Songfacts®:

• Crosby explained to Mojo magazine January 2008 that this song about an invisible, ruling elite that is still just as relevant today: "I think that particular tune has lasted well because it's still true. We don't know who the people are who are running the planet. There is still a feeling they are in charge and we are not and we don't know who they are. We don't know where they go to school or if they even care about, say, seagulls, or if they ever liked a puppy or if they hate humans. We don't know anything about them."
• Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead, Michael Shreve the drummer for Santana and Neil Young all have co-writing credits on this track. Many of the leading lights of San Francisco's music scene were used by Crosby on the album. In the same interview he explained how this came about: "They were my friends. That was who I was close with, I think a lot of it had to do with Jerry (Garcia). He was there almost every night, as was Graham Nash. And the two of them really cared about this record."
• The song was included on If I Could Only Remember My Name, an LP that gained new recognition in 2010 when it was listed second on the Vatican's Top 10 Pop Albums of All Time (behind The Beatles' Revolver). Crosby admitted to Q magazine he was baffled by its ranking. "No one has yet worked out what the hell that was all about," he said. "And why should the Vatican have an opinion on music in the first place? And to choose me? It baffles me as much as it baffles you, man. I got an email from David Gilmour saying, 'Dammit1' – Pink Floyd (with The Dark Side Of the Moon) only came third.