Release Party Interpretation - BOMBAY SAPPHIRE [Archive]

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Stewy

05-07-2001, 11:38 PM

I know many of you are just now getting your TISL CD's, so let's keep ALL the Release Party Interpretations going until at least the 1st week of June!!!!

Here's another great one off of TISL - HAVE FUN!!!!

Stewy

Bombay Sapphire

Words and Music by Stevie Nicks.

You--beloved
Were to me--everything
That love stood for
To love one another for awhile
Was enough--
It was all that I lived for
How can I go on without you
How can I go on--without you
I tell myself--this time
I'm going to have to--
Move on

Chorus:
It's like
Bombay sapphire
Hey I can take you higher
Whatever you desire
I can mend your heart

It is green
It is aqua marine
It is colors I have never seen
I can see past you--to the white sand...
It is blue
It is not about you
It is all true
You know--who I am

And she says, the sea never changes--not really
It is the constant in my life
I always return here
To the flash of those colors
Through every window
The wind through the night
Here I am dramatic
Here I am not waiting
For the call of the wind

Chorus

It's like purple haze
It's there every day
Its passion never fades
You know what I mean

Stewy

05-17-2001, 10:05 AM

I know it - I can feel it in my bones that she's talking about Mick here....and I'll tell you why.

You--beloved
Were to me--everything
That love stood for
To love one another for awhile
Was enough--
It was all that I lived for
How can I go on without you
How can I go on--without you
I tell myself--this time
I'm going to have to--
Move on

She's had the realization that this relationship just can't go on anymore, though he's truly the love of her life and they have only been together for a little while.

I love the 2 indentical sentences that aren't indentical at all...it's so Stevie!
How can I go on without you
How can I go on--without you

What she's saying is "how will I be able to live without you with me " and " how can I go on with my life? The only way is to do it without you. Very cool play on words here. It's that old catch-22 you can't stand NOT being with them, but in order to live your life you have to NOT be with them. The only person that this could apply to is Mick. She loved his so much but she had to get out of it to save her relationship with the band. It was the only way that the Mac could still exist.

It's like
Bombay sapphire
Hey I can take you higher
Whatever you desire
I can mend your heart

Here I'm not sure whether she is talking about the ocean here or about her love for this person. She always says that the ocean is her constant, her home, and that's what makes her happiest, but I wonder...

Is it that she's saying that her love for him is like that...brilliant and intense and heart-mending? Or is she looking at this from the point of view of a highly personified ocean. It's telling here that it can held her - it can mend her heart??

It is green
It is aqua marine
It is colors I have never seen
I can see past you--to the white sand...
It is blue
It is not about you
It is all true
You know--who I am

Here she's talking about the ocean and him intermittently. The colors of the ocean amaze her. Just a hunch here, but I think she is talking about Hawaii here...and I'll get to that more later. She's looking at him there on the beach and seeing past him to the ocean...seeing the colors which amaze her, but at the same time she's sad and she trying to explain to him why it has to end. In this case the ocean (and Stevie) are blue in both color and emotion. She's telling him that it's not becuase of him and he should know that because he knows her too well.

I think this is in hawaii because she mentions white sand and blue/aquamarine water. Also, it seems that Mick and Stevie have both said at some point that they both went to Hawaii for one 'last time together' before they went back to FM as seperate people and not a couple. They are there on the beach contemplating why all of this has happened and who they are hurting and why it has to end.

And she says, the sea never changes--not really
It is the constant in my life
I always return here
To the flash of those colors
Through every window
The wind through the night
Here I am dramatic
Here I am not waiting
For the call of the wind

She's once again saying that the sea is what guides here and keeps her together. She has to come back to the sea for her to be happy. She's content looking at nd being near the ocean...though it may hold bad memories for her.

It's like purple haze
It's there every day
Its passion never fades
You know what I mean

Here's another mention of the colors of the ocean, but here I believe she is comparing that to her feelings for Mick. like the ocean's colors, her passion for him is constant and never fading, even though they may never be able to be together.

I really think this song is one fo the best on the album and it's music really adds to the sad and hopeless feel..

Stewy

Mike B

05-17-2001, 10:46 AM

Okay, I had fun with Sorcerer, so I'm gonna try Bombay Sapphire.

I'm going to run down my general impressions, then, later, I'm going to try to track down some quotes that I know I've read, but I just can't find right now...:D

You--beloved
Were to me--everything
That love stood for 

Stevie had a lover who she was consumed by...he was everything to her.

One note: I'm not going to attempt to figure out specifically who this song is about. I'm guessing Lindsey, but it could be any of Stevie's lovers. (The only reason I'm leaning towards Lindsey is because she said she wrote the bulk of the TISL songs, including this one, while on tour for The Dance in 1997.) In the end, it doesn't really matter who the "beloved" is...because this song is not about them, it's about Stevie and one of her strongholds.

