Lyrics for Southern Cross as interpreted by Duffmyster99

Southern Cross Lyrics
Got out of town on a boat, going to Southern islands.
Sailing a reach before a following sea.
She was making for the trades on the outside, and the downhill run to Papeete.

Off the wind on this heading lie the Marquesas,
we got eighty feet of the waterline, nicely making way.
In a noisy bar in Avalon, I tried to call you.
But on a midnight watch I realized why twice you ran away.

Think about how many times I have fallen. Spirits are using me, larger voices calling.
What heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten.
I have been around the world, looking for that woman-girl who knows love can endure.
And you know it will, and you know it will.

When you see the Southern Cross for the first time,
you understand now why you came this way.
Cause the truth you might be running from is so small.
But it's as big as the promise, the promise of a coming day.
So I'm sailing for tomorrow, my dreams are a dying.
And my love is an anchor tied to you, tied with a silver chain.
I have my ship and all her flags are a flying.
She is all that I have left and music is her name.

Think about how many times I have fallen. Spirits are using me, larger voices calling.
What heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten.
I have been around the world, looking for that woman-girl who knows love can endure.
And you know it will, and you know it will.

So we cheated and we lied and we tested
and we never failed to fail, it was the easiest thing to do.
You will survive being bested.
Somebody fine will come along, make me forget about loving you at the Southern Cross.

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sheer
04-02-2003

Rated 0 
When relationships fall apart, head for tropical paradise? ;-)

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tms6879
07-02-2004

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I think this journey they're talking about is not an actual trip to the southern Islands as they say, more like a metaphor to how he's been all around, experimenting with love with many different women, but he always comes back to this one girl. I think this whole idea about the Southern Cross is the symbol for the love they share in their relationship; he's been looking for it on his journey and found it in this girl.

I love the line, "She is all that I have left, and music is her name."

not sure how that fits in my interpretation of the song, but it's stiff pretty cool.

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tomd1969
03-20-2005

Rated 0 
My thinking is that Stills is singing about music itself.

tms6879, I think, is mostly right, but I think the song is *much* deeper than that. That line ( "I have my ship and all her flags are a flying. She is all that I have left and music is her name.") shows the many layers of this song--It could be about a woman, a ship (which are referred to as "she"), but Stills reveals that this ship's name is "Music."

"Spirits are using me/Larger voices callin'" is about musical inspiration--some musicians describe this as if the music came from somewhere higher than themselves. "I have been around the world, looking for the woman-girl who knows love can endure" might be Stills saying that he has traveled the world looking for that one form of music (or perhaps that one song) that shall truly last forever, but he keeps on going to the one that brought him to the dance ("Rock and Roll?" "Folk Music?").

I don't have all of the pieces of the puzzle yet... but I think I'm on the right track.

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heidiho
12-17-2005

Rated 0 
well first of all, the southern cross is a constellation that you can only see in the southern hemisphere...i looked it up! what i think this song means is...this guy had a relationship and he messed it up, but instead of trying to fix it, he runs (or sails) away. so he's sailing along and he sees this constellation and he realizes that he can't run anymore. he's been everywhere, seen everything, but in the end it all comes back to this girl that he left. "Cause the truth you might be running from is so small. But it's as big as the promise, the promise of a coming day. So I'm sailing for tomorrow, my dreams are a dying. And my love is an anchor tied to you, tied with a silver chain" i think this sums up the song. he thinks that leaving can make him forget but this beautiful constellation makes him realize that no matter how far away he is, this girl is the one that it will always come back to.

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kacll
07-07-2006

Rated 0 
I think this song is about escaping. Not only does the trip he is going on, sailing to what seems to be the tropics, sound appealling to me, but him being able to eventually accept that she isn't the one for him. Maybe he is sailing away because of her, but he seems like he is moving on with his life after ending it with someone he thinks if special. He is looking for someone that knows love an endure. Maybe she gave up on him, and he needs to escape her. All he has left his is boat, music and the dream of forgetting to love her. I love this song.

