“Wasted On The Way” was released in 1982, “Southern Cross” in the same year. Keeping in mind that I was born in the middle of CSN(and sometimes Y)'s heyday (in my case 1970), these two later songs sound a bit pop-y to my ears, lacking the grit of “Southern Man” or “Ohio” from a decade earlier.
Are these two later songs considered good songs in the CSN(Y) canon? Or are they like Starship’s “We Built This City” – which is to say, much-maligned, obvious examples of commercialism.
I consider them both very good songs. For whatever that’s worth to you. I liked them both immediately as soon as I heard them on the air for the first time. I still like hearing them.
Southern Cross especially is a great song.
I’m a CSNY fan (though there are certainly bigger fans than me) – I like both songs, “Southern Cross,” in particular.
FWIW, “Southern Man” isn’t really a CSN/CSNY song; it’s a Neil Young song (though it did also appear on the CSNY live album 4 Way Street).
I am seeing what you done there.
Regarding the OP, I think they are both awesome songs. Southern Cross, in particular, strikes me just right.
Oddly, it was only recently that I really listened to it (heard it) and came to really appreciate it.
mmm
My first thought also.
And both are terrific songs.
A big part of why that song is so widely disliked (including by me) is that it’s a hypocritical song, from a band which traces its roots back to the 1960s counterculture. The song’s lyrics lament how rock music has become commercialized, while, at the same time, it has a very polished, “corporate rock” sound.
What are you implying? What it is ain’t exactly clear . . .
Well, somethings happening here…
You guys need to stop…hey!
Maybe they were being ironic. /cringes
Did anyone else hear that?
“Southern Cross” was always kind of a background radio song for me until I found some MP3s of a band doing live song covers on a secondhand computer I inherited for work (along with a bunch of porn and like 7000 viruses- boss’s son, long story). Anyway, one of the covers was Southern Cross and I really liked their version of it so I learned to play it on guitar (my cover of a cover, at my mediocre campfire playing level).
Fun song to play on guitar, and I really got to love it. The meaning behind it is kind of deep, Ithink: for those who live a nomadic, adventurous lifestyle (or just dream of it) are they living out their dreams, or just running away from their problems? A little of both? Fine line.
And I somehow didn’t know this until just now. I’m familiar with these songs—I have their “Greatest Hits” album which includes them—but they never stuck out at me as being of a different era or style from their other, earlier hits.
For what it’s worth.
I like these both. Southern Cross is of course grander and more complex and layered while Wasted On The Way is a nicely straightforward contemplation on looking back at at the past, and as mentioned both bring the characteristic sound and vibe, to my ears and mind. I can see, though, how broadly speaking most people would consider these the markers of the last stage of their being “current” before heading irreversibly for the Senior Circuit. Guess there was a a time for that.
…
About We Built This City,
As someone once said to me back at the time it was on first run: “this sounds like their lawyer wrote this song for them”. And yeah, not very rocking or rolling.
I feel we need a full link to the video.
Southern Cross is really, really good. Wasted on the Way isn’t bad, but I haven’t listened to it 5 times in a row on many occasions like Southern Cross.
They’re both CSN, not CSNY like Ohio. Southern Man is just a Neil Young song and has nothing to do with CSN.
Here’s a GQ article, with quotes from a number of people (including the band members) about it. No sign of any ironic intent (which, if there had been, might have gone a fair way in justifying the song).
The article’s sub-headline includes this awesome line: “it will stay lodged in your brain, like a barnacle made of synthesizers and cocaine, for hours after you read this article.”
Well, you either like them or you don’t, who cares if they are ‘considered good songs’ - by who?.. I keep reading lists of much-hated songs, and a lot of them I just love. Are they good songs? To me, hell yeah.
I love CS&N - except ‘Our House’, which makes me want to barf. Is IT considered ‘good’?
Life used to be so hard.