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  Cover Crosbystillsandnashjpg
  Artist Crosby, Stills & Nash
  Album Crosby, Stills & Nash
  Released 1969
  Track No 6
  Genre Rock
  Length 5:29
  Writer Stephen Stills <br /> Paul Kantner <br /> David Crosby
  Composer David Crosby
  Label Atlantic
  Producer Bill Halverson <br />David Crosby<br />Graham Nash<br />Stephen Stills
  Next Lady of the Island
  Next No 7


Wooden Ships is a Folk-rock song written by David Crosby , Stephen Stills and Paul Kantner (of Jefferson Airplane fame) in the late 1960s. The song was written on Crosby's boat in Florida. Crosby wrote the music, and Stills and Kantner wrote most of the lyrics. {Link without Title} .

Kantner could not be credited on the original release of '' Crosby, Stills & Nash '' due to legal issues, but he is credited on the 2006 re-release. The song was also released by Jefferson Airplane the same year on the album '' Volunteers ''. Both versions are considered to be original versions of the song, although they differ slightly in wording and melody.

Crosby recorded a solo demo in March 1968, with the melody but no lyrics at this stage. Stills recorded his own demo the following month with most of the lyrics now in place.

Wooden Ships was written at the height of the Vietnam War , a time of great tension between the United States and the Soviet Union , Nuclear-armed rivals in the Cold War . It was One Of The Few Songs of that era that openly dealt with the ever-present fears of an Apocalyptic Nuclear War (preceeded by Tom Lehrer 's " We Will All Go Together When We Go ", and " Eve Of Destruction ", sung by Barry McGuire ).

The song poignantly depicts the horrors confronting the survivors of a Nuclear Holocaust , where presumably two sides have virtually annihilated each other (and everyone else). One man from each side stumbles upon the other, and they reflect on the pointlessness of the conflict.

The opening line of the song is considered by many fans as being one for the ages. "If you smile at me I will understand, that is something everybody everywhere does in the same language" These lyrics are still printed today on tee shirts at Crosby Stills and Nash and Young concerts and on various internet stores.