Graham Nash wishes Crosby, Stills, Nash could have continued making more music after their eighth and final album Looking Forward in 1999. The band played together with Neil Young one last time at a Bridge School benefit on October 26, 2013, and their final performance as a trio at the National Christmas Tree Lighting on December 3, 2015.
Decades after the final CSN release, Nash reflects on the rise and fall of CSN and lost years of making music with the band on “I Watched It All Come Down.”
“It was about my emotional feelings toward Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young,” said Nash in 2023 of the track, from his 2023 album Now “I reached incredible heights musically with them, and the opposite has been true with them, too – saddened that we didn’t make more music. We do, though, know that the music we did make is the most important part of our relationship.”
He added, “This is about the thrill of having made music with David [Crosby], Stephen [Stills], and Neil [Young]. I wish it could have continued.”
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‘I Watched it Fall … I’ve Seen it Grow’
In the song, Nash refers to how he had seen it grow and watched it all come down … to a rock and roll parade.
I watched it all come down
To a Rock and Roll parade, just out of town
Making music, laying it down, for all these years
I watched it all come down
To a paper-weight at the business end of town
Loaded up and loaded down, it’s a mess, a mess
And although I’ve watched it fall
I want you to know, I’ve seen it grow, yeah
And although I’ve watched it fall
I want you to know, I’ve seen it grow, yeah
I watched it all come down
To reflector shades and telegrams at dawn
Changing highways, on and on
I’m gone, been there too long
David Crosby
The song is also a reflection of Nash’s time with CSN bandmate David Crosby, who died on January 18, 2023, at age 81. Nash revealed that the two had started talking again before Crosby’s death and settled whatever past differences they once had.
“I’d like to only think of the good times, now,” said Nash. “I’ll remember the great music that we made, the fun times that we had.”
Nash also shared a poignant memory of Crosby. “We were hiking in Hawaii with our friend and tour manager Mac Holbert, and Mac slipped, fell, and shattered his kneecap,” shared Nash. “I watched David carry Mac for almost a mile to get back to a place where he could be medically treated. I always thought that such a moment showed off what a big heart that David had.”
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