Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist, a songwriter, and a singer,… Read Full Bio ↴Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist, a songwriter, and a singer, best known for his work with the Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills & Nash and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Stephen Stills was born in Dallas, Texas on January 3, 1945 to a military family. Moving around as a child, he developed an interest in blues and folk music. He was also influenced by Latin music after spending his teenage years in Costa Rica and the Panama Canal Zone, where he graduated from high school.

Stills dropped out of the University of Florida to pursue a music career in the early 1960s. He played in a series of unsuccessful bands including the Continentals, which featured future The Eagles guitarist Don Felder. Stills eventually ended up in a nine-member vocal harmony group, the house act at the famous Cafe Au Go Go in NYC, called the Au Go Go Singers (Rick Geiger, Roy Michaels, Michael Scott, Jean Gurney, Kathy King, Nels Gustafson, Bob Harmelink, Richie Furay & Stills) where and when he met Richie Furay. This group also did some touring in the Catskills, and in the South, released one album in 1964, then broke up in 1965. Afterwards, Stills, along with four other former members of the Au Go Go Singers: Geiger, Michaels, Gurney & Scott, formed The Company, a folk/rock group. Immediately prior to performing in the Au Go Go Singers, Stills could be seen singing solo in Gerde's Folk City, a well-known coffee house in Greenwich Village. The Company embarked on a 6-week tour of Canada where Stills met a young guitarist named Neil Young. On the VH1 CSNY Legends special, Stills would say that at that time, Young was doing what he always wanted to do, "play folk music in a rock band." The Company broke up in New York within four months, opening up the way for Geiger to join a light opera company in Los Angeles; Michaels to link up with Jimi Hendrix, Gurney to go on to college while doing TV commercials, and Scott to tour with a retro-Highwaymen. Stills did session work and went to various auditions (including an unsuccessful one for The Monkees). In 1966 he convinced a reluctant former Au Go Go Singers, Richie Furay, then living in Massachusetts, to move with him to California.

Solo years

In the wake of CSNY's success, all four members recorded solo albums. In 1970, Stills released his self-titled debut, which featured guests Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, "Mama" Cass Elliot, and Ringo Starr (credited only as "Richie") as well as contributions from various members of the CSNY band. It provided Stills with the hit single "Love The One You're With" as well as the concert favorite "Black Queen." Stills followed this with Stephen Stills 2, which featured "Change Partners." Nash saw this song as a metaphor for the many relationships in CSNY, while Stills viewed the band as something much less bland and repetitive.
The next year, Stills teamed up with ex-Byrd Chris Hillman and several CSNY sidemen to form the band Manassas. During a Manassas tour in France, Stills met and married French singer-songwriter Veronique Sanson. Then he switched to Columbia Records, where he recorded two albums: Stills in 1975 and the punningly titled Illegal Stills in 1976. The former record found Stills in an uncharacteristically joyful mood; his marriage was going great, his son Chris had just been born, and he was happy living in Colorado. "To Mama From Christopher and the Old Man" was an exceptionally optimistic view of his new family.
In 1976, Stills attempted a reunion with Neil Young. At one point, Long May You Run was slated to be a CSNY record, but when Crosby and Nash left to fufill recording and touring obligations, according to both David and Graham the other pair wiped their vocals from the recordings, as Stills and Young decided to go on without their erstwhile partners as The Stills-Young Band. However, Young would leave midway through the resulting tour due to an apparent throat infection. Stills was contractually bound to finish the tour, which he did, but upon returning home, his wife announced she wanted a divorce and wished to move back to France. Stills reunited with Crosby and Nash shortly afterwards, thanks to the efforts of Nash's future wife Susan, who got Nash to forgive Stills for wiping the Crosby and Nash vocals from Long May You Run. This led to the semi-permanent CSN reunion of 1977, which has persisted even though all three have released solo records since then.
In 1997, Stills became the first person to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice in the same night for his work with CSN and the Buffalo Springfield.
2005 saw Stills release 'Man Alive'; his first solo offering in 14 years. Although not troubling the chart compilers, the record was critically well received and is regarded by many fans as his best since the mid seventies.

Stills was the inspiring influence for Ray LaMontagne who, after hearing one of his songs, decided to quit his job and focus on music.

In The Way
Stephen Stills Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Strangest sort of feelin'
It's with me every day
Everybody wasted
A little more than they'd like to say

Worry 'bout tomorrow
Like it was today
Leave you only sorrow

Feelin' lost in the way

When I was in prison
It was only yesterday
There were no longer cages
Still I had to stay

Think about tomorrow
Like it was today
Leave you only sorrow
Feelin' lost and in the way

Never saw the stranger
Clouding up the day
Never understanding
Anything I say

Do you know the meaning?
When you finally lose your way
Who will be your witness
Come your judgment day

Think about tomorrow
Like it was today
Leave you only sorrow
Feelin' lost and in the way

Who will be your witness?
?
Who will be your witness?

Somebody knew your name
Who will be your witness?

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Stephen Stills's song In The Way evoke a sense of being lost and aimless. The singer describes a feeling that seems to be with him every day, a feeling that everyone around him is a little wasted, hiding something that they don't want to say. He sings about worrying about tomorrow as though it were today, which only leads to sorrow and a feeling of being lost. The second verse takes a particular turn, where the singer reflects on being in prison, but not necessarily physically. He felt stuck, and though there were no longer cages or walls, he still couldn't seem to move beyond his circumstances.

The refrain of the song is a reminder to think of tomorrow like today and to avoid getting stuck in the way. The singer seems to be asking, in the last verse, if anyone truly understands what he is saying or could bear witness to his experiences. Overall, the lyrics of In The Way point to a sense of disillusionment and confusion with the world, one's place in it, and the possibility of being understood.

Line by Line Meaning

Strangest sort of feelin'
There's a strange feeling that he can't describe

It's with me every day
He feels this way every day

Everybody wasted
Everyone is wasted or lost in some way

A little more than they'd like to say
People have secrets and problems they don't want to talk about

Worry 'bout tomorrow
People worry too much about the future

Like it was today
They worry so much that it feels like it's happening in the present

Leave you only sorrow
Worrying only brings sadness

Feelin' lost in the way
Worrying makes you feel like you're lost in life

When I was in prison
Referring to a difficult time in his life

It was only yesterday
It feels like it happened recently

There were no longer cages
He was no longer physically trapped