"Touched By An Angel" appreciation thread [Archive]

lagringader&r

05-24-2005, 04:11 AM

I just listened to "Touched By An Angel" for the very first time about half an hour ago. The song moved me to tears, and I'm still feeling emotionally heavy.

I have not inspected the lyrics to this song; I only know they seemed to work wonders upon the first listen.

I thought of my Uncle Jim, who passed away from complications due to AIDS when I was eight...how my branch of the family supported him when others who shared his blood did not...

This song has so much beauty within it.

Yes it does! It's a very heavy song with a lot of meaning and if you listen to it very closely and inspect those lyrics, I think almost everyone can relate to it. It makes me cry and I always feel something new each time I listen to it. :xoxo: Thanks for posting this! :thumbsup:

amber

05-24-2005, 04:29 AM

I just listened to "Touched By An Angel" for the very first time about half an hour ago. The song moved me to tears, and I'm still feeling emotionally heavy.

I have not inspected the lyrics to this song; I only know they seemed to work wonders upon the first listen.

I thought of my Uncle Jim, who passed away from complications due to AIDS when I was eight...how my branch of the family supported him when others who shared his blood did not...

This song has so much beauty within it.
You don't have to ask me twice, I fricking love this song. :nod:
Those are beautiful words about your uncle. I'm glad you brought it up. I think anyone would love it...well, at least it does work wonders upon first listen. :nod: I had a non Mac friend who absolutely loved it. It's haunting. It's very visceral, sort of a form of pure emotion (IMO).

desertangel

05-24-2005, 04:39 AM

Oh yes. I remember when this song and the album it was on first came out. I drove to Borders on my morning break to get it... played it on repeat the whole way back to work. It was the first brand new thing we'd gotten from Stevie in awhile.

An aside: Later that week I had my mother in the car and had her listen to it... you have to know my mother, she could ruin a wet dream in half a second... anyway, she said "what's wrong with her nose, she sounds really nasally." - urrrggg, sometimes I wanna throttle her -

Anyhow, ya.. my first listen of this song brought misty tears to my eyes. It sounded very much like a lullaby to me with those tinkling bells in the background. Love it!!! Put TBAA on the stereo, a cup of chamomille, some lavendar bath bubbles in a nice warm bath and some nag champa candles. Afterwards, a pint of Ben and Jerry's Choc Chip Cookie Dough. That's my recipe for any serious emotional upheaval.

Laura

DrummerDeanna

05-24-2005, 10:04 AM

One of my favorite Stevie songs EVER!!! I? LOVE it...

The first time I heard it was heavy and emotional too - but it was near the end of a really intense relationship and I knew the end was near but also didn't - you know? And i Just remember holding this person while listening to the song.....*sigh*

Much love for TBAA.

---

on a side note I saw the thread title and I thought, "Touched by an Angel? Shouldn' this be in Chit Chat?" I thought you were talking about the TV show :p :laugh:

dissention

05-24-2005, 10:31 AM

It's one of my favorites. I listened to it a lot when I was taking care of my friend who died of AIDS and it helped me enormously. I don't listen to it so much anymore because it's too sad for me to hear it, but it's one of her best.

strandinthewind

05-24-2005, 10:35 AM

dissention

05-24-2005, 10:43 AM

I think this song shows how she can write like nonody else. Some think this song is all about the FM reunion in 97. I do not. I think it is 100% about her friend who died of AIDS. It is one of the most moving things she has ever written and the lullaby aspect of the music makes it even sweeter and jarring. Finally, this song was not written to be a hit and is a tiny bit in a style alternate from her usual, which I also love.

I agree, I don't think it has anything to do with Fleetwood Mac. It's easy to push aside the fact that it's about AIDS by looking at the lyrics of a reunion, but I think that sells Stevie short. There was one time when I was sitting by my friend in his bedroom and I put the song on for him to hear and it's still the closest I've ever felt to another human being in my life. Just looking at him in bed while I listened to that song was a surreal experience and even if I make off-color or critical remarks about Stevie sometimes, I'll always be grateful for that one moment in my life. Thinking about it still agonizes me today and I find it difficult to listen to the song. I don't even know where the CD is, actually. I suppose this proves I'm not so hardened after all. :laugh:

strandinthewind

05-24-2005, 10:49 AM

I agree, I don't think it has anything to do with Fleetwood Mac. It's easy to push aside the fact that it's about AIDS by looking at the lyrics of a reunion, but I think that sells Stevie short. There was one time when I was sitting by my friend in his bedroom and I put the song on for him to hear and it's still the closest I've ever felt to another human being in my life. Just looking at him in bed while I listened to that song was a surreal experience and even if I make off-color or critical remarks about Stevie sometimes, I'll always be grateful for that one moment in my life. Thinking about it still agonizes me today and I find it difficult to listen to the song. I don't even know where the CD is, actually. I suppose this proves I'm not so hardened after all. :laugh:

