Guinnevere is a lovely song - it’s calm, mysterious, deep, emotional… It’s a complex melody, built over complex chord progression, yet it sounds so simple and elevating. The author himself, David Crosby, said it’s the best song he ever wrote: “That is a very unusual song, it's in a very strange tuning (EBDGAD) with strange time signatures. It's about three women that I loved. One of who was Christine Hinton - the girl who got killed who was my girlfriend - and one of who was Joni Mitchell, and the other one is somebody that I can't tell. It might be my best song."
However, when I heard the version by Miles Davis I was astonished, not so by the version itself, but by the act that the great Miles took up a “hippie” song and gave it a serious thought. Well, who wouldn’t - the song is perfect! He recorded his version on the album Circle in the Round, released 1979.
David Crosby wrote the song in 1969 for Crosby, Stills & Nash's critically acclaimed debut album. The song is notable for its serene yet pointed melody and its unique lyrics, which compare Queen Guinevere to the object of the singer's affection, referred to as "m'lady". The song also deals with the importance of freedom. It may have been written about Queen Guinevere from the perspective of a man addressing a woman; it has been speculated that Crosby wrote about her from the perspective of Sir Lancelot of ancient Welsh lore. "Guinnevere" could also be referring to Nancy Ross, who lived with David Crosby and (according to author David McGowan) drew pentagrams on the wall. She would leave Crosby in 1966 for Gram Parsons, who came from big money in Florida, in the orange/citrus business. These facts make the "Nancy Ross" theory more believable: in the song, Crosby sings that Guinnevere "drew pentagrams," and that "peacocks wandered aimlessly underneath an orange tree."
