“Our House” is great and an all time classic.
The Madness song, yeah.
Both actually:
I like “Wasted on the Way” even more because it has the introspection and self-awareness that almost all rock songs lack. It also rocks a bit more than “Southern Cross.” That’s unusual for Nash. You could take both “Our House” and “Teach Your Children” off of Déjà Vu and it would be a better album.
They’re both a lot better than “Almost Cut My (Nose) Hair.”
It isn’t the worse song of all time. The new “Space Force” song might be, but I refuse to link to it as it is so. damned. puerile. The music is trite and the lyrics are doggerel.
I’m pretty certain their were objectively worse songs in the year it came out, too, but my brain has mercifully walled off those memories.
Also a 1970 kid and CSN(Y) fan. Wasted on the Way is meh to my ear, I like Southern Cross. Jimmy Buffet also has a great cover of SC.
Well, contrary opinion here.
i think they are…bland. “Corporate”. Like the output of band that used to be good, but no longer have “it”. The 80s had a lot of that, from Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, Heart, Queen…the list goes on.
If I listed my 50 favorite CSN(Y) songs, neither of these would be in the list.
I love Southern Cross. The vocals on it are outstanding (of course) and the subject matter is introspective. It gives me goosebumps.
The very worst thing about We Built the City and indeed Jefferson “Starship” is that they relegated Grace Slick to a glorified back up singer. No insult intended to the thousands of awesome back up singers in the rock world. The problem here being that Grace was the voice of Jefferson Airplane. Her voice was raw and powerful, when she wsn’t f**ed up, and even then she was damn good. I have been angry and frustrated by that band for decades. I’m not sure why she got into it. I should probably read up, but I don’t want to be anymore depressed about it than I already am.
Prevailing opinion is that the record company had her family hostage.
OK, now I have to look it up.
I distinctly remember that not long after that song was a hit it was turned into a commercial jingle for A T & T. The jingle went “We built this business…we build this business on serving yoooooou.”
For a band that supposedly eschewed commercialism, they sure did sell it off quickly to make a buck.
“Southern Cross” never fails to bring me to tears. Every. Damned. Time. It’s that last line, just gives me a gut punch, it’s that good.
“We Built These Titties on Silicone” is the biggest pile of shit imaginable. It blooooooows, but not in a good way. Trying to pass off the band as Starship without Marty Balin OR Paul Kantner was blasphemy in itself, but producing this pile of cowflop after the genuine coolness of Jefferson Airplane/Starship marks it as a pure money grab and everything about the song makes it clear it’s all about the cash. Grooooosss.
Not to mention it just sounds awful. It’s a bad song.
That little “De de de de de dittle do” on the synth is just fucking horrible.
To go against the grain, I really do not care for 'Southern Cross". Tortured lyrics, boring music. Yacht Rock, To The Max!
Yup. That sums it up.
If the OP really needs to hear from others whether a song is “good”, that’s the real mark of one.
I heard Graham Nash at a little theater, and he told some great stories. One mentioned how much sailing the three of them did, as a lead-in to an incident where David Crosby took him out on his boat… then announced that Graham needed a rest, and they weren’t coming back to California for a month.
.
I have a friend who crewed on a ship and would always take the night watch. He claims his life finally made sense once he had time to stare at new constellations …
When you see the Southern Cross for the first time
You understand now why you came this way…
Not necessarily. I like a song if I like it, I don’t if I don’t, and FWIW I like both “Wasted on the Way” and “Southern Cross.” But there are some songs, like “We Built This City,” that are by all accounts objectively bad. I was just curious if CSN fans thought these two were in that category, particularly since they came later in the band’s career.
I have never crossed the Equator, and when I finally do, my first goals are a) see the Southern Cross (for the first time), and b) look north to face the Sun.
“Wasted on the Way” is a nice song. If it comes on the radio, I won’t change the station and I’ll sing along a little.
“Southern Cross” is a classic. I seek it out from time to time on youtube or Pandora. There are some live versions in addition to the studio version.
Incidentally, although I wasn’t on a boat, I remember the first time I saw the Southern Cross. I was in a rural area with a clear sky and it was really strikingly beautiful.