David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Jefferson Airplane’s Paul Kantner wrote “Wooden Ships” at the height of the Vietnam War from the point of view of survivors attempting to escape a nuclear war’s aftermath and create a new civilization.
As the group travels, they eat “purple berries” — “Say, can I have some of your purple berries? Yes, I’ve been eating them for six or seven weeks now, Haven’t got sick once, Prob’ly keep us both alive” — which are iodine pills to stave off radiation sickness.
Those left behind aren’t so lucky: “Horror grips us as we watch you die, All we can do is echo your anguished cries, Stare as all human feelings die, We are leaving, you don’t need us.”
After the song came out, fellow musician and friend of the band, Jackson Browne, asked Crosby what happened to the people left after the travelers embarked on their journey. Crosby callously responded, “Well, **** ’em.”
It was an answer he later regretted. There is, however, a silver lining — Browne was so shocked by Crosby’s comment that he penned his classic 1973 “For Everyman” in response.
