<P> The song "Hey, Hey, My, My ..." and the title phrase of the album, "rust never sleeps" on which it was featured sprang from Young's encounters with Devo and in particular Mark Mothersbaugh . Devo was asked by Young in 1977 to participate in the creating of his film Human Highway . A scene in the film shows Young playing the song in its entirety with Devo, who clearly want little to do with anything "radio - friendly" (of note is Mothersbaugh changing "Johnny Rotten" to "Johnny Spud"). The famous line "It's better to burn out than it is to rust" is often credited to Young's friend Jeff Blackburn of The Ducks . </P> <P> Some reviewers viewed Young's career as skidding after the release of American Stars' N Bars and Comes a Time . With the explosion of punk in 1977, some punks felt that Young and his contemporaries were becoming obsolete . Young worried that they were right . The death of Elvis Presley that same year seemed to sound a death knell for rock, as The Clash cried, "No Elvis, Beatles or The Rolling Stones in 1977!" in the song "1977". </P> <P> From Young's fear of becoming obsolete sprang an appreciation of the punk ethic, and the song was born, initially an acoustic lament that became "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)". Upon embarking on a tour with his backing band Crazy Horse, the song took on new life in a rock arrangement, punctuated by Young's guitar solos that would go on to inspire players of the proto - grunge scene, including Sonic Youth, The Meat Puppets, Pixies and Dinosaur Jr . </P> <P> Upon its release, Rust Never Sleeps was hailed as a commercial and critical revitalization for Young, and the successful, bizarre tour (featuring oversized amps, road crews dressed as Jawas from the then - new film Star Wars (called Road - eyes), sound technicians in lab coats, audio recordings from Woodstock played from disintegrating tapes, etc .) earned him a new generation of fans and good will, buoyed mainly by "Hey Hey, My My". </P>

It’s better to burn out than fade away