“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.”

The opening is from Neil Young’s song "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)", the lead song on his 1979 album “Rust Never Sleeps”. The album ended with a different version of the song "My My, Hey Hey (Into the Black)" which says “It’s better to burn out ‘cause rust never sleeps.” The album refers to the struggle to remain fresh and new in the music business, a struggle Neil Young was having at the time.

Elvis Presley had died in 1977 just as it seemed Young’s career was fading away so the song also noted that some stars retained their legendary status by dying young and tragically; they burned out instead of fading away. Young was able to hang on without burning out or fading away, and was horrified when grunge rocker Kurt Cobain quoted the line in his 1994 suicide note. In subsequent concerts he emphasized the line “once you’re gone, you can never come back”.

The end of Solomon’s life reads like the fading rock star who shook the world, which is exactly what Solomon did as a young king, but lived long enough to simply fade away. Solomon rose like the sun to cover the whole world and then, because of his sin with multiple wives and idolatry, dipped behind dark clouds and disappeared slowly into the black. His early glory was tarnished by the rust and decay of a dissolute life. One moment we read about his great wealth and wisdom (1 Kings 10:23-24) and then suddenly we read about his distracted heart, disturbances in the kingdom and his death (1 Kings 11:4, 14, 43). Twenty years were covered in just a few verses (1 Kings 11 & 2 Chronicles 9:29-31).

Living life as if the only things that matter are found under the sun (s u n) leads to burning out or fading away in an empty meaningless conclusion to a life that should have had greater value in our eyes, and definitely has greater value in God’s eyes. That’s why living life as if the only things that matter are found in eternity in the presence of God’s Son (s o n) finds true value from Him, regardless of whether our life on earth ends quickly or slowly slips into the dark. So, my my, hey hey, none of us is here to stay, but anyone who is in Jesus will never fade away.