(Credits: Far Out / Glenn Francis)
Sun 11 January 2026 1:00, UK
I recently wrote an article about Stephen Stills being the most underrated member of Crosby, Stills and Nash. A bold claim which I still vehemently stand by, for his delicate sprinkling of songwriting magic can be found across the best moments on that album, namely ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’ and ‘Helplessly Hoping’.
He was the light of the songwriting trio, and his style was tailor-made for the free and easy Californian living of the band. But wherever there is light, there is an important sense of darkness that helps bring balance to the songwriting. Within this trio, it was David Crosby who provided that to stunning effect.
While Stills and Graham Nash were largely preoccupied with love, life and all things in between on their songwriting, Crosby decided to delve a little deeper into the esoteric thoughts facilitated by the LSD community in which the band existed.
The luscious albeit sinister ‘Wooden Ships’ was a cryptic and apocalyptic, anti-war song that harnessed the power of science fiction to make its point. Because as the Vietnam War escalated in violence and the mention of nuclear weapons being weaponised around the world, this dystopic reality didn’t seem too far from reality.
It’s done subtly, as Crosby sings, “Wooden ships on the water, very free (and easy) / Easy, you know the way it’s supposed to be / Silver people on the shoreline, let us be / Talkin’ ’bout very free and easy” on the first part of the chorus. The vessel upon which he explored this idea was inspired by the boat Crosby found himself on with Stills, writing the lyrics. He explained they imagined themselves “as the few survivors, escaping on a boat to create a new civilisation,” while the silver people in question, Crosby later confirmed, were arbitrary figures, wearing radiation suits.
Then it continued, bringing this dystopic vision into a more current context, referencing the televised atrocities of the Vietnam war and how the tragedy of it, is propelling society into this science fiction based society that Crosby fears: He sings, “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.”
Crosby’s contribution to the album was designed to prove that not all things were as chirpy as the rest of the album may have showcased. It was pensive, thoughtful and politically engaged, but not without the appropriate Crosby Stills and Nash sonic blueprint. Crosby enlisted the help of the band’s upbeat songbird Stills, to ensure the melody offset the heaviness of the lyrics and it became a song that typified the very best of the band’s collaboration.
“I learned a long time ago when I wrote ‘Wooden Ships’ with Paul Kantner and Stephen Stills, that you can write really good songs with other people,” Crosby explained. “Most of my compatriots in this business want all of the credit and all of the money, and so they don’t do that. I’ve found that it’s really fun and it generates good art. I didn’t come for the money and I don’t care about the credit, but I do really care about the songs.”
The care rang through on ‘Wooden Ships’ which serves as Crosby’s finest moment on the debut record. Moreover, it compounds my original opinion that Stills is the most underrated member of the band, because without his influence, it may not have been as delicate as it needed to be.
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