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mystadobalina
08-03-2006

Rated 0 
funny story actually....my father met stephen stills in a bar in upstate NY and started talking about the meanings of songs. When he asked him what the name of his boat was, and upon saying "Manassas," my dad replied with "why didn't you name it "Music?"" Stills looked him in the eye and said "its just a line a f**king song." and then proceeded to leave. He still is crushed for pissing off his biggest idol.

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TwistedSister
08-03-2006

Rated 0 
It has to be about a woman because
"In a noisy bar in Avalon, I tried to call you." I dont think it's about music. Sucks to be your Dad though I'd be crushed too.

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butterroll
10-03-2006

Rated 0 
southern cross was the contender in the 1974 Americas Cup (4-0 win for corageous sailed by dennis conner), hmm, maybe they were just singing about a boat race

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Bubba Jank
12-23-2006

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Ok...here's my take...I think he is talking ultimately about music as well. I believe Stills revealed this in this line:

She is all that I have left and music is her name

With that we understand that he has left (music) twice. We also find music has cheated him and vice versa. Now for this line in which I believe is the roughest line to interpret:

Somebody fine will come along, make me forget about loving you at the Southern Cross

I think here he is saying that someone worthy enough to play music will come along and he will then forget about it at the Southern Cross.

I don't know how many of your are songwriters/musicians but you should relate to this song more than any regular listener. As musicians we have to escape the reality sometimes and get into our own box to create. Stills has been around the world looking for that woman/girl that knows that love will endure....no one human can truly understand love. Love is in the music......

Thats some deepness for ya!

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pickanme
03-21-2007

Rated 0 
this song was written by two brothers - whom i cannot recall the name of.

there is a love lost theme in there, but i dont think he gets the girl. i think the nautical theme is also quite literal for the songwriter, there is so much refference to it

the first verse describes the fact that the ship has 80ft of waterline, i cant figure out any relevance other than the literal. then the stuff making for the trades etc...he is describing sailing around polynesia in the south pacific

i think he realizes that she's not coming back (during a midnight watch) and accepts all his got is his boat - the music. with all her flags flying, and 80ft of waterline, she would be quite a ship - maybe something enough to cling to in the face of a lost love

the woman will survive being bested - he wont find another better - until someone else comes along, who can make him forget about the southern cross, and her. but - he can never forget the southern cross, and sadly not her either

i could be way off here - but the boat thing is strong for me

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pickanme
03-21-2007

Rated 0 
bubba jank - i like your comment at the end that songwriters/musicians ought to find a litte more in this song...i am neither, but have my own boat which i retreat onto when necessary. you can lose yourself on a boat as you can lose yourself in music.

the first verse for me is very evocative of perfect sailing conditions

beautiful indeed

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Comebakatz
01-14-2008

Rated 0 
It seems more simple to me. Or maybe I am just simple minded...

To me its about a sailor who leaves his love behind because their love never seems to work. The last verse seems to suggest that. Something always happens. Still, every time he sees the Southern Cross for the first time he thinks of her. He has searched the world over but found no one to replace her. So all he has left is 'music' which is, I think, simply literal. A lot of people fall back on music, either playing or listening, when they are down on their luck in the love department.

I think even the sailor realizes that he cannot get the girl, no matter what he does. I think this because Avalon is not a real place. Its a mystical island of Arthurian lore. So I think he just dreams that he is calling her. That might also explain the reference to the midnight hour and her running away. He is asleep at the midnight hour and she goes away when he wakes up from the dream.

I also think that he knows that he can't have her but she still has his heart. Despite that he is looking and he is trying to present himself as best he can. I think that is what it means by 'flags are flying', meaning that he is still trying to attract someone, but in all honesty he admits to himself that literal music is the only love he really has.

