"The Wild Heart" ~ ...and a very happy 20th anniversary!

[Moon Brother]

Here's to sending Stevie our happiest of thoughts, and best of wishes, and certainly our deepest gratitude on the greatest of anniversaries for the release of "The Wild Heart" album!

JUNE 10, 1983!

Wow has it really been TWENTY YEARS already? It seems like yesterday.:confused:

I remember being 11 years old when the gates were opened to me, and this album being my first real glimpse of the magick that is Stevie Nicks! And aside from the women in my family, it was also my first awakening in the profound and haunting beauty that is in all women.

Most women may not realize, that for many men, Stevie has secretly allowed us a peek, if only for a brief moment, into the hearts and souls of all women throughout time.
She has - in her own way - to those who've listened, of course, brought us up to speed on the affairs of women as they pertain to the heart.

Having thought this for many years, I have just finished stamping the letter I have written to my Congressman asking to pass a law of Legislation that mandates that every male born, that upon their eleventh birthday shall be given Stevie Nicks' "The Wild Heart" album - for their listening pleasure of course! ;) All in the name of progress!

To that end, Stevie, I thank you on behalf of the entire male sex, to help us to better, but not completely, understand the female sex, through your music. Thank you, on behalf of all of your devoted fans who love you with all of their hearts in all of their WILDNESS! And Thank You most for the album that gave us "Beauty And The Beast".

Well...Let this day JUNE 10, 2003 set forth another TWENTY YEARS of fine listening to an enchanted album!

"The Wild Heart"
"If Anyone Falls"
"Gate And Garden"
"Enchanted"
"Nightbird"
"Stand Back"
"I Will Run To You"
"Nothing Ever Changes"
"Sable on Blonde"
"Beauty And The Beast"

HAPPY "20th" ANNIVERSARY!

Life, Love, and Magick~ for the Gypsies that remain...
Tommy (Moon Brother)

"How will we feel twenty years from now? How will we feel twenty years from now?" Stevie Nicks

[gldstwmn]

Thanks for the reminder. The Wild Heart is my favorite Stevie record. It was a big influence on me as well. I can hardly believe it's been 20 years.

[Bella Figura]

thanks!!! ;) nothing like being reminded that time marches on.

I had just finished my freshman year in college when Wild Heart was released and the Wild Heart tour was my first concert (my parents were strict on me in HS and I was not allowed to attend concerts)!!! I attended two concerts during that tour and it pretty much cemented my fan adoration for Stevie...

Tommy, you have totally cracked me up regarding sending your letter to your congressman, let us know if you get a response!!! I guess the 70's feminist movement made some progress, they can no longer say just woman act flaky :lol: just teasing!! :wavey:



quote:
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"How will we feel twenty years from now? How will we feel twenty years from now?" Stevie Nicks
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lol :laugh: you know this is from I CAN'T WAIT off Rock A Little???

[darklinensuit]

TWH is my favorite Stevie album.
In all honesty, Beauty & the Beast is the album's weakest track, IMO, though it has grown on me like any Stevie song. I would love the album even more if Garbo were in its place.
Nightbird, Nothing Ever Changes, Enchanted, If Anyone Falls, Wild Heart, and Sable on Blond are flawless.

- Jake

[GardenStateGirlie]

WOW. I wasn't even born yet! I came along on September 1st of 83'. I do love the album---Happy 20th Anniversary! :nod:

[Moon Brother]

Aaahhh Jake!

You're killin' me here! It took Stevie two years to write that masterpiece ("Beauty And The Beast"). The likes of which we shall never here again I guarentee you, with orchestrations like that from Stevie. It really did cement the mood for that album, the frosting on the cake, if you will. It created such an ambience.

I had always wished she had done a video for this song.

Actually, a budding director friend of mine is entertaining the idea of actually filming a video for this song, if only we could hurdle the pitfalls of expense for sets, we were thinking of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco as a start for location! And there are some great old cathedrals out here that would be pretty cool as the Beast's castle exterior. We had blocked out one of the first scenes for Belle when she steals away to the Beast's castle against her Fathers wishes, and when she arrives, she acts as though she had been there before, for she knows exactly where she is going inside the castle.
She finds the Beast at the dining table, and she sneaks up from behind him and puts her fingers over Beast's eyes so as to have him guess who it is! He had been waiting all along, of course! Very romantic!

