I recently returned from a trip to Europe. On my last full day there, I visited Winchester Cathedral, the venerable history of which dates to the seventh century.
While there, I recalled a song I listened to a lot as a teenager: “Cathedral”, by Crosby, Stills and Nash. It was the last cut on the first side of their 1977 release, CSN, which I discovered three years later as a college freshman. Although it’s on my iPod–along with a couple of other great tracks from the album–the song hadn’t come up on shuffle play in some time, so I went and gave it a fresh listen.
Graham Nash wrote the song, sings lead vocals and plays the piano. In the liner notes for a boxed set, he wrote that his inspiration for the song was “an acid trip taken at Winchester Cathedral in 1974 on my thirty-second birthday. I lost who I was and where I was in that experience. It ended twenty hours later lying on my back in the middle of Stonehenge. I’ve always been a reverent person, but you can’t ignore all the crimes done in the name of religion, and I just wanted to say that Jesus Christ was Jesus Christ, and all the things people say they do in his name is not all that glitters.”
With that for context, I’ll let you draw your own meaning from the lyrics.
I love the piano intro…particularly those three opening notes in the left hand, C#-G#-C#, which establish a specific mood; the internal rhymes in the first two verses; and the way Nash sings ‘The air inside just hangs in delusion.’
Six o’ clock
In the morning I feel pretty good
So I dropped into the luxury of the Lords
Fighting dragons and crossing swords
With the people against the hordes who came to conquer
Seven o’clock
In the morning here it comes I taste the warning
And I’m so amazed I’m here today
Seeing things so clear this way
In the car and on my way to Stonehenge
I’m flying in Winchester cathedral
Sunlight pouring through the break of day
Stumbled through the door and into the chamber
There’s a lady setting flowers on a table covered lace
And a cleaner in the distance finds a cobweb on a face
And a feeling deep inside of me
Tells me this can’t be the place
I’m flying in Winchester cathedral
All religion has to have its day
Expressions on the face of the Savior
Made me say
I can’t stay
Open up the gates of the church and let me out of here
Too many people have lied in the name of Christ
For anyone to heed the call
So many people have died in the name of Christ
That I can’t believe it all
Now I’m standing on the grave of a soldier that died in 1799
And the day he died it was a birthday
And I noticed it was mine
And my head didn’t know just who I was
And I went spinning back in time
And I am high upon the altar
High upon the altar, high
I’m flying in Winchester cathedral
It’s hard enough to drink the wine
The air inside just hangs in delusion
But given time
I’ll be fine
Open up the gates of the church and let me out of here
Too many people have lied in the name of Christ
For anyone to heed the call
Too many people have died in the name of Christ
That I can’t believe it all
And now I’m standing on the grave of a soldier that died in 1799
And the day he died it was a birthday
And I noticed it was mine
And my head didn’t know just who I was
And I went spinning back in time
And I am high upon the altar
High upon the altar, high
Trivia tidbit: Jane Austen is buried in Winchester Cathedral, as is the soldier Nash mentions in the song:
Hugh Foulkes, Esq.
Lieutenant
in the Royal Cheshire Militia
died Feb. 2. 1799
Aged 26 Years.
augenblick 
I recall (although your memory’s better than mine, so you could fill in the blanks) someone in Richardson House (Martina, maybe) who would dance across the floor in the “open up the gates” sections. Those are my favorites in this song, along with the gorgeous beginning that you mentioned.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your memory doesn’t fail you, Melanie! It was, indeed, Martina who did a goofy dance to “open up the gates”…
LikeLike
what’s the Richardson house you’re mentioning? I’d love to see this song used in a tv show or movie
LikeLike
Richardson House was a college residence.
LikeLike
Forgot to click on “notify me…” the first time around!
LikeLike
Nice post. Were you as jealous as I that Graham made it into the CENTRE of Stonehenge?!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Indeed! Thanks for stopping by and liking the post, Bruce. Here’s something you may appreciate given your love of, and knowledge about, LPs. When searching the Internet for an image of the CSN album cover, I ended up learning that two different photos were taken. One, which is the one I used in my post, has the trio looking relatively serious; a second has them all laughing. The serious shot appeared on the cover when the album was first released, but the band apparently decided it was too serious, so all subsequent copies of the LP had the other photo on it. The original covers have therefore become a bit of a collector’s item–though not as rare and coveted as the original ‘baby parts’ cover of Yesterday and Today by the Beatles. I know when I bought CSN it had the original ‘serious’ photo on it, but I got rid of it long ago when I ‘converted’ to CD….aarrggh!
LikeLike
How interesting, I’d no idea there were two covers. Visited the “official” CSN site and sure enough there they are on the 1977 cover, laughing like drains. Mine, like yours, is the so-called “serious” version – though to me they just look relaxed, in keeping with the surroundings… sunset on a calm sea. Probably just as well I didn’t know or the 2 would have demanded inclusion in the “Another Cover In A Different Country” post!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This morning I was taken by an urge to listen to this song, that I hadn’t heard for probably three decades. I don’t know what prompted it but Spotify slaked my thirst and the song moved me as deeply as it did back when I first heard it as a teenager in early 80s England. Winchester Cathedral and Stonehenge were familiar places to me (we used to climb on the stones as kids!) and the lyrics always rang true to my own feelings on religion. It is just so beautifully done, as you expertly described. Those warm resolutions when the bass kicks in to, “Open up the gates…” are delicious. I don’t know who your dancing friend is, mentioned in the other comments, but I’m with her.
Once the hairs on the back of my neck had settled down again, I went looking for some background and found this post, in which you provided exactly the sort of information I was hoping for. It seems the song was inspired in pretty much the way I always imagined it, and that just makes it feel all the warmer.
I love your blog, though I’m no artist or expert, and I’m glad you included this song in it.
All the best, (another) JDB
LikeLike