No Spoken Word
 

Hello my fellow Priests and Priestesses of Nothing,

I was just wondering if anyone could tell me what or who NO SPOKEN WORD is about.
Also, anyone who has any speculation would be welcomed as well.

I love this song but she sounds a little angry at someone for some reason. (I can relate...lol)

Thanks,
Rod~A~Little
:o

Maybe Joe Walsh?

I can't recall her ever speaking about this song. It's probably my favorite solo song by her. The anger in her vocal is intense. Love the lyrics, production, background vocals...pretty much everything.

My bets are on Joe Walsh. I LOVED this song, both on the album and on the tours. In my area of the world at that time (Indiana), it got some decent airplay as an album track when the album first came out.

That's awesome that it got airplay on the radio! It is a great track. I wonder if it was ever considered to be a single. I think Jimmy Iovine produced the track before walking away from RAL. You are probably right that the song is about Joe Walsh.

Thanks snroxman!

My copy of the LP says it was produced by Keith Olsen (?) nonetheless, it is one of her more "agressive" songs. A favorite! And my bet is also on it being about Joe, although could it possibly be about Jimmy Iovine?

Its one of the better songs on RAL and OMG she actually wrote it!!!!
The song is almost ruined by its constraints of programmed bass and drums. The live version is off the chain. If the album version had real drums and they let Waddy be Waddy on guitar and did not have all this programmed crap, it would have been so much better. The song is drowning in over produced mid-80s synth pop.
I don't think she has mentioned who this song is about but I agree Joe would be a good assumption.

Here is a demo that I think is much better. Some better raw guitar and some real drums layover. No backing vocals and I love it
I love her voice better. I LOVE all RAL demos than the album cuts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M15CO3SC8SQ

Best live version ever London 1989
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOgiRTXLcNc

Sure!

I loved that era. The station was an album-oriented rock station in Indy. It was a pleasant surprise to hear it on the radio alongside ICW.

Thanks for posting the link to the demo. Great version!

Just finished listening to both. It's a great demo. I always scratched my head over why they picked some of the songs they did over some of the other killer demoed songs.

The LIVE version you shared is wicked good!!! The real guitars and drums are pounding and just intensify the song even more!!!

I really hope that we get a remaster of Rock A Little with bonus material.


Major thanks for sharing these Macfan4life!!!
~Rod~

see I love all the programmed stuff and synths on the album version. It's a big decadent mess but I'm very partial to the entire RAL album.

That live version is pretty cool, though I'm not a fan of her tranquilized vocals on that tour (and several others). I love that little spin she does at the tail end!

I LOVE No Spoken Word! It's my favorite song on Rock a Little and one of my favorite songs of all time. I never get tired of it. Especially the "come around tonight indecent" part. My guess is that it might be about Joe. I love all her really angry rocking songs like this and Nothing Ever Changes.

Love this one too. I've always preferred the rockers when it came to her album tracks (non-singles) . This is up there with "Nothing Ever Changes" and "Kick It" for me.

Nice to see the love for No Spoken Word. It's never been one of my favorites, but I like it and hearing how the demo differed from the RAL version was interesting. I read she played it during some