Well, now that I am weepy :) - Seriously, I have said this many times before, but I think she walked into a hospital room to see her friend she may have been estranged from for years and they may even have been angry with each other. She was apprehensive to see his condition. Then, once those few moments passed, everything was the same in their relationship but everything was different because he was dying. In that healing process the floor was wet and slippery with the tracks of their tears. Then, I think either soon after or maybe even at home later, she fantasized that like she thinks she takes people away and makes them better when she performs, she wishes that spirit (Rhiannon perhaps - she sent this to the troops in 91 :shrug: ) to her friend to help him pass and to make him comfortable.

I cannot thank her enough for this song and I just refuse to believe that something so deep could be merely about a FM reunion, as deep as that may be.

catinthedark

05-24-2005, 10:51 AM

I think this song shows how she can write like nonody else. Some think this song is all about the FM reunion in 97. I do not. I think it is 100% about her friend who died of AIDS. It is one of the most moving things she has ever written and the lullaby aspect of the music makes it even sweeter and jarring. Finally, this song was not written to be a hit and is a tiny bit in a style alternate from her usual, which I also love.

I so completely agree. First off, I love this song. Love. It. But I think this song is a perfect, perfect example of when Stevie says her songs mean different things to different people. I think it's also sort of an example of when she says a specific song is about one thing, and then a few years later, she says it's about something else. I think TBAA was absolutely inspired by people living and dying from AIDS - the whole angel coming to take you away, and watching from the side of the stage (watching from outside your life). Definitely. But I'm one who also sees in this the whole Dance reunion thing. I think both arguments, both sides, are equally strong, and neither is wrong. I think Stevie would love to know her fans get so much out of this song, but also get different things from it.

dissention

05-24-2005, 11:12 AM

Well, now that I am weepy :) - Seriously, I have said this many times before, but I think she walked into a hospital room to see her friend she may have been estranged from for years and they may even have been angry with each other. She was apprehensive to see his condition. Then, once those few moments passed, everything was the same in their relationship but everything was different because he was dying. In that healing process the floor was wet and slippery with the tracks of their tears. Then, I think either soon after or maybe even at home later, she fantasized that like she thinks she takes people away and makes them better when she performs, she wishes that spirit (Rhiannon perhaps - she sent this to the troops in 91 :shrug: ) to her friend to help him pass and to make him comfortable.

I cannot thank her enough for this song and I just refuse to believe that something so deep could be merely about a FM reunion, as deep as that may be.

I agree somewhat. I always thought that the most powerful part of the song is the way she describes a reunion of sorts between estranged friends and family because of their loved one dying. I interpreted parts of the the song to mean that everyone has reunited to see their loved one before he or she passes and as they look around at each other and see the person dying, they see the faces of each other and realize how much time they've wasted by being estranged for so long and they're filled with regret knowing that there's not much time left. Now that everyone is together for the "first time in years," the one who's suffering can finally pass away in peace and the "angel" comes to take him or her away while they're surrounded by the ones that they love; they don't have to die alone, they can pass while being surrounded by the warmth and love that they were deprived of for so long. It's heartbreaking.

strandinthewind

05-24-2005, 11:14 AM

I agree somewhat. I always thought that the most powerful part of the song is the way she describes a reunion of sorts between estranged friends and family because of their loved one dying. I interpreted parts of the the song to mean that everyone has reunited to see their loved one before he or she passes and as they look around at each other and see the person dying, they see the faces of each other and realize how much time they've wasted by being estranged for so long and they're filled with regret knowing that there's not much time left. Now that everyone is together for the "first time in years," the one who's suffering can finally pass away in peace and the "angel" comes to take him or her away while they're surrounded by the ones that they love; they don't have to die alone, they can pass while being surrounded by the warmth and love that they were deprived of for so long. It's heartbreaking.

I agree - guess I just never thought of the him dying while she was there. But, he may have. I also go the feeling that she went more than one day. But, that is spec. on my part :cool:

Mad4stevie

05-24-2005, 11:47 AM

I love this song too!

Which friend did Stevie write this about? Do we know?

This was a song that I played for my mom when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She loved it. The song makes me think of her and her recovery. :nod:

But in my heart, I leave
Great expectations
That you will find the answers
To your questions
And that life will once more
Be a celebration . . .

ontheEdgeof17

05-24-2005, 12:15 PM

Mad <333333.

I always forget about this song. It is one of my top ten favorites, but I never pull it out because it's on a soundtrack. It needs to be brought to the light. Like on a tour perhaps? :laugh:

CreepingDeath

05-24-2005, 12:38 PM

One of my favorite Stevie songs EVER!!! I? LOVE it...