Come on, Jake, tell me you're kiddin'!?! :distress:

I agree, though, "Garbo" is absolutely wonderful. Although it would've never fit in appropriately with the theme of the album. I'm actually shocked that it made b-side to any album other than "Street Angel" aside from the obvious "Greta". The song should have been included onto the soundtrack for "Fast Times At Ridgemont High", which then replaces "Sleeping Angel" as that song should have been put on a b-side, if not as an alusive 11th track to "The Wild Heart" ~ somewhere!

Yes, you're right, Bella figura, I guess the feminist movement had made its definite mark! :D
I am so jealous that you were lucky enough to have been able to attend not one, but two shows from Stevie's "Wild Heart" tour. Those were the days - Huh?!?
WOW! :)

I agree, totally, trackaghost ~ I don't know why we haven't heard more either. Could you imagine "Sable On Blond" live???
...Or "Nothing Ever Changes" with the Sax solo?!?

There's just HAS to be an anniversary for somethin' Stevie on SEPTEMBER 1, 2003 for GardenStateGirlie! Let's do our homework shall we?

Life, Love, and Magick~
Tommy

[belladonna.]

lol, i was only 5 when the wild heart came out!!! but i remember seeing stevie videos when i was really young~and i LOVE that whole album~it is INCREDIBLE...:D

[Moon Brother]

FIVE!!!

I believe that I am toying with the idea of DELETING this original post! On the grounds that I am beginning to feel very, very old! :eek:

Life, Love, and Magick~
Tommy :laugh:

[RavenOfRhiannon]

The year after I graduated from HS, the HS Theatre Troop I was in did 'Beauty and the Beast' (Stage Play, not the Disney Musical). I was still friends with the girl that was cast to play Beauty. So one day when she came to visit me, I 'just happened' to have The Wild Heart playing. When it got to Beauty and the Beast, she got all excited and asked me for a copy of the song. I got a ticket for opening night, and lo and behold, during the ending scene, Stevie's masterpiece was played as background music.

I cried like a baby...

Randy

[Johnny Stew]

Ahh, 'The Wild Heart'... my favorite Stevie album too. :)

I don't know where to begin in talking about it... it just means so much to me.
And it is a "wild" album... so much drama, passion, excitement, and glamour.

I've fallen in love to 'The Wild Heart,' and I've had my heart broken to it.

And "Beauty And The Beast"... God, how much this song means to me.
I've lived every word of it (I'm not telling if I was the beauty or the beast!).

A total masterpiece... this would be my "desert island" pick of Stevie's albums.

[gldstwmn]

I think what makes this record such a masterpiece is that Stevie's vocals are far less tentative than Bella Donna. She is more certain of herself and ready to rock. It's definitely her rock and roll record, more so than the synthy RAL (another favorite). Bella has more of a country flavor to it IMO with the obvious exceptions being Edge and Stop Draggin'. RAL would be considered more of a dance record today, I think. Sable On Blonde and Nothing Ever Changes would have rocked live. Anyone remember Stand Back and Nightbird on Solid Gold? That red dress she wore for Stand Back, with some kind of rhinestone belt thingy was incredible. And while everybody else lip synched on that show her vocal was live. No one else could even come close...Oh Stevie.:cool:

[darklinensuit]

Originally posted by gldstwmn
I think what makes this record such a masterpiece is that Stevie's vocals are far less tentative than Bella Donna. She is more certain of herself and ready to rock. It's definitely her rock and roll record, more so than the synthy RAL (another favorite). Bella has more of a country flavor to it IMO with the obvious exceptions being Edge and Stop Draggin'. RAL would be considered more of a dance record today, I think. Sable On Blonde and Nothing Ever Changes would have rocked live. Anyone remember Stand Back and Nightbird on Solid Gold? That red dress she wore for Stand Back, with some kind of rhinestone belt thingy was incredible. And while everybody else lip synched on that show her vocal was live. No one else could even come close...Oh Stevie.:cool:

In my opinion, Bella Donna is another masterpiece, and its chief difference from TWH is its neatness. The album is symmetrical, every song is packaged beautifully, and every song sounds comforting on first listen. The Wild Heart is a masterpiece of a different sort. It's wilder, more passionate, riskier. Songs like Gate and Garden and Nothing Ever Changes don't follow the same familiar (though also great) form as After the Glitter Fades and Think About It. I love the rawness of TWH, because when these songs are bound with outstanding lead and back-up vocals, and the piano rocks with the guitar, there is no comparison. There's something familiar about Bella Donna, and something fetching about TWH.

