the English vocal group Prelude.
Dolly Parton, recalling a conversation while in the process of recording a cover of the song, along with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt, for their 1999 album Trio II, said: I loved the song on Neil Young's [1970] album and I loved it when Prelude had it out in 1974.
The screenplay and song's title referred to what happened in California, a place that took shape due to the Gold Rush.
[4]"After the Gold Rush" consists of three verses which move forward in time from the past (a medieval celebration), to the present (the singer lying in a burned out basement), and, finally, to the end of humanity's time on Earth (the ascension process in which the "chosen ones" are evacuated from Earth in silver spaceships).