:nod:

It's steller.

Tango

05-24-2005, 12:51 PM

I agree, this is one of my most favorite Stevie songs. Like others, I think it's a shame that it's only outlet is an obscure movie sound track. Hopefully it will be placed on a new "greatest" Stevie album in the future. :angel:

xxxmx

05-24-2005, 06:57 PM

'no one said a word and that simply said it all'

how fabulous! this song is pretty consistently in the playlist.

i hear all of the things that everyone is sharing, and of course i have my own. i have a dear old friend that hadn't really been a part of my life for a few years. i have battled drug addiction/abuse and had to distance myself from several people that i knew in order to get my shit together. though i was able to get myself straight (almost six years), i know so many who haven't. i get a phone call from this dear friend who i hadn't spoken to in well over four years, he was reaching out. everyone else in his life was still running at full clip towards disaster, he knew that i had gotten through it and he needed help. he knew that i was in town (i rarely visit the town i was raised in) and wanted to see me. and he was crashing as we spoke. that was hard. but i say yes, i'll come see you and i'll make sure that you're alright. we talked and cried and looked at what was going on, he decided that he was going to treatment. i dropped him off at his mom's house in the morning (a bit uncomfortable - hello mrs. soandso, remember me, you know, the one who never looked you in the eye). that was it for us. as far as i know, he's never completed a full stint in rehab. some people cannot be saved. but this song, this song tells the story that some can.

Kelly

05-24-2005, 07:05 PM

Serrart

05-24-2005, 07:19 PM

I love it. It's a beautiful song with powerful lyrics, and it made me watch all Sweet November only to see where it was. It was tough, but I made it. :D

Romy

Moony

05-24-2005, 07:38 PM

I agree with you, Justin. The song is incedibly moving and powerful. Just a few weeks ago, a close friend of the family passed away - it turns out she was a HUGE Stevie fan (I never knew! :distress: ). After the funeral I put on Goodbye Baby, and then Touched by an Angel as a sort of goodbye for her...needless to say it was an emotional experience. Whenever I hear that song, I'll always think of that moment. I'm not sure if it's going to be easy to listen to it anymore though.

The song is one of Stevie's absolute best, in my opinon.

strandinthewind

05-24-2005, 08:19 PM

I agree it is about the guy with Aids but if you listen to those tapes his friend made, Stevie CLEARLY said she wrote a long poem a few days before and realized it fit into his situation perfectly so she was going to try to add music to it. I assume she could have added words etc but apparently according to her own words, she wrote this poem before she even talked to the guy for the first time. (on the phone) It is a beautiful song and doesn't really matter either way. The gesture was amazing.
BTW..was this guy her friend? Cause they don't sound like friends when they are on the phone...she invites him to the shows in 96 but didn't she hear of him through Liza Jane Edwards?

I think that is what she was talking about when she says (my comments in bold):

And when she walked in the room
After so many years, (they were estranged for years)
He looked up and saw her (he struggled to look up - I have seen that struggle)
He was standing at the crossroads (he was dying)
She was moving in slow motion (she was in disbelief)
Everything was the same,
Except that everything was different (their friendship came back in that moment and was the same - but it was different because he was dying and it took that to mend the fence)

Interestingly, I totally get how the stanza I quoted could just as easily be applied to LB and The Dance or Twisted. Had it not been for her comment on the nicksfix (kudos) - I may have never gotten the medical angle.

Rickypt

05-24-2005, 10:13 PM

strandinthewind

05-25-2005, 01:40 AM

I read that "I Miss You" is about a friend who died from AIDS as well. Anyone know? TISL came out the year my partner died and I've never been able to listen to that song, just too sad.

I have never heard "Touched By An Angel" for some reason.

I am so sorry for your loss. Hopefully, time has made it easier on you :xoxo:

desertangel

05-25-2005, 02:29 AM

Interesting about the AIDs angle. I haven't heard that one before. I could swear right around the time the song came out there was something somewhere from her that said it was written around the time of The Dance and the words having to do with "the pain was apparent" had to do with some old scars still needing to be healed within the band. Hmmm... does anyone remember this? Am I thinking of some other song or perhaps dreaming again? :D

Laura

skcin

05-25-2005, 09:29 AM

I read that "I Miss You" is about a friend who died from AIDS as well. Anyone know? TISL came out the year my partner died and I've never been able to listen to that song, just too sad.

I have never heard "Touched By An Angel" for some reason.

