Nash was born in Blackpool, England, during World War II. His mother was evacuated from the Nashes' hometown of Salford (now in Greater Manchester ), where Graham grew up. In the early 1960s he was a leading member of The Hollies, one of the UK's most successful pop groups ever. Although recognised as a key member of the group, he seldom sang lead vocals, although he did write many of the band's songs, most often in collaboration with Allan Clarke. Best known in the US for their 1965 hit "Bus Stop", the Hollies also scored with "Look Through Any Window" in 1965, "Stop, Stop, Stop" in 1966, "Carrianne", and "On a Carousel " in 1967, among others. Nash was pivotal in the forging of a sound and lyrics showing an obvious hippie influence on The Hollies' album Butterfly, a collection that brought differing opinions on the band's musical direction to the fore.
In 1968, after a visit to the US during which he met David Crosby in Laurel Canyon and began recreational drug use, Nash left The Hollies at the height of their fame to form a new group with Crosby and Stephen Stills. A threesome at first, Crosby, Stills & Nash later became a foursome with Neil Young: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY). With them, Nash went on to even greater worldwide success. Nash, nicknamed "Willy" by his band mates in CSNY, has been described as the glue that keeps their often fragile alliances together. A mark of this is the loyalty and support Nash showed to his best friend, Crosby, during Crosby's well-documented period of drug addiction ending in the mid 1980s. Nash's solo career has often been shelved in favour of reunions on stage and in the studio with either Crosby and Stills or Crosby, Stills and Young. His own solo work shows a love of melody and ballads. His solo recordings have experimented with jazz and electronic percussion but tend not to stray too far from a pop format with well-defined hook lines.
Nash became very politically active after moving to California to join with David Crosby and Stephen Stills, as reflected such in Nash songs as "Military Madness" and "Chicago (We Can Change the World)". His song "Immigration Man", Crosby and Nash's biggest hit as a duo (see below), arose from a tiff he had with a US Customs official while trying to enter the country. Nash became an American citizen on August 14, 1978.
Starting in 1972, Nash teamed with Crosby, the two continuing as a successful recording and performing duo until the more or less permanent reformation with Stills for the CSN album of 1977. The pair reunited for another Crosby & Nash studio album in 2004, and a legitimate release of music from a 1970s Crosby-Nash tour as on a widely circulated bootleg appeared in 1998.
In 1979, Nash co-founded Musicians United for Safe Energy.
In 2005, Nash collaborated with Norwegian musicians a-ha on the songs "Over the Treetops" (penned by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy) and "Cosy Prisons" (penned by Magne Furuholmen) for the Analogue recording.
In 2006, Nash worked with David Gilmour and David Crosby on the title track of David Gilmour's third solo album, On an Island. In March of 2006, the album was released and quickly reached #1 on the UK charts. Nash and Crosby subsequently toured the UK with Gilmour, singing backup on "On an Island", "The Blue", "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", and "Find the Cost of Freedom".
Nash is part of the No Nukes group which is against the expansion of nuclear power. In 2007 the group recorded a music video of a new version of the Buffalo Springfield song "For What It's Worth".
Graham Nash has been putting the finishing touches on a 65-song career-retrospective box set, Reflection, due in February 2008.
Nash became an early collector of photographs beginning in the 1970s. The sale of his collection in 1990 by Sotheby's became an important milestone in establishing the market for fine-art photography. Proceeds of the sale funded charitable causes and provide the means for Nash to co-found Nash Editions, a digital fine-arts printmaking firm that used some of the most advanced scanning and printing equipment in early days. The company continues to operate today. Starting with an IRIS printer, a device initially designed for color-proofing for commercial printing, Nash experimented in the late 1980s with creating large-scale digital photos. Using image management software written by Nash and Holbert, a hand-built scanner, and an IRIS Graphics IRIS 3047 printer, they developed methods to adapt the printer's output to the fine-arts printing of black-and-white photographs on archival-paper substrates. In August 2005, Nash and colleague Mac Holbert donated that IRIS 3047 printer to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.
Nash has also exhibited a collection of his photographs at the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego and elsewhere. In 2004, he released a catalog of his photography as a book entitled Eye to Eye.
Carry Me
Graham Nash Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Was as battered and worn a one as you have ever seen.
But I made it some new wings and painted the nose,
And I wished so hard up in the air I rose, singing
Carry me, carry me
Carry me above the world
Carry me, carry me, carry me.
And I once loved a girl
She was younger than me
Her parents kept her locked up in their life
And she was crying at night,
And she was wishing she could be free.
Course mostly I remember her laughing
Standing there watching us play.
For a while there, the music would take her away
And she'd be singing
Carry me, carry me
Carry me above the world
Carry me, carry me
Carry me above the world.
And then there was my mother:
She was lying in white sheets there and she was waiting to die.
She said, "If you'd just reach underneath this bed
And untie these weights,
I could surely fly.
She's still smiling but she's tired,
She'd like to hear that last bell ring.
You know if she could she would
Stand up, and she could sing, singing
Carry me, carry me
Carry me above the world
Carry me, carry me.
