Rock-tober: Day 25

Crosby, Stills, and Nash have been making music together since the 60's and have an impressive collection of songs under their belts. However, from their entire discography, I only have a single song.

"Southern Cross" came off Daylight Again, released in 1982.

Stills said part of the inspiration for "Southern Cross" was a long boat trip he took after a divorce. The guy in the song is reeling from a really bad breakup, and he sails out onto the open ocean for solace and healing. I think it's a valid prescription.

There's something both terrifying and beautiful about being on the water. The sheer vastness tends to put your perceived problems in perspective. My first night on the open ocean I was on the fantail of a Navy frigate. In the middle of the night, in the middle of the ocean, I looked up.

Above me from horizon to horizon was largest, brightest expanse of stars I'd ever seen. What I thought was a starry night back on shore, I now realized was a cheap counterfeit. These stars seemed both impossibly far away , but also close enough for me to reach out and touch them. The whole experience was cathartic.

"When you see the Southern Cross for the first time,

you understand why now you came this way."

Indeed.