The 2016 song Graham Nash wrote to attack David Crosby: “Asshole”
Graham Nash said he wrote “Encore” with David Crosby in mind, challenging him to consider who he was when fame and applause were gone. The 2016 song reflected a deeper rift between the longtime collaborators and, according to Nash, Crosby’s attitude made a Crosby, Stills and Nash reunion impossible.
Nash and Crosby had built a substantial musical partnership, releasing albums together from 1972 and continuing to collaborate beyond the group. Nash’s lyrics also turned the question back on himself: he said he spoke to himself in his songs, too. The article links the song to Crosby’s remarks about Neil Young’s girlfriend and quotes Nash asking whether someone is decent when the audience has left.
In short
- Nash said “Encore” was written about Crosby.
- The song asks who someone is without fame or applause.
- Nash said Crosby’s attitude ruled out a reunion.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Nash’s song can be understood as a personal challenge to a former collaborator whose conduct, in Nash’s view, had damaged their relationship and made working together untenable. By turning the question of decency back on himself as well as Crosby, Nash framed the song as self-examination as much as criticism.
The case against
A public song aimed at a former friend can be seen as an unfair way to air a private conflict, especially when it reduces a complicated relationship to a judgement about character. Crosby’s reported remarks may have offended Nash, but they do not by themselves settle who Crosby was beyond that dispute or whether a reunion was truly impossible.