To love one another for awhile
Was enough--
It was all that I lived for 

Stevie and her lover had some time together, but not much. Still, the little bit of time they had together was enough. Again, it was all consuming.

How can I go on without you
Can I go on--without you 

Their affair is over. At first, she simply wonders how she will be able to continue her life without him. Then, very subtley, by dropping the "HOW", she says "Wait a minute...i'm assuming I can continue on in my life without him. What if I can't? This man was everything. Can I even continue living?"

I tell myself--this time
I'm going to have to--
Move on 

Stevie has been burned by love before. She's let it get her down, but this time, she's going to have to be stronger. She's going to have to make it out...but how??

The rest of the song, especially the chorus, picks up the true them of the song. Stevie has mentioned in several interviews how she loves the sea. She, like many people, feels drawn to it. In the May 2, 2001 In News Weekly, Stevie says:

"I got the idea many, many, years ago when we were talking about jewelry and stones, about tile and rubies, Bombay sapphires.It's like a blue - gray kind of star sapphire thing, it's the color of the ocean, and that's what I wrote it about."

So, we get the chorus:

It's like
Bombay sapphires
Hey I can take you higher
Whatever you desire
I can mend your heart 

The color of the sea itself is like the sapphires...Stevie is in pain, so she heads to the sea, which can lift her spirits. No matter what has happened, no matter what you need, the sea can fix whatever is wrong. The sea is singing to her that everything will be alright.

The sea is a magical place. If your are alone on the beach, looking out to the vastness, sometimes you can put things in perspective. Stevie has obviously done this often.

It is green
It is aqua marine
It is colors I have never seen 

The water on the ocean, depending on the tides, the sunlight or moonlight, is constantly in motion and rippling with shades of color. She stands before it and watches, reflecting.

I can see past you--to the white sand... 

The sea allows her to get over her lover. She can see the pure white sand, next to the sea, and knows that she will go on without him.

It is blue
It is not about you 

The sea has nothing to do with him...that is why it is helpful to her. Stevie's lover had made her forget everything else. She needed to stand before the ocean and realize that life is bigger than just this one person.

It is all true
You know--who I am 

The sea does not lie. She is very clear headed and comes to her senses here at the sea. The sea knows her like no one else. (Maybe...I'm having a little trouble with the pronoun "You" in the last part...Okay, alternate theory on the last line - the man knows how she feels about the sea, knows that she must go to it.)

The sea never changes--not really
It is the constant in my life
I always return here
To the flash of those colors 

No matter what, she can count on the sea to be there. Sure, the tides may rise a little higher, the sand might erode away a bit, but it is the one thing that she can always count on to be there for her. When things are bad, she goes there and watches the colors.

Through every window
The wind through the night 

Her house on the beach is her stronghold. She lets the sea breeze blow through at night.

Here I am dramatic
Here I am not waiting
Here I am not listening
For the call of the wind

This is where things can seem monumental to her. She can get realizations that she can't find elsewhere. Maybe here, at the sea, she really gets a feel for what is important in her life. Everywhere else, she waits...she listens...but she can't hear that sea wind blowing, telling her that everything is okay.

It's like purple haze
It's there every day
Its passion never fades
You know what I mean.

Again, more colors flashing. And again, the sea will always be there for her. Unlike another person, the ocean will always make her feel passionate and will always be powerful to her. And unlike another person, the sea will always understand her.

Well, that's my stab at it. I'll try to dig up some more Stevie quotes about the sea. I know I've read somewhere that she specifically called the desert and the ocean her strongholds.
I really love this song and I'd be interested to hear what others say about it.

Mike B

Mike B

05-17-2001, 10:55 AM

As I was typing up mine, you posted yours! :) We must all feel creative today!

I really like your interp. Yes, it must be Mick. Especially after the line about "Love one another for awhile". They had a very short term relationship.

And the idea of Hawaii didn't occur to me, but that really makes sense too.

I also like your idea that she is comparing the seas colors to her feelings about him. Groovy.

I'll tell you, the hardest thing about this for me was the switching of the pronouns back and forth. I think you hit it on the head...she's talking to the sea, and Mick, back and forth, holding a conversation with both. But in the end, it's the sea that she takes comfort in.

Again, I enjoyed your interpretion very much, Stewy! I really love this song.

Mike B

BBALLGYPSY17

05-23-2001, 08:24 AM

Hey All:wavey:
I like this song.When my first listened to it my first reaction was "well it has to be a Lindsey song right?" Of course that happens with many:rolleyes: I thought about this by how she used the "BLUE" and "GREEN" and "FLASHING" images which she used in "Silver Springs" BUT that whole "Hawaii thing" didn't even occur to me till I read this:eek: It's just impossible to pinpoint who the song is about,I guess we won't know till the autobio:nod::laugh: very pretty song though....as always:D

LOL
~alex~*