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.
questions
Stephen Stills Lyrics
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What are you feelin'?
Now that I've caught my love
My head is reelin',
With the questions of a thousand dreams,
What you do and what you see.
Come on lover, talk to me.
When I was on my own
Chasin' you down,
What was it made you run.
Tryin' to get around
The questions of a thousand dreams,
What you do and what you see.
Come on lover, talk to me.
Now that we've found each other
Where do we go now?
I'd like to know what you're thinkin'.
Answer me slowly now
The questions of a thousand dreams
What you do and what you see.
Come on lover, talk to me, yeah.
In Stephen Stills's song "Questions," the lyrics paint a picture of a relationship where the singer is struggling to understand the thoughts and feelings of their partner. The opening lines, "Where are we going love? What are you feelin'?" highlight a sense of uncertainty and confusion in the relationship, which is further explained in the following lines: "Now that I've caught my love, my head is reelin', with the questions of a thousand dreams, what you do and what you see." It is clear that the singer is overwhelmed by the unknown, and desperately seeking answers from their partner.
As the song progresses, the singer reflects on their pursuit of their partner, and the obstacles they had to overcome to be together, asking "When I was on my own, chasin' you down, what was it made you run? tryin' to get around the questions of a thousand dreams, what you do and what you see." This suggests that the partner may have been hesitant to commit, or perhaps just not as open and communicative as the singer would like.
The final verse brings the song to a close with the questions that have been on the singer's mind throughout the entire song: "Now that we've found each other, where do we go now? I'd like to know what you're thinkin', answer me slowly now, the questions of a thousand dreams, what you do and what you see. Come on lover, talk to me, yeah." Ultimately, the song is a plea for communication and understanding in a relationship that is complicated by unanswered questions and uncertainty.
Line by Line Meaning
Where are we going love?
Stephen is asking his beloved about their current direction in their relationship and life in general.
What are you feelin'?
Stephen is curious about his beloved's emotional state and wants to know what they're thinking.
Now that I've caught my love
Stephen feels he has finally found and secured the love he has been searching for.
My head is reelin',
His thoughts are spinning and he can't keep up with his own emotions.
With the questions of a thousand dreams,
Stephen has so many unknowns, wonderings and hopes that they feel like 'thousands of dreams' to him.
What you do and what you see.
He's interested in his beloved's perspective - what they are experiencing and what their perspective looks like.
Come on lover, talk to me.
He's asking his beloved to communicate with him, to share their innermost feelings and thoughts, so they can navigate the uncertainties together.
When I was on my own
Stephen is reflecting on a previous time when he was alone without his beloved.
Chasin' you down,
He was pursuing his beloved actively.
What was it made you run.
He's trying to understand what caused his beloved to pull away in the first place.
Tryin' to get around
Stephen was trying to navigate around obstacles or barriers in their relationship.
Now that we've found each other
Stephen is reflecting on their current state of being together after having gone through those challenges.
Where do we go now?
Stephen is asking where they can go from where they are now in their relationship.
I'd like to know what you're thinkin'.
He's once again asking his beloved to share their thoughts and feelings with him, so he can understand their position.
Answer me slowly now
He's asking to be given a meaningful answer while taking his time to represent his beloved's state of mind.
Come on lover, talk to me, yeah.
He pleads for them to communicate with each other so that they can continue to navigate through their future together.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: STEPHEN STILLS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind