Musically, the song marks a shift from the
hard rock of 1969's
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere and bears more
folk and
country influences, which would continue onto 1972's
Harvest. The only instruments are two
acoustic guitars, played by Young and Nils Lofgren. He is, however, backed by the vocal harmonies of
Crazy Horse during the choruses. 'Tell Me Why' has a simple lyrical structure, with two verses each followed by a bridge then chorus, and one final bridge and chorus before a short instrumental outro. The chorus line "Tell me why, tell me why/Is it hard to make arrangements with yourself/When you're old enough to repay/but young enough to sell?" is the most famous line from the song, typifying the introspective and melancholic nature of not just this song, but the whole album. The guitar is tuned down to D Standard (every string tuned a whole step down from standard tuning). ==Personnel==