Stephen Stills wrote this song about his then-girlfriend, folk singer Judy Collins. In the Crosby, Stills & Nash 1991 boxed set, Stills said: "It started out as a long narrative poem about my relationship with Judy Collins. It poured out of me over many months and filled several notebooks. I had a hell of a time getting the music to fit. I was left with all these pieces of song and I said, 'Let's sing them together and call it a suite,' because they were all about the same thing and they led up to the same point."
The title is a play on words. "Suite" is a reference to a part of a classical composition, but it can also be interpreted as "sweet." The full-length version of the song can be considered a suite, with lots of musical changes.
The last verse is in Spanish and is about Cuba. It was sung in Spanish because Stephen Stills didn't want it easily understood since it had little to do with the theme of the song. Stills put that part in simply because the song had gone on forever and he didn't want it to just vamp out at the end. Here's the translation: How nice it will (or would) be to take you to Cuba The queen of the Caribbean Sea I only want to visit you there And how sad that I can't, damn!
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