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pickanme
07-17-2008

Rated 0 
avalon is actually a port in chile which is the start of the long sailing reach to papate, which is a city in tahiti. it's a 2,500 mile reach, the longest in the world. sounds like he tried to call her from there, before heading off. on the midnight watch (you'd have a few of them on a 2,500 mile reach!) he figured some stuff out

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AndreAndre
09-12-2008

Rated 0 
I think it's fairly simple. The singer has made many mistakes in his life (Think about how many times I have fallen) and he's spent most of his life searching for 'the right girl' (I have been around the world, looking for that woman-girl who knows love can endure). I think he was in love with a particular woman in the city (Got out of TOWN on a boat) where she did him wrong in some way a couple times (why twice you ran away), and to have some time to think he sailed for Papeete (and i do think it was a literal voyage - all of the guys in the band sailed, especially Crosby). He tries to call her in the bar, but on a midnight watch he realizes why twice she ran away - because she wasnt 'the right girl' for hi. He loved her and cant forget about her (What heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten) but she wasnt 'the right girl' - the one he was really looking for. She was keeping him tied down, not free like he wanted to be (And my love is an anchor tied to you, tied with a silver chain) meaning the anchor [love] was holding him down in one place. Music is all he has left. But he trusts that, in the end, he will find 'the right girl' (Somebody fine will come along, make me forget about loving you at the Southern Cross).

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Brunicas
11-17-2008

Rated 0 
Well, first the song is nostalgiac because it makes me think of my mom since she listened to it. I always thought it was about a tough painful relationship, that they tried and tried again (we never failed to fail...it was the easiest thing to do). That's how I feel about my ending marraige. It's easier to fail than to make it work. I thought Southern Cross was an attempt to return to some sort of faith with it's roots in the south.

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roushsn95
12-09-2008

Rated 0 
"Somebody fine will come along, make me forget about loving you.."

A great, optimistic closing line to a song that I percieve about being optimistic and having hope for finding love once again. Easily one of my favorite songs ever.

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bluemoon5
02-08-2009

Rated 0 
I think it’s a love song/breakup song, written from the perspective of a man of the sea.

He has left town on a boat, probably for work-related trip. He is on the way to Southern Islands, possibly in Fiji, and sailing a particularly long stretch. He stopped on the way to call his woman, but couldn’t reach her. Later, he is up late during a midnight watch thinking about her, and for the first time he realizes why she has given up on their relationship before.

He has made many mistakes along the way, and they have struggled through their relationship. It might even have something to do with him being gone so much (either as a man of the sea or even a touring musician). Now, he realizes that something is pulling him away from her and it’s time for him to move on. He is telling her that they had something special that won’t be forgotten, but he is feeling a higher calling (perhaps god?), pulling him towards a new path and telling him he’s not with the right woman. He has been waiting and looking for the one special woman who will believe in him through the bad times, and he feels like she is close.

The Southern Cross is a constellation that can be seen from the southern hemisphere. He is going to look to the stars for the answer, and hopes that he will soon understand why fate has led him on this path. The Southern Cross may even refer to the person that he is hoping to soon see. He has been trying to deny that his previous relationship was not working for him, but now realizes that the future ahead of him will be worth letting go of what were once his dreams. He is either saying that he will always love the woman he is leaving, or he is saying that he feels bound by the connection to this new woman (? some sources say that soul mates are connected by a silver chord of energy). He is leaving for something new, and all he has is his ship and music to lead the way. Or a ship named Music. Or the ship and voyage are simply metaphors for music itself, his favorite escape.

He sums up the relationship he is leaving by talking about how they always seemed to fail when things got hard, and seems to conclude that their love just doesn’t have what it takes to make it. He is assuring her that she will get over being dumped, and he will find love again. Somebody new is just around the corner, and he will finally find the love he’s been searching for.


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LaBradford22
05-05-2009

Rated 0 
Papeete is the capital of French Polynesia, located in Tahiti. The Marquesas are another small south Pacific island, also in French Polynesia. All of this is located about a thousand miles or so east of New Zealand, which is where Avalon is located. The Southern Cross is a set of four stars in the southern sky, which serve a similar function as the North Star in the Northern Hemisphere.

When the writer sees the Southern Cross for the first time, it's like this piece of God's beauty gives him some reorientation, and some new inspiration to keep moving on. There may even be some religious significance there - coming to the cross. "Spirits are using me, larger voices calling."

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ImNeilYoung
06-30-2009

Rated 0 
Stephen Stills wrote this about his boat trips in the Southern Atlantic because he is a huge yachter. It is called the Souther Cross because that is the route he took. It says it is a CSNY song, but this was written after Neil Young left, making it a CSN song.

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