As a songwriter, Graham Nash is widely known for his breezy and peaceful style—one illustrated on a handful of classic singles ("Our House," "Teach Your Children," "Just a Song Before I Go") with folk-rock supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash. Unlike, say, the psychedelic sizzle of The Doors, his music doesn’t necessarily scream "LSD." But Nash has often noted the major impact that acid had on him, using the story of his song "Cathedral" as the clear example.
In a June 2025 interview with Vulture, asked about his "most therapeutic recording experience," Nash detailed the surreal tale that inspired the 1977 track. "I had just come from lying in the middle of the grass in Stonehenge," he said, explaining how he walked into a church and spoke to a man dressed like a "Beefeater," who shared some profound advice. "He said, 'Wait a second—you are a traveler. Don’t you know?'" Nash recalled. "Excuse me? He said, 'You are a traveler. Don’t you know it’s just okay to be?' Even behind the acid, that was an incredible statement to make to me at that moment: 'Don’t you know it’s just okay to be?'"
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Nash said he "walked up to the nave toward a statue of Jesus" and felt an "incredible feeling" in his legs that made him look down. "It was like I was standing on the grave of a soldier who had died in 1799," he said. "Ever since that moment, I’ve tried to be me. After I took LSD, everything changed in my life. I began to realize that we were a ball of mud spinning in space in a galaxy that has a hundred-million suns, which is one of billions of galaxies. I realized at that moment that everything was meaningless in a way—but at the same time, it was meaningful."
"Cathedral," a dramatic and dynamic ballad released on Crosby, Stills & Nash’s album CSN, directly references that acid trip—and the religious themes that its setting apparently conjured. "I’m flying in Winchester Cathedral," Nash sings. "All religion has to have its day / Expressions on the face of the savior / Made me say, 'I can’t stay' / Open up the gates of the church / And let me out of here / Too many people have lied in the name of Christ / For anyone to heed the call / So many people have died in the name of Christ / That I can’t believe it all."
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In 2022, Nash spoke about the song with WAMC Northeast Public Radio, saying it took him four years to finesse the lyrics. "[W]hen you're talking about people's religion, you better make sure every single word is correct," he said. "And because ‘Cathedral’ was a song about an acid trip that I took many years ago to Stonehenge and to Winchester Cathedral. You know, it was it was basically about what acid had taught me, that you know that people's religion is precious to them, and that I better make sure that I got all the words correct. And that's why it took me a long time to write 'Cathedral.'"
The songwriter spoke more broadly about the psychedelic experience in a 2013 interview with Commonwealth Club World Affairs. "I’m not condoning anyone taking drugs, but it was good for me," he said. "[T]aking LSD taught me something immediately, and it was a very profound piece of knowledge—and that was that I was a piece of lent on a ball of mud spinning around in an incredibly huge, ever-expanding universe." He also spread the same message he’d share years later with Vulture, saying, "[A]cid taught me that everything was completely meaningfulness—it’s all meaningless. If every single one of us dropped dead right now, the world would still go on spinning…If everything is meaningless, then everything has to be completely meaningful."
This lesson seems to focus on the absurdity—and unpredictability—of life. "If this is life as we know it, to me, if I’m OK and my wife is OK and my children are OK and my friends are OK, the rest is a joke," he said. "The rest is a joke to be played the best way that you can. You have very little control over a lot of your life, so the way that I deal with my life is that I find the most positive—the funnest—way through all of it. It’s a joke, this!"
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21 products that are gaslighting us into thinking they’re essential when they’re not
Some things in life are actually necessary—clean water, decent healthcare, basic human decency. But then there are the things that feel like they’re gaslighting us. The things we’re told we can’t live without, even though we survived just fine before they existed. Things like "smart" fridges, lawn fertilizer services, and yes—whole body deodorant.
Recently, our sister-site Upworthy asked their Facebook audience the question: What's a product or service that feels like it's gaslighting all of us into thinking it's necessary? More than 8,000 responses poured in. The answers were passionate, funny, and surprisingly unified.
Here are 21 products, services, and systems people called out for pretending to be essential—when they might actually be optional, overpriced, or flat-out invented.
1. Whole body deodorant
"Take a shower," said Shannon H.
“How did we ever manage all those years without it!! 😂😵💫” added Karen R.
Others noted it may help people with medical conditions—but for the average person, it's definitely a marketing creation.
