Thank a discussion on Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit for this post, in particular the closing number of the Saturday evening concert of 1996 where Patti Smith joins many of the evening’s performers during the closing number “Helpless.”

It turns out there is a YouTube video of this performance, which illustrates what I tried to describe. Smith seems a little unsure on her first try but she hits her stride the second time around, making the song all her own.

Now I can watch it again without having to suffer how freaking cold it was that evening. Enjoy!