He thinks that chasing after her would appear pathetic, which he truly is)Īt the empty place inside (He wonders if he will ever have a love that will completely fill the void she has left in him) He cannot chase her without looking desperate, which he truly is. Wordlessly watching he waits by the window (He waits for her to do something. Those last thoughts are of her saying her final goodbye.) In attempting to fly in his dreams he breaks his stride when the inevitable final thoughts of the dream come. Only to trip at the sound of goodbye (This is how we know the two know each other.
He runs trying to catch the dreams thinking he could if he could fly.) Wishing he could fly ((he daydreams about her. Gasping at glimpses of gentle true spirit he runs Also note that in the song, awaiting is pronounced “uh WAITING” to emphasize the consonance with ‘word.’ For an instrument it would be considered a “grace note.”) At this point any word from her would be welcome to release the emotional tension between them. As the lyrics progress we learn that this waiting situation has gone on far too long. He knows it is impossible to contact the harlequin but is trying to pass the mental message.)Īwaiting a word (…perhaps the word will come from a messenger, a mutual friend, either with a message or to take a message from him. Helplessly hoping her harlequin hovers nearby (He is hoping she has sent a messenger to contact him and talk. We enter these lyrics with the observations of a man in a broken relationship… And by standing or sitting on walls and tall props, a harlequin appears to hover above the action in a play. A harlequin may interact with a character but the character can never interact with the harlequin. Sometimes the harlequin is used to pass messages between characters. The harlequin can act out those thoughts in pantomime for the audience. The harlequin is an important character in a play because it indicates to the audience what the actor is thinking to him/her self. As such it might be the earliest form of special effects. Dressed in bright diamondboard fabric, a harlequin stands out as imaginary in every sense. A harlequin is the personified imagination of a character in a play. We also need to know what a harlequin is. That relationship inspired many of his lyrics including “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” It seems obvious but still we have to wonder if “Helplessly Hoping” is one more product inspired by that relationship. You will understand the depth of these lyrics when you know that Stephen Stills had a tempestuous relationship with folk singer Judy Collins.
#Gasping at glimpses of gentle true spirit plus#
It is the vocal harmonics that make the song impossible for an individual to sing and sound like all three voices plus the harmonics at once. It becomes very easy listening when sung with the haunting harmonics of Crosby, Stills, and Nash. General CommentThis tribute to literary elements is masterful as poetry in that within just a few lines it tells a surprisingly complex story in meter and heavy alliteration. Keach apparently gets along great with the kid, too, and poor Stephen is out of the picture.
She eventually hooks up with Stacy Keach (Stills and Keach probably didn't meet in the stairwell, but that's a good metaphor for seeing that you have competition).
He wonders if she's about to dump him, or if he ever even had a chance with her in the first place. The rest of the lyrics suggest Judy is doing a variant on the whole "it's not you, it's ME" thing (she is going through therapy around this time, and he thinks it's a bunch of BS). He decides that she's the one, endears himself to her son Clark (yes, I think that's the "three") and hopes for a future together. He falls for her "true gentle spirit", she says the word he's waiting for, and they begin a torrid affair. Buffalo Springfield was coming apart, CSN was not on the radar yet, and he was making ends meet as a session guitarist for, among others, Judy the reigning queen of folk music. Believe it or not, that would have been a fitting alter ego for Stephen in 1968, when he was far from being a superstar. Harlequin was a Commedia dell'arte character of lowly rank, often shown with a lute, who sometimes pursued ladies above his class. This is one of the songs Stills spat out during his "PLEEEZE marry me, Judy!" period. My InterpretationRemember, guys, it's all about Judy Collins.