Heartlessly helping himself to her bad dreams, he worries
Did he hear a goodbye?
Or even hello?

“Helplessly Hoping” is another song by Steven Stills about his (somewhat unrequited) love for Judy Collins. Suite Judy Blue Eyes is another great famous song about their relationship. In Helplessly Hoping, he sees himself as almost an afterthought to her—even though their lives seem to fit together quite well—at least in his mind. At one point he refers to himself as a harlequin to her—cheap entertainment. But in the chorus, he sees a life where they fit together perfectly.

Will she start to see things the way he does? The answer is no, as we can see in the above quote. While he is spending a lot of time and energy consoling her of her bad dreams, he is still not getting anything back from her. Did she ever say goodbye? Was there anything even there to begin with?

“Helplessly Hoping” is a classic Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song: the strength is in the songwriting and the harmonies. The guitar work is also quite good, but the harmonies are what really blow you away. Note that the whole song is sung in harmony. That is not a technique you hear often. The reason is that it is hard. This requires amazing discipline and also putting your ego aside a bit, as there is no true lead singer. CSN did this better than CSNY mainly due to the fact that Young’s voice was so distinctive that he would often sing lead.

Helplessly Hoping Lyrics

Helplessly hoping
Her harlequin hovers nearby,
Awaiting a word.
Gasping at glimpses
Of gentle true spirit
He runs, wishing he could fly.
Only to trip at the sound of good-bye.

Wordlessly watching,
He waits by the window
And wonders
At the empty place inside.
Heartlessly helping himself to her bad dreams
He worries.
Did he hear a good-bye? Or even hello?

They are one person;
They are two alone.
They are three together;
They are four each other.

Stand by the stairway,
You’ll see something
Certain to tell you confusion has its cost.
Love isn’t lying
It’s loose in a lady who lingers,
Saying she is lost,
And choking on hello.

written by Stephen Stills