- Jake

[darklinensuit]

Originally posted by Moon Brother
Aaahhh Jake!

You're killin' me here! It took Stevie two years to write that masterpiece ("Beauty And The Beast"). The likes of which we shall never here again I guarentee you, with orchestrations like that from Stevie. It really did cement the mood for that album, the frosting on the cake, if you will. It created such an ambience.

I had always wished she had done a video for this song.

Actually, a budding director friend of mine is entertaining the idea of actually filming a video for this song, if only we could hurdle the pitfalls of expense for sets, we were thinking of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco as a start for location! And there are some great old cathedrals out here that would be pretty cool as the Beast's castle exterior. We had blocked out one of the first scenes for Belle when she steals away to the Beast's castle against her Fathers wishes, and when she arrives, she acts as though she had been there before, for she knows exactly where she is going inside the castle.
She finds the Beast at the dining table, and she sneaks up from behind him and puts her fingers over Beast's eyes so as to have him guess who it is! He had been waiting all along, of course! Very romantic!

Come on, Jake, tell me you're kiddin'!?! :distress:

I agree, though, "Garbo" is absolutely wonderful. Although it would've never fit in appropriately with the theme of the album.

Life, Love, and Magick~
Tommy

Actually, I think Garbo fits very much into the theme set by the songs Wild Heart and Sable on Blond, especially the latter.

I love the Red Rocks version of Beauty and the Beast, and I love Stevie's daring in recording a full orchestra song on a rock album. But the song is just a bit more...feminine?...dainty?...(I'm at a loss for the right word, apparently) than the rest of the album, so it took longer to grow on me.
Hey, as long as I'm ruffling your feathers anyway, I might as well repeat that it took some time for HAEWAFY to grow on me, too.
Same with Love Is.
I think The Highwayman is my favorite album closer, though I do like these others now, and TWH is my favorite of the albums.

Allow me to stir things up a little more.
My ranking of the songs on TWH, in order from best to "least best":

Nightbird
Wild Heart
Nothing Ever Changes
Sable on Blonde
If Anyone Falls
Stand Back
Enchanted
Gate and Garden
Beauty and the Beast
I Will Run to You (Happy? B & the B isn't last now.)

- Jake

[Moon Brother]

Well...O.K. now we're talkin'! :nod:

Although, I must add that there is nothing "dainty" what-so-ever about "Beauty And The Beast", as is evident in the ending vocals. The Cello and Violins are practically ripping your heart out, and then what's left over for remains is stopped on by the piano at the end. (sorry to be so graphic!)(you get the point?)

And, if that doesn't do it to you, then there Stevie's vocal on the lyric "...I've changed..." I can tell you that Stevie was not feeling "dainty" when she sang that line. We would have turned to stone if we were in that room the night she recorded that song!

Though, probably what is turning you off is the story of "La Belle A La Bete" itself. It's typically a girl's story, though, in the end, one could say that it is a man's story most of all. The Man (Prince) wins the girl's unconditional love even when he was at his very worst! She accepts him. Places him above all others, and saw what no one else could see in him, and kept the faith that things would be o.k. and everything could work out somehow. Another age-old story of hope. A very Yin thing...so to speak!

"Garbo" has noooo business on the "The Wild Heart". It would never work. It's a reflective song and should have been saved for a reflective album. "Street Angel" was just that album. I feel in my heart that Stevie wishes she had saved that song for "Street Angel". As it was a strange coincidence that Stevie wrote yet another song about the enigmatic actress.

I feel you, completely, with regards to "Nightbird". People will be discussing this song hundreds of years from now ( It will probably be US reincarnated in another life!)( I'm going to add that scary idea to a new thread called LEDGIE TWILIGHT ZONE!)

Did you know that the story of the "The Highwayman" is also linked to one of the many documented mythical legends of Rhiannon! Specifically the story called "Pwyll Encounters Rhiannon" from part two of the first branch of the Mabinogi ~ A branch of the Mabinogion "Pwyll Lord Of The Dyved"

Stevie ensured that the story would continue...
...you probably already knew that!


