Just a Song Before I Go

"Just a Song Before I Go"
Single by Crosby, Stills & Nash
from the album CSN
B-side "Dark Star"
Released June 17, 1977
Genre Folk rock, soft rock
Length 2:14
Label Atlantic
Songwriter(s) Graham Nash
Producer(s) David Crosby
Stephen Stills
Graham Nash
The Albert Brothers

"Just a Song Before I Go" is a song by Crosby, Stills and Nash that appeared on the 1977 album CSN. It was also released as a single and reached number seven on the Billboard singles charts, becoming the band's highest charting hit. It is also one of the band's shortest songs, with a running time of only 2:14. In Canada, it peaked at number 10.

The song was written by Graham Nash about leaving loved ones behind before going on a concert tour. It was written in Hawaii in about 20 minutes at the piano while Nash and Leslie Morris were staying with a friend, waiting for the rain to stop before leaving the house. The opening line came from the question: "You've got half an hour, why don't you just write a song before you go?"[1]

In a February 25, 2016 interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Nash stated that the homeowner bet him $500 that he couldn't write a song before he left. Nash said he still has that $500.

Crosby, Stills and Nash arranged "Just a Song Before I Go" as a straight ballad, with mostly acoustic textures anchored by two electric guitar solos from Stephen Stills.

In 2008, drummer Russ Kunkel and the group Chateau Beach covered the song on their album "Rivage."[2]

Personnel

Additional musicians

Sources

  1. ↑ Zimmer, Dave and Diltz, Henry, Crosby, Stills & Nash: The Authorized Biography, Da Capo Press, 2000 ISBN 978-0-306-80974-3 p 190
  2. ↑ "Rivage overview". Allmusic.com.
  • Liner notes from the 1991 box set Crosby, Stills and Nash: CSN. The commentary on the songs's genesis is from David Crosby.
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