"you stood out like a ruby in a Black man's ear"

The radio spoke of David Crosby's passing. Out of curiosity I went online to see if Graham Nash had anything to say about his ex-friend and -bandmate, but found nothing new.

According to Nash, Crosby destroyed any chance of a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young reunion when he insulted Daryl Hannah, Young's girlfriend. After that, another undisclosed action did the same for a Crosby, Stills and Nash reunion, which is a shame because there is little money in song royalties these days, and musicians who once lived on them are back on the road, out of necessity.

Because Crosby's song catalogue is the weakest earner of the four, his loss is smaller than that of Stills and Nash (Young's catalogue is bigger than the other three writers combined). In Crosby terms, he had the least to lose in ruining it for everyone, therefore he wins.

I know too many people like David Crosby.

Nash wrote "Encore" (2016) for Crosby (I'll let Nash tell you why). Joni Mitchell wrote a song for Crosby, too, who she was seeing at the time. "That Song About the Midway" (1969) was first performed at a Laurel Canyon house party filled with Crosby and Mitchell's close friends and other industry professionals. Everyone in the room, including Crosby, knew that the performance of this song was Mitchell breaking up with him.

I know too many people like Joni Mitchell, too.

*

THAT SONG ABOUT THE MIDWAY

I met you on a midway at a fair last year
And you stood out like a ruby in a Black man's ear
You were playin' on the horses, you were playin' on the guitar strings
You were playin' like a devil wearin' wings

Wearin' wings, you looked so grand wearin' wings
Do you tape them to your shoulders just to sing?
Can you fly? I heard you can, can you fly?
Like an eagle doin' your huntin' from the sky

I followed with the sideshows to another town
And I found you in a trailer on the camping grounds
You were betting on some lover, you were shaking up the dice
And I thought I saw you cheatin' once or twice

Once or twice, I heard your bid once or twice
Were you wond'rin' was the gamble worth the price?
Pack it in, I heard you did, pack it in
Was it hard to fold a hand you knew could win?

So lately you've been hidin', it was somewhere in the news
And I'm still at these races with my ticket stubs and my blues
And a voice calls out the numbers and it sometimes mentions mine
And I feel like I've been workin' overtime
Over time, I've lost my fire, over time

Always playin' one more hand for one more dime
Slowin' down, I'm gettin' tired, slowin' down
And I envy you, the valley that you've found
'Cause I'm midway, down the midway
Slowin' down, down, down, down