NEIL YOUNG--Some of Neil Young's new songs are so horribly self-pitying (and just plain horrible) that I feel sorry for myself for ever worshipping his music. I mean, how could any 16-year-old not want to sing so plaintively, write so cryptically, look at the world through such sensitive eyes, and feel so wrongfully hurt? Now, for the price of admission, you can buy "After the Gold Rush" and dream about how it used to be. Not better, but perhaps simpler.

JOHN PRINE--John Prine has not proven to be the next Bob Dylan, and since his songs have less of the boy-hero element running through them, that's probably okay. He is a fine folk writer, and this should be a good concert. Jordan Hall is a good place to hear soft music.

POINTER SISTERS, MARTIN MULL. When Bette Midler scored with a remake of the Andrews Sisters' "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B," I knew things were getting bad. When I first heard the Pointer Sisters, I could tell they were getting worse. Their harmonizing and shimmying is okay. But the music is insufferable, all the more so because you're supposed to take it seriously.

Martin Mull's summer hit was "Dueling Tubas." My summer next-door neighbor, an astoundingly jaded 15-year-old, called him "the new Tom Lehrer." I guess that means he's funny. At $4.50 to $6.50 a ticket, I will continue to guess.

FOLK FESTIVAL--For two bucks, you can hear ten local folkies and attend a fine party this Saturday night. That's what music should be all about.

NEIL YOUNG--Fri. Nov. 16 at Boston Music Hall, 8 p.m., $4.50-$6.50.

JOHN PRINE--Fri. Nov. 16 at Jordan Hall, 8 p.m., $4.50-$6.50.

POINTER SISTERS, MARTIN MULL--Sat. Nov. 17 at Symphony Hall, 7:30 p.m. Call 266-1492 for information.

CAMBRIDGE FOLK FEST--Sat. Nov. 17 at the Eirst Congregational Church, 11 Garden Street, 8 p.m., $2.