2. Health insurance
It topped the list. Erica L. explained: “My doctor prescribes, the pharmacist issues meds, nurses care for people, surgeons do surgery—Health Insurance stands between health care and patients and says no, exclusively on whether they think it’s financially effective to treat you.”
Important note: Health insurance can provide life-saving access for many—but what people are frustrated by here is the profit-first system, not care itself.
3. The wedding industry
Multiple people slammed the high cost of modern weddings.
JoElla B. put it plainly: “We spend too much time and money planning one day, and not enough thought on how to blend two lives in a mutually beneficial one.”
Others called out expensive dresses, venues, and pressure to perform for social media.
4. Bottled water
Carole D. said: “Water in plastic bottles! Get a cup!”
While bottled water has value in emergencies, it’s often just filtered tap water—sold for profit in plastic.
5. Baby product overload
“Most baby products,” wrote Kelli O. “They really aren’t as needy and complicated as companies want us to think.”
6. Fabric softener
“It’s bad for clothes, bad for the Earth, bad for the wallet, and totally unnecessary,” said Gail H.
Some experts agree—many softeners contain chemicals that can reduce fabric lifespan and irritate skin.
7. Smart appliances
“Adding ‘phone controls’ to every appliance instead of making them last as long as they used to,” wrote Sherry S.
When your fridge needs a software update, something’s gone off the rails.
8. Makeup and anti-aging products
“Anything anti-aging,” said Melissa T., “Please just let me age into the gargoyle I was meant to become.”
Others questioned products designed to “fix” eyelashes, eyebrows, pores, and graying hair.
April S. added, “Products that women are convinced they MUST have in order to be ‘beautiful’ and therefore ‘loved.’”
9. Cosmetic surgery
Ron P. called out the industry as a whole. And while body autonomy matters, many commenters questioned whether insecurities are being commodified and sold back to us.
10. Ticketmaster and “convenience fees”
“Let’s go back to waiting in line at a record store,” wrote Nicole C.
Zaida B. added: “Convenience fee for online purchases—then charging $10 more at the actual event.”
11. Engagement rings
James P. didn’t mince words: “Engagement rings.”
The diamond industry has long been criticized for manufactured scarcity and marketing-fueled necessity.
12. Lawn chemicals and services
“Plant native grasses and you don’t have the pests or need for constant watering,” wrote Jamie B.
Environmental groups have raised similar concerns over runoff and unnecessary pesticide use.
13. AI and generative tech
“This stuff squeezes the lifeblood and individuality out of the human experience,” said Teresa L.
Saskia D. and others echoed skepticism about its necessity, even as many of us are being pushed to use it.
14. Funeral services
Amy W. shared: “My parents both have already paid to have themselves cremated and are very adamant that they do not want anything big done for them. In their words, ‘I won’t care, I’m dead.’”
Of course, some families find comfort in tradition—but the cost and pressure can feel overwhelming and predatory.
15. Rinse and repeat
Amy D. nailed it: “It’s just to sell more. Not even sure you need it at all.”
16. Credit Card Surcharges
Shawn S. took aim at the extra fees popping up at checkout: “That is the cost of doing business and shouldn’t be the burden of the purchaser.”
Many questioned why customers are increasingly being asked to pay extra simply for the convenience of using a card.
17. Constant phone upgrades
“Apple are notorious for releasing the same shit every year,” said Steph S.
Diana H. added, “Needing to upgrade our phones so frequently.”
Built-in obsolescence and marketing cycles drive most of the demand.
18. Vitamins and supplements
“If I took every supplement they say I NEED I wouldn’t need food. Nor could I afford it,” said Tausha L.
19. Fake pockets on women’s pants
Jessica W. said, “I have to buy men’s pants for work because women’s pants would just get torn up too fast!”
Form over function, and then they charge more for it.
20. Disposable everything
“The ‘convenience’ of disposable everything,” said Rick R.
It’s killing the planet—and draining wallets.
21. Tipping
“I’m sick of supplementing for corporations that refuse to pay a living wage,” wrote Susan V.
Tipping culture has evolved into something far removed from its original intent, and for many, it now feels like a burden shifted onto the customer.
The bigger picture
People aren’t saying all these things should vanish tomorrow. But when we start seeing convenience sold as necessity, and insecurity turned into billion-dollar markets, it's worth asking: who benefits from all of this?
And more importantly—who pays?
This article originally appeared earlier this year.