via slightlyundead:
Crosby, Stills, and Nash - Southern Cross
So this is my all-time favorite song. I couldn’t tell you why, I just know that it is. People always ask what it is, I tell them “Southern Cross” by Crosby, Stills and Nash, and they just look at me. And they ask why. And I can’t explain.
But this song just takes me there.
This is clearly a live version, but they just sound so incredible. You can spotify the album version here.
It’s probably the idea and themes of sailing and the tropics and just getting away/escaping from your problems; of going all over the world looking for that one girl, of not finding her, of never giving up; of failing again and again. You try and fail and try and fail and you just keep going.
In a noisy bar in Avalon I tried to call you
But on a midnight watch I realized why twice you ran away
See, you get across the ocean to a shitty dive bar and you try to save a relationship and then you realize, fuck, what’s the point? But then you get saved by the idea of something else, of someone else, of someone out there you don’t know and haven’t met and whom, realistically, doesn’t exist, but the idea of her does, and it saves you. So you keep going. Or not. Whatever. It’s a song.
When you see the Southern Cross for the first time
You understand now why you came this way
‘Cause the truth you might be runnin’ from is so small
But it’s as big as the promise, the promise of a comin’ day
So I’m sailing for tomorrow my dreams are a dyin’
And my love is an anchor tied to you tied with a silver chain
I have my ship and all her flags are a’ flyin’
She is all that I have left and music is her name
“She is all that I have left and music is her name”, god, what a great line.
And of course, there’s this:
So we cheated and we lied and we tested
And we never failed to fail it was the easiest thing to do
You will survive being bested
Somebody fine will come along make me forget about loving you
At the southern cross
“We never failed to fail, it was the easiest thing to do.” That’s the harsh truth of reality, right there.
And then it’s followed by “Somebody fine will come along make me forget about loving you.”
And damn. What a kiss off that is.
I’ve always said that if I just outright fail at life, if by the time I’m like 40 and not where I want to be, and just not enjoying what I’m doing, unmarried and bitter and sick of it all, then I’m just going to abandon it all, move to the Florida Keys or an Island in the Caribbean and just set up shop, open a bar, get a boat, and just forget about life and take to the waters.
This song makes it all seem probable and willing and necessary.
Like it’s how life is supposed to be, and I’m just fighting it by not doing it yet.
Anyways, I love this song, every time I listen to it it’s like I’m hearing it for the first time, and I always listen to it two to three times in a row. It’s a beautifully sung song, it’s a well-written song, it’s a great sounding song, it’s my favorite.
