PDA

View Full Version : Stevie and Rehab Writing

jannieC
08-01-2006, 10:10 AM
I know that Welcome to the Room...Sara is based on Stevie's experience in rehab. I think it's interesting that a lot more songs weren't written about that experience. It's such a powerful and life changing thing. My husband wrote volumes while he was in rehab for 6 months. I wonder how much is out there that we won't ever see.
JazmenFlowers
08-01-2006, 11:35 AM
I know that Welcome to the Room...Sara is based on Stevie's experience in rehab. I think it's interesting that a lot more songs weren't written about that experience. It's such a powerful and life changing thing. My husband wrote volumes while he was in rehab for 6 months. I wonder how much is out there that we won't ever see.
very interesting. I'm sure there are. I think she has slipped bits and pieces in songs that have been released. I have my own guesses. :p
gldstwmn
08-01-2006, 12:07 PM
I always wondered about Escape From Berlin being a rehab song.
Livia
08-01-2006, 12:10 PM
I've always thought Affairs of the Heart had a rehab reference...

One set of doors was the color of honey
One set of doors was pink and gray
Well, I wonder which set is mine, said she
As she walked down the long hallway
Well, I wonder which set of rooms are mine
For in these rooms she would live and die
BlackWidow
08-01-2006, 12:11 PM
Well there's:
Welcome To The Room...Sara
Fire Burning
Escape From Berlin
Long Way To Go
Gold Dust Woman
Trouble In Shangri - La
Ghosts
Alice
They all deal with being in the grip of addiction..the repercusions..and the aftermath on some level.
BlackWidow
08-01-2006, 12:12 PM
I always wondered about Escape From Berlin being a rehab song.
Disaster was the only thing I could depend on..come on..:nod:
BlackWidow
08-01-2006, 12:13 PM
I've always thought Affairs of the Heart had a rehab reference...

One set of doors was the color of honey
One set of doors was pink and gray
Well, I wonder which set is mine, said she
As she walked down the long hallway
Well, I wonder which set of rooms are mine
For in these rooms she would live and die
I thought so too...
Livia
08-01-2006, 12:15 PM
^^^ And the end of her relationship with Jimmy Iovine.
David
08-01-2006, 01:05 PM
Some of Stevie's songs that seem outwardly to be about crop circles are, I feel, actually about rehab.
strandinthewind
08-01-2006, 01:30 PM
Some of Stevie's songs that seem outwardly to be about crop circles are, I feel, actually about rehab.

Well, her hair certainly looked like one then :cool:
SapphireSister
08-01-2006, 02:10 PM
I know that Welcome to the Room...Sara is based on Stevie's experience in rehab. I think it's interesting that a lot more songs weren't written about that experience. It's such a powerful and life changing thing. My husband wrote volumes while he was in rehab for 6 months. I wonder how much is out there that we won't ever see.

A couple of points - First of all, for all we know Stevie could have written volumes and volumes in her journal about her rehab experience but chose not to make them into songs and share them with the public. It took her a while to talk about the experience and I don't think it's something she's exactly proud of. Nowadays Stevie is very open about her experience but back in the day (and I'm thinking of a 1989 press conference in particular) she did not want to discuss the experience at all when questioned about it.

I agree with you that rehab can be a powerful and life changing event but it's not necessarily something she wants to share with the world. Stevie always says she wants us to be able to make her songs personal to us and writing about a stint in rehab is not something everybody can relate to. Some things are just too personal and I think this might be one of them for Stevie and I totally respect that. Remember, Stevie is in the public eye unlike your husband. It's a totally different situation.

I also think there are a lot more hidden metaphors in reference to it in her songs that we are unaware of and that is her way around being too specific so we can all still relate to her lyrics.

Good point though, maybe she should have had a song called "Welcome to Betty Ford, Stevie" lol.

Also, we really don't know to what extent being in rehab affected her emotionally. There were many other profound events in her life that may or may not have made a greater impact and which she chose to write songs about. I'm sure it affected her emotionally but to what extent only Stevie knows.
KarmaContestant
08-01-2006, 05:46 PM
Good point though, maybe she should have had a song called "Welcome to Betty Ford, Stevie" lol.

Oh no...this is going to be stuck in my head forever. :laugh: :xoxo:
Johnny Stew
08-01-2006, 06:01 PM
In my opinion, there are direct rehab references in....

Welcome To The Room... Sara
Two Kinds Of Love
Doing The Best That I Can (Escape From Berlin)
Affairs Of The Heart

I don't pick up on any in other songs, but they could be there.
SpyNote
08-01-2006, 07:19 PM
There are lines in When I See You Again that could be about her stay at Betty Ford, the part about walking slowly down the (rehab?) hall, staring at the walls and having "many things to stare at these days."

Well there's:
Fire Burning
Long Way To Go
Ghosts
They all deal with being in the grip of addiction..the repercusions..and the aftermath on some level.

