Ridgetop

Jesse Colin Young wrote this song about his home in Point Reyes, California (north of San Francisco) that he called "Ridgetop." He bought it after moving to the area from New York with his band, The Youngbloods, in 1967 when their song "Get Together" caught on in the region (two years later, the song became a national hit). Young gives rather specific details when describing the home, singing about the pine needles on the lawn and the ruts in the road. It's the kind of place that appeals to those looking to keep in touch with nature at the cost of convenience.

In 1995, Young's Ridgetop home burned to the ground, torched by wildfires that swept through the area. In a Songfacts interview, he talked about losing the home and what it was like performing the song after it was destroyed. "It was difficult when it first happened," he said. "It was hell. I had to go out on the road right after the house burned down. We were in papers all over the country when that happened, so maybe audiences wanted to reminisce about it too. I still have the property and my recording studio, one of them, is there. It was built down in a gully and that fire was so hot and the trees so tall - big, 100-foot pines - that the firemen said it just sucked all the oxygen out from down low, and way down there in the gully was the recording studio. There were five scorched boards on the deck and our four-story house was burnt down to like a foot of ash. So, what a blessing that was to save the studio. I guess as time goes on you let pain go and concentrate on the blessings."