Music Review: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: Deja Vu

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: Déjà Vu, Atlantic Records, 1970.

This is the first album as a quartet, although Crosby Stills and Nash did have an earlier album.  This album strongly features the harmonic blend of these four as singers.  This album spawned four singles.  Two of these our classics.  “Our House” written by Graham Nash about his life with Joni Mitchell.  It has a catchy melody, as well as harmony.  It builds until they sing   “Our house is a very, very fine house with two cats in the yard, life used to be so hard,
Now everything is easy cause of you and our la, la, la:It is just cool.

 The other song which is classic is “Teach Your Children.” Again this is a classic melody.  This song was written by Graham Nash as well.  (All of the artists contributed to the song writing of other songs.)  This song expresses two points of view,  The parents first:

Teach your children well, their father's hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams, the one they fix, the one you'll know by.
Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

 

And then the kids:

Teach your parents well, their children's hell will slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams, the one they fix,the one you'll know by.
Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

 

Some other songs are worth note.  ‘Déjà vu” gives the album its name.  Joni Mitchell wrote “Woodstock” about their experiences getting there.  A bit hard for my tast however. 

I like 4+20 as it has the harmony I enjoy.  “Carry On” has a very nice melody.