I never thought about these songs being about physical addictions because she has said they are about other things, but they could certainly be interpreted that way.
RockALittle250
08-01-2006, 08:57 PM
Kick It comes to mind also...but i always thought Doing The Best I Can (Escape From Berlin) was about the Holocaust?
Johnny Stew
08-01-2006, 10:08 PM
There are lines in When I See You Again that could be about her stay at Betty Ford, the part about walking slowly down the (rehab?) hall, staring at the walls and having "many things to stare at these days."I considered adding "WISYA," but because the song has such deep personal meaning to me, I don't typically relate it to Stevie's stay in rehab.

I wouldn't argue with its inclusion on the list though.
JazmenFlowers
08-01-2006, 10:26 PM
I considered adding "WISYA," but because the song has such deep personal meaning to me, I don't typically relate it to Stevie's stay in rehab.

I wouldn't argue with its inclusion on the list though.
same here. I don't, personally, think of that when I hear it (I have other thoughts on MY mind), but I, like you, can see it added to this list.
SapphireSister
08-01-2006, 10:27 PM
I've always thought Affairs of the Heart had a rehab reference...

One set of doors was the color of honey
One set of doors was pink and gray
Well, I wonder which set is mine, said she
As she walked down the long hallway
Well, I wonder which set of rooms are mine
For in these rooms she would live and die
Yep, I've heard that's what this song was about too and it does make sense! Too bad it's a pretty crappy song musically.
JazmenFlowers
08-01-2006, 10:40 PM
Yep, I've heard that's what this song was about too and it does make sense! Too bad it's a pretty crappy song musically.
you really think so? I happen to really like this song. just like some others that I think too many people dismiss, it's a fun song that I love to listen to when I just want an upbeat song to sing along to...especially in the car.
SapphireSister
08-01-2006, 10:43 PM
same here. I don't, personally, think of that when I hear it (I have other thoughts on MY mind), but I, like you, can see it added to this list.
My God I'm dying over your sig pic, fabulous! Where/when is this from?
JazmenFlowers
08-01-2006, 10:44 PM
My God I'm dying over your sig pic, fabulous! Where/when is this from?
tango sessions. bout to post others in a new post. hang on to yer knickers.
SapphireSister
08-01-2006, 10:48 PM
you really think so? I happen to really like this song. just like some others that I think too many people dismiss, it's a fun song that I love to listen to when I just want an upbeat song to sing along to...especially in the car.
It's one of my least favorite. In fact I don't like any of her songs on that album. I do however, adore the title - "Affairs of the heart", you know it's my myspace name. The line is much better in EFO!
JazmenFlowers
08-01-2006, 10:50 PM
It's one of my least favorite. In fact I don't like any of her songs on that album. I do however, adore the title - "Affairs of the heart", you know it's my myspace name. The line is much better in EFO!
oh well...your loss. :p

but yeah, that line rocks EFO.
SapphireSister
08-01-2006, 10:52 PM
tango sessions. bout to post others in a new post. hang on to yer knickers.
I knew it! There's just something about her style around this time that I love. What can I say, I adore the shit out of the big hair and it's just so, I dunno, Stevie? It's a look she had for a very short period of time and never went back to (a lot would say thankfully). It really epitomizes the 80's, I think that's one of the reasons I love it so much, I'm such an 80's freak..the hair, the clothes, the music.
JazmenFlowers
08-01-2006, 10:54 PM
I knew it! There's just something about her style around this time that I love. What can I say, I adore the shit out of the big hair and it's just so, I dunno, Stevie? It's a look she had for a very short period of time and never went back to (a lot would say thankfully). It really epitomizes the 80's, I think that's one of the reasons I love it so much, I'm such an 80's freak..the hair, the clothes, the music.
yeah...I love this style right up until it got WAY out of control during OSOTM.
UndoingTheLaces
08-01-2006, 11:11 PM
I always thought that Two Kinds of Love was about her marriage. You know, "widow and a dove". And the fact that they loved each other but realized it was a mistake to try and be a couple, loving each other too much to make each other miserable by trying to make something work that simply wouldn't. "two kinds of love... one for the way you walk... one for the way you love me".
SapphireSister
08-01-2006, 11:18 PM
yeah...I love this style right up until it got WAY out of control during OSOTM.
I'm so with you (and you have fabulous taste by the way). TOSOTM-Timespace is my least favorite style period. How about that yellow number? :distress: Poor Stevie, what was she thinking? And some of those bustiers was just whoreoneous. Even her hats were bad...
JazmenFlowers
08-01-2006, 11:23 PM
I'm so with you (and you have fabulous taste by the way). TOSOTM-Timespace is my least favorite style period. How about that yellow number? :distress: Poor Stevie, what was she thinking? And some of those busteiers was just whoreoneous. Even her hats were bad...
Stevie made some DAMN cute faces during the time you mention. that's what saves it for me. the clothes, the hats, etc...yuck...save a few dusters and those fab shawls. it was those cute smirks and grins that make my heart melt.

and thanks for saying I have great taste...mama raised me good. I can still her teaching me the difference between Prada and Prego (the shit on the streets of Canal St. in NYC)...but I digress.