Remember, guys, it's all about Judy Collins. Think "Judy Blue Eyes" "Bluebird" etc. This is one of the songs Stills spat out during his "PLEEEZE marry me, Judy!" period. Harlequin was a Commedia dell'arte character of lowly rank, often shown with a lute, who sometimes pursued ladies above his class. Believe it or not, that would have been a fitting alter ego for Stephen in 1968, when he was far from being a superstar. Buffalo Springfield was coming apart, CSN was not on the radar yet, and he was making ends meet as a session guitarist for, among others, Judy the reigning queen of folk music. He falls for her "true gentle spirit", she says the word he's waiting for, and they begin a torrid affair. He decides that she's the one, endears himself to her son Clark (yes, I think that's the "three") and hopes for a future together. Judy's not so sure, however. The rest of the lyrics suggest Judy is doing a variant on the whole "it's not you, it's ME" thing (she is going through therapy around this time, and he thinks it's a bunch of BS). He wonders if she's about to dump him, or if he ever even had a chance with her in the first place. She eventually hooks up with Stacy Keach (Stills and Keach probably didn't meet in the stairwell, but that's a good metaphor for seeing that you have competition). Keach apparently gets along great with the kid, too, and poor Stephen is out of the picture.
@Pratfall Bingo! I just saw Judy Collins in concert last week and she sang this song and talked at length about her relationship with "Steven" and how this song was all about her and their relationship. She mentioned they hoped to tour together next year.
@Pratfall Bingo! I just saw Judy Collins in concert last week and she sang this song and talked at length about her relationship with "Steven" and how this song was all about her and their relationship. She mentioned they hoped to tour together next year.
Remember, guys, it's all about Judy Collins. Think "Judy Blue Eyes" "Bluebird" etc. This is one of the songs Stills spat out during his "PLEEEZE marry me, Judy!" period. Harlequin was a Commedia dell'arte character of lowly rank, often shown with a lute, who sometimes pursued ladies above his class. Believe it or not, that would have been a fitting alter ego for Stephen in 1968, when he was far from being a superstar. Buffalo Springfield was coming apart, CSN was not on the radar yet, and he was making ends meet as a session guitarist for, among others, Judy the reigning queen of folk music. He falls for her "true gentle spirit", she says the word he's waiting for, and they begin a torrid affair. He decides that she's the one, endears himself to her son Clark (yes, I think that's the "three") and hopes for a future together. Judy's not so sure, however. The rest of the lyrics suggest Judy is doing a variant on the whole "it's not you, it's ME" thing (she is going through therapy around this time, and he thinks it's a bunch of BS). He wonders if she's about to dump him, or if he ever even had a chance with her in the first place. She eventually hooks up with Stacy Keach (Stills and Keach probably didn't meet in the stairwell, but that's a good metaphor for seeing that you have competition). Keach apparently gets along great with the kid, too, and poor Stephen is out of the picture.
@Pratfall Bingo! I just saw Judy Collins in concert last week and she sang this song and talked at length about her relationship with "Steven" and how this song was all about her and their relationship. She mentioned they hoped to tour together next year.
@Pratfall Bingo! I just saw Judy Collins in concert last week and she sang this song and talked at length about her relationship with "Steven" and how this song was all about her and their relationship. She mentioned they hoped to tour together next year.