Déjà Vu

Fifty years ago today Crosby, Still, and Nash released their second album, or if you prefer, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young released their first album, Déjà Vu, and it stands up today as something of a masterpiece of folk-rock. I have a special fondness for this record as my dad brought it home so many years ago. He wasn't fully hip, but he liked the Beatles and I believe he said he bought this album because he liked the cover.

And it is a great cover--the band, plus sidemen Dallas Taylor and Greg Reeves (who get credit on the cover!) pose as if they were desperadoes, and the album sleeve was a thicker cardboard then most. But beyond the cover, Déjà Vu is full of great songs.

Three songs are classic rock staples and in the pantheon, perhaps none so much as a cover of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock," done in hard rock style. CSNY were at Woodstock, and the irony is that Mitchell was not (she heeded her agent's advice and skipped the festival to appear on The Dick Cavett Show). CSNY's "Woodstock" is blistering and soaring, and has become the signature song about the festival, playing over the closing credits of the movie.

Graham Nash scored the other two big hits from the album. "Teach Your Childen" is a warning to parents about child-rearing, and then asks children to return the favor:

"And you of tender years
Can't know the fears
That your elders grew by
And so please help
Them with your youth
They seek the truth
Before they can die"

His other smash hit was "Our House," an ode to contentment, which is rare in the rock world. He and Joni Mitchell were keeping house in Laurel Canyon, and he wrote a lovely, poignant song that I think anyone can relate to, or at least wish for:

"I'll light the fire, you place the flowers in the vase that you bought today.
Staring at the fire for hours and hours while I listen to you
Play your love songs all night long for me, only for me.
Come to me now and rest your head for just five minutes, everything is good.
Such a cozy room, The windows are illuminated by the evening sunshine through them,
Fiery gems for you, only for you.
Our house is a very, very, very fine house with two cats in the yard,
Life used to be so hard, Now everything is easy 'cause of you"

David Crosby's contributions are the title track, which is appropriately spooky given the phenomenon it describes, and his "Almost Cut My Hair" is a statement about the length of his hair. It may seem dated now, as pretty much anything goes in the hair department these days (except if you're black) and the days of hair length meaning anything is quaint. But it still packs a punch:

"Almost cut my hair
It happened just the other day, it's gettin' kinda long
I could-a said, "It wasn't in my way"
But I didn't and I wonder why
I feel like letting my freak flag fly
Yes I feel like, I owe it to someone"

Stephen Still must have been feeling good, as his songs are full of hope and optimism. "Carry On" has the refrain of "Carry on, love is coming, love is coming to us all." He also co-wrote with Young "Everybody I Love You," which is about as chipper as a rock star can get.

As for Young, his two solo songs are not among his best, but "Country Girl," which is actually a song suite of three different sections, ends powerfully with "Country girl, I think you're pretty, got to make you understand, got no lovers in the city, let me be your country man."

CSN and CSNY have put out albums periodically since then, but none have matched the staying power of the first two, and Déjà Vu remains their highest selling album, with over 8 million sold.