W O O D E N   S H I P S  | Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q3j-i7GLr0 ]

“If you smile at me I will understand
‘Cause that is something everybody
Everywhere does in the same language
I can see by your coat my friend you’re from the other side
There’s just one thing I’ve got to
Know, can you tell me please, who won
Say can I have some of your purple berries
Yes, I’ve been eating them for six or seven weeks now,
Haven’t got sick once
Probably keep us both alive
Wooden ships on the water very free and easy
You know the way it’s supposed to be
Silver people on the shoreline, let us be
Talking about very free and easy
Horror grips us as we watch you die
All we can do is echo your anguished cries
Stare as all human feelings die
We are leaving, you don’t need us
Go take a sister, then, by the hand
Lead her away from this foreign land
Far away, where we might laugh again
We are leaving, you don’t need us
And it’s a fair wind blowing warm out of the south over my shoulder
Guess I’ll set a course and go”

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Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young is one of my favorite musical groups. This song illustrates the first experiences of survivors of a nuclear holocaust. Ultimately these survivors leave the destruction behind on a wooden boat to create a new civilization. In this case, both sides of the conflict have annihilated each other and individuals from the opposing sides have encountered one another: “I can see by your coat my friend you’re from the other side / There’s just one thing I’ve got to / Know, can you tell me please who won.” From a bit of research into the background of this song there are several other lines that indicate a post-apocalyptic setting:

1. “Silver people on the shoreline” — individuals in radiation suits.
2. “Say can I have some of your purple berries / Yes, I’ve been eating them for six or seven weeks now, / Haven’t got sick once / Probably keep us both alive” — the “berries” they are referring to are are actually iodine pills to protect against nuclear radiation.
3. “Horror grips us as we watch you die / All we can do is echo your anguished cries / Stare as all human feelings die” — as the individuals escape, they see those left behind become effected by nuclear fall-out or perhaps are just confronted with the reality that they cannot escape and will face death.

The song was written during the Vietnam War when nuclear conflict was a potential reality. The lyrics communicate a confusion and disorientation that reflect the senselessness of war and suggest that the clarity and dominance that its conclusion is supposed to bring about is never really unattainable. I like the way basic human characteristics and concerns survive in this post-apocalyptic setting and help the individuals respond to the situation. As if this destruction has stripped away the complexity and self-centeredness of humans and basic emotions and a desire for simplicity remains. This is suggested to me in the line: “”If you smile at me I will understand / ‘Cause that is something everybody / Everywhere does in the same language.” Here, nuclear destruction has effected everyone and differences between people are not that important – people can’t be isolated in the same way as before – others must be approached in order to survive and in order to communicate. People rely on basic body-language to make assessments with others and our common humanity that is conveyed in a smile – a universal sign of kindness.