The song describes the inner torments and reflections of a man on his past, present and future.
In the CSN boxed set, Stills stated: "It's about an 84-year-old poverty stricken man who started and finished with nothing.
He planned to have bandmates David Crosby and Graham Nash sing harmony parts, but they refused.
"[3] On the highly-collaborative Déjà Vu album, "4 + 20" stands out as the only song which was both written and performed solo by one member of the band, justified by Crosby who recalled "We just said, 'It's too damn good, we're not touching it.
[7] Two days later Stills performed the song solo for the Woodstock edition of The Dick Cavett Show.