Life, Love, and Magick~
Tommy :wavey:

[darklinensuit]

Originally posted by Moon Brother
Well...O.K. now we're talkin'! :nod:

Although, I must add that there is nothing "dainty" what-so-ever about "Beauty And The Beast", as is evident in the ending vocals. The Cello and Violins are practically ripping your heart out, and then what's left over for remains is stopped on by the piano at the end. (sorry to be so graphic!)(you get the point?)

And, if that doesn't do it to you, then there Stevie's vocal on the lyric "...I've changed..." I can tell you that Stevie was not feeling "dainty" when she sang that line. We would have turned to stone if we were in that room the night she recorded that song!

Though, probably what is turning you off is the story of "La Belle A La Bete" itself. It's typically a girl's story, though, in the end, one could say that it is a man's story most of all. The Man (Prince) wins the girl's unconditional love even when he was at his very worst! She accepts him. Places him above all others, and saw what no one else could see in him, and kept the faith that things would be o.k. and everything could work out somehow. Another age-old story of hope. A very Yin thing...so to speak!

"Garbo" has noooo business on the "The Wild Heart". It would never work. It's a reflective song and should have been saved for a reflective album. "Street Angel" was just that album. I feel in my heart that Stevie wishes she had saved that song for "Street Angel". As it was a strange coincidence that Stevie wrote yet another song about the enigmatic actress.

I feel you, completely, with regards to "Nightbird". People will be discussing this song hundreds of years from now ( It will probably be US reincarnated in another life!)( I'm going to add that scary idea to a new thread called LEDGIE TWILIGHT ZONE!)

Did you know that the story of the "The Highwayman" is also linked to one of the many documented mythical legends of Rhiannon! Specifically the story called "Pwyll Encounters Rhiannon" from part two of the first branch of the Mabinogi ~ A branch of the Mabinogion "Pwyll Lord Of The Dyved"

Stevie ensured that the story would continue...
...you probably already knew that!


Life, Love, and Magick~
Tommy :wavey:

Well, like I said, I was searching for the right word in dainty, and then gave up.
The story of Beauty isn't the turn-off. It's the sappiness of the string instruments, especially near the start.

I still disagree about Garbo. The piano sound would NOT fit on Street Angel, and I shudder to think she would have switched it to a keyboard sound (as in Jane). Its home is on TWH. Sable on Blonde is plenty reflective, as are WH & Gate and Garden.The themes of escape and survival are prevalent on TWH. Combined with the sound of the song, Garbo fits nicely. I guess the world-weariness of the lyrics match the song Bella Donna, as well.

I'm not aware of the Mabinogi reference in The Highwayman, but I keep a copy of the stories at work & I suppose it fits. Though if I recall, Pwyll is something of a buffoon, so the far ahead of her line seems misplaced.

Just to rub salt on the wounds I've made in this thread:) , allow me to add that while I admire the vocal on B & the B, the vocal on Garbo is superior.
Now to duck out.

- Jake

[belladonna.]

Originally posted by Moon Brother
FIVE!!!

I believe that I am toying with the idea of DELETING this original post! On the grounds that I am beginning to feel very, very old! :eek:

Life, Love, and Magick~
Tommy :laugh:

oops. sorry...but i was almost 6 if that makes you feel better. :laugh: i wish i woulda been older, & grown up my whole life listening to stevie...i was born in the wrong time, man. :laugh:

[strandinthewind]

I also love the Wild Heart album (and I mean album as there were no Cd's then :] ). I must also say that the Sat. Night Live and Solid Gold (if you do not know what it is, I'm getting a face lift :] ) performances of Nightbird (just about my fav. ) are incredible. Also, I really love Gate and Garden and the song "Wild Heart;" I have about 50 meanings for each as they are epic in my book.

Thank you Stevie for bringing this other sheer delight to my life!!!!!

[cliffdweller]

Originally posted by trackaghost
I know this is simply a dream, but wouldn't it be great if Stevie decided to perform The Wild Heart in its entirety (kinda like The Who with Quadrophenia or something), ending with Beauty And The Beast backed by an orchestra?
Well I can dream can't I? :)


~Sharon~

I second it! :nod:

[gypsygem81]

Originally posted by belladonna.
oops. sorry...but i was almost 6 if that makes you feel better. :laugh: i wish i woulda been older, & grown up my whole life listening to stevie...i was born in the wrong time, man. :laugh:

Well I was two!! Though I agree with you belladonna - I wish I had been brought up in that era as well. And I didn't discover Stevie and FM til about 5 years ago - we've had a lot of catching up to do!

Love Gem