David Crosby’s favourite Crosby, Stills and Nash song: “I was in a pretty terrible state”
As a partnership, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash rarely enjoyed smooth sailing during their time together. More often than not, their collaboration was marked by tension, with each member continually striving to outdo the others with their songwriting. However, this relentless competition resulted in a back catalogue of exceptional quality, showcasing their collective brilliance despite the frequent turbulence.
By his own admission, the late Crosby could be a problematic collaborator for his colleagues. Following the trio’s final dispersion, Crosby feuded with both Stills and Nash. Thankfully, he became close with the pair, who had played such a vital part in his life, before his sad passing in 2023. They may have endured many squabbles in the public eye, but Crosby’s relationships with his bandmates were built on a steady foundation of love.
After all, Stills and Nash were there for Crosby when he needed them most, such as during the recording process of Crosby, Stills, and Nash’s 1982 album Daylight Again. At this time, the singer-songwriter had become a lost soul after succumbing to the temptations of illicit substances. As a result of abusing narcotics, he became a shadow of his former self and developed agoraphobia. Nevertheless, during this challenging period, Crosby wrote one song he considered his favourite by the supergroup.
Daylight Again was the collective’s third album as a trio following Neil Young’s departure. Crosby wasn’t initially supposed to be part of the project, but Atlantic Records pressured Stills and Nash to include him. Although they hesitated about bowing down to their label’s demands, an agreement was eventually reached.
While Crosby’s name was on the album, he wasn’t the creative force behind the record. In fact, he only contributed ‘Delta’ and ‘Might As Well Have a Good Time’ to the album. Neither of his tracks were selected as singles, but the late singer-songwriter later revealed ‘Delta’ was his favourite song in the collective’s oeuvre. On the track, Crosby painfully sings of his addiction troubles: “Waking, stream of consciousness, On a sleeping street of dreams, Thoughts like scattered leaves, Slowed in midfall into the streams, Of fast running rivers of choice and chance, And time stops here, on the delta, While they dance.”
Decades later, Crosby explained the song’s genesis to American Songwriter, naming it his favourite creation by the trio. At first, Crosby didn’t believe in the song until his friend Jackson Browne gave him the confidence to complete ‘Delta’. Crosby said: “It’s possible that this is the last song I wrote. I was in a pretty terrible state at the time, which you can tell from the song; it sounds lost. Jackson Browne came by the house where I was. I didn’t have a piano so I just sang him what I had and he said, ‘Jesus, that’s a really good one David, you need to finish that.’ I was in the middle of a downhill slide involving freebase cocaine.”
He added: “I didn’t especially want to go outside because I didn’t want to bother with anything except taking more drugs, but Jackson really insisted and brought me to Warren Zevon’s house where there was a piano. He sat me down at that piano and pulled this song out of me. Whenever I wanted to get up to go to the bathroom and take some more dope, he would say ‘No, no, finish the song,’ and he kept me there until I did it. Now when we sing it, I thank Jackson for helping me get it out.”
Despite being in a creative null and devoid of all confidence, Crosby made himself proud by successfully steering ‘Delta’ over the finish line. Considering his unwell state during the writing process, it was a minor miracle that Crosby achieved such an impressive songwriting feat, and he deserved to feel proud of himself. Even at his darkest hour, Crosby never lost his ability to write from his heart, as ‘Delta’ proves.