I'm so sorry for your loss. :distress:

Touched By an Angel is on the Sweet November soundtrack. It is wonderful. You must find it! :nod:

Rickypt

05-25-2005, 01:44 PM

Thank you strandinthewind and skcin. Time is indeed a good healer. I'll have to find that soundtrack and give TBAA a listen. :wavey:

SapphireSister

05-25-2005, 02:34 PM

Thank you strandinthewind and skcin. Time is indeed a good healer. I'll have to find that soundtrack and give TBAA a listen. :wavey:

I will email it to you tonight. What is your email address?

Nixxxed

05-25-2005, 03:06 PM

It's so interesting how everyone associates this song with the death of a loved one.

My best friend's grandfather died a few years ago. When he became really sick and knew the end was upon him, he asked my best friend (a graphic artist) to create his memorial service program (or whatever it's called). My friend called me, insisting that he wanted to use Stevie lyrics in some form, and I suggested TBAA. The song had only recently been released, and he hadn't even heard it, but he read the lyrics from The NicksFix, loved them, and used them to honor his grandfather.

I finally got to play the song for him a few weeks later. We have this game where we spring much-anticipated music on each other without warning, just a "Listen to this!" and then push Play... Oh, the tears.

Anyway -- at the funeral, people couldn't stop talking about how nice the "program" was, and how much they liked the poem (TBAA) he had included in it.

Rickypt

05-25-2005, 03:38 PM

I will email it to you tonight. What is your email address?

That is very thoughtful of you! My email address is RickyPT36@hotmail.com

Thanks again! :wavey:

SapphireSister

05-25-2005, 03:43 PM

That is very thoughtful of you! My email address is RickyPT36@hotmail.com...thanks! :wavey:

Sure, no problem. It's my pleasure and I'm deeply sorry for your loss ((hugs)). Hopefully your hotmail account will allow me to send it (if it's big enough for an mp3 file). I will definitely try!

SuzeQuze

05-25-2005, 03:58 PM

I agree, I don't think it has anything to do with Fleetwood Mac. It's easy to push aside the fact that it's about AIDS by looking at the lyrics of a reunion, but I think that sells Stevie short. There was one time when I was sitting by my friend in his bedroom and I put the song on for him to hear and it's still the closest I've ever felt to another human being in my life. Just looking at him in bed while I listened to that song was a surreal experience and even if I make off-color or critical remarks about Stevie sometimes, I'll always be grateful for that one moment in my life. Thinking about it still agonizes me today and I find it difficult to listen to the song. I don't even know where the CD is, actually. I suppose this proves I'm not so hardened after all. :laugh:

Diss, I'm sorry your friend died from that terrible disease and that you had to witness it. :( Like Jason, this seriously has made me weepy. I can't blame you for not being able to listen to that song.

In the opposite way Stevie's music has made me feel more connected to people than I've ever felt. When I meet fellow fans that get it it's an amazing feeling for me. This is part of what made Vegas so special.

Anyway, I always knew you were a big softie and your sometimes harsh exterior is merely a cover up. :xoxo:

dissention

05-25-2005, 04:02 PM

Diss, I'm sorry your friend died from that terrible disease and that you had to witness it. :( Like Jason, this seriously has made me weepy. I can't blame you for not being able to listen to that song.

In the opposite way Stevie's music has made me feel more connected to people than I've ever felt. When I meet fellow fans that get it it's an amazing feeling for me. This is part of what made Vegas so special.

Anyway, I always knew you were a big softie and your sometimes harsh exterior is merely a cover up. :xoxo:

Thanks, I appreciate it. :xoxo:

GypsySorcerer

05-25-2005, 04:25 PM

GypsySorcerer

05-25-2005, 04:30 PM

I just listened to "Touched By An Angel" for the very first time about half an hour ago. The song moved me to tears, and I'm still feeling emotionally heavy.

I have not inspected the lyrics to this song; I only know they seemed to work wonders upon the first listen.

I thought of my Uncle Jim, who passed away from complications due to AIDS when I was eight...how my branch of the family supported him when others who shared his blood did not...

This song has so much beauty within it.

I agree -- it is one of her very best.

I'm sorry about your uncle, Justin. I am glad he had your family to support him.

And my sympathies to Josh on the loss of his friend.

Rickypt

05-25-2005, 04:39 PM

Sure, no problem. It's my pleasure and I'm deeply sorry for your loss ((hugs)). Hopefully your hotmail account will allow me to send it (if it's big enough for an mp3 file). I will definitely try!

If it is too big, then please PM me and I'll send a different email address. My hotmail one is the only one I'm willing to put on the board. Thanks again!

SapphireSister

05-25-2005, 07:16 PM

I'm so thrilled that this song has touched so many people :) I love that Stevie can do this for us. That's so beautiful and one of the many things that make her stand out as an artist - the way she is able to touch people through her music. I really love the lyrics to TBAA although musicially this is not a favorite of mine. Along these lines I much prefer If You Ever Did Believe and Stevie's version of Crystal.