Graham Nash's "Carry Me" is a powerful song with lyrics that deeply resonate with the listener. The song portrays three important aspects of life - chasing your dreams, fighting for your freedom, and longing for peace. The opening lines, "When I was a young man I found an old dream, Was as battered and worn a one as you have ever seen," signify the struggle to achieve one's dreams despite adversities. The old dream may have been battered and worn, but the singer restored its glory by giving it new wings and painting the nose. The lyrics express the joy and the freedom that the singer felt when he took off, singing "Carry me, carry me, carry me above the world."
The song then shifts its focus to a young girl who was trapped by her parents. As the singer remembers her, he recalls how she cried at night and wished she could be free. However, he mostly remembers her laughing and enjoying music, which would "take her away," and she'd sing "Carry me, carry me, carry me above the world." The girl's story represents the struggle for freedom from oppression and the power of music to transport one to a different realm where everything is possible.
In the final verse, the singer introduces his mother, who lies dying in white sheets, waiting for the end. She tells the singer that if he untied the weights under the bed, she could fly. The mother's desire to fly signifies the longing for peace and an end to suffering. Although she's still smiling, she's tired and ready to hear the last bell ring. If she could, she would stand up and sing "Carry me, carry me, carry me above the world." The song's message is clear: we all have dreams, we all fight for freedom, and we all long for peace.
Line by Line Meaning
When I was a young man I found an old dream,
I discovered an old, battered dream which I revived and rejuvenated.
Was as battered and worn a one as you have ever seen.
The dream was in miserable condition and needed new wings.
But I made it some new wings and painted the nose,
I breathed new life into the dream by refurbishing it and adding new features.
And I wished so hard up in the air I rose, singing
My intense desire to achieve the dream helped me to soar higher and higher while singing with joy.
And I once loved a girl
I was in love with a girl.
She was younger than me
I was older than the girl I was in love with.
Her parents kept her locked up in their life
Her parents restricted her freedom and confined her to their way of life.
And she was crying at night,
She was so unhappy that she cried herself to sleep.
And she was wishing she could be free.
She wished to be free from her parents' control and live her own life.
Course mostly I remember her laughing
However, I remember her beautiful, carefree laughter the most.
Standing there watching us play.
She would stand beside us and enjoy watching our playful moments.
For a while there, the music would take her away
Occasionally, the music would help her to escape from her miserable reality.
And she'd be singing
She would sing joyfully.
And then there was my mother:
My mother played a significant role in my life.
She was lying in white sheets there and she was waiting to die.
My mother was gravely ill and death was imminent.
She said, "If you'd just reach underneath this bed
In her last moments, my mother made an unusual request.
And untie these weights,
She wanted me to loosen the ties on some objects under the bed.
I could surely fly.
She believed that she could begin her final journey with ease.
She's still smiling but she's tired,
Though extremely exhausted, my mother continued to smile.
She'd like to hear that last bell ring.
She wanted to hear the final bell ring to signify the end.
You know if she could she would Stand up, and she could sing, singing
In her weakened state, she was unable to stand up and sing, but she would have loved to.
Carry me, carry me
She longed to be carried away from the pain and suffering she was experiencing.
Carry me above the world
She hoped to be lifted beyond the world and into a peaceful place.
Carry me, carry me.
She repeatedly made the request to be carried, indicating how much she desired it.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: DAVID CROSBY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@marco-antoniotrujillo6944
The 3r verse is absolutely magnificent.
So sad and beautiful at the same time.
David Crosby confessed it were his mother's actual words in her deathbead.
Powerful stuff.
Heard this Magnum Opus for the first time 1 week ago, and now is in my top ten 10 Greatest songs ever.
Cheers from Spain!
@SusieVKaufman
You wrote some of the most beautiful pieces, dearest Croz... you'll always be missed, and I'm grateful for the Wind on the Water tour.
@sandyallen5743
I've loved this group since I was like, 15ish. Heard this song for first time tonight. Bawling like a baby, remembering how being a hippie was a beautiful thing. I'm 72.
@martygriffith2801
me too, a hippie dude, 65, bought this beautiful album as soon as it came out.
@roberthurley6860
We are of the same age....this song touched my very 16 year old soul as my mom had just died when it was first released.
@sundancer6694
Let your freak flag fly!!
@tamaralunt5039
@61 this Sunday coming ...being a hippie is still a beautiful thing xox blessings to you. This song makes my heart cry. Sometimes I JUST gotta listen to it ♥️
@Neilsmu
68… David’s music has been such a soulful part of my entire life
@evansrt
Best-laid plans - I have two younger brothers. Early April of 2020 our mother died peacefully in her sleep at 99 years old. I always knew i'd be in charge of funeral plans and forever knew I'd be playing Carry Me during her service. Well Covid-19 meant no service and only my brothers and me at the grave site for her burial. No Carry Me was a bitter disappointment but beyond my control. When back to normal, whenever that is, we'll have a celebration of life with all the kids and grand kids and you bet I'll finally get to play the song.
@MrCretemaniam
That is a very touching story. You're lucky your mom lives so long. Your heart is in the right place. Carry on .
@evansrt
@@MrCretemaniam Thanks for the kind words. It's been almost 6 months and still miss her and can't believe she is gone. Like you said - Carry On!!