Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)

"Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" is a rock song by Neil Young. Combined with its acoustic counterpart "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)", it bookends Young's successful 1979 album Rust Never Sleeps.

Inspired by synthpunk group Devo, the rise of punk and what Young viewed as his own growing irrelevance, the song today crosses generations, inspiring admirers from punk to grunge and significantly revitalizing Young's then waning career. The song is about the alternatives of continuing to produce similar music ("to rust" or – in "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)" – "to fade away") or to burn out.

A line from the song, "it's better to burn out than to fade away," became infamous after being quoted in Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's suicide note. Young later said that he was so shaken that he dedicated his 1994 album Sleeps with Angels to Cobain. Because of Cobain's suicide, in live concerts he now emphasizes the line "once you're gone you can't come back"
Wikipedia

My My Hey Hey

My my, hey hey

Rock and roll is here to stay

It's better to burn out than to fade away

My my, hey hey

Out of the blue and into the black

They give you this but you payed for that

And once you're gone, you can't ever come back

When you're out of the blue and into the black

The King is gone but he's not forgotten

This is the story of a Johnny Rotten

It's better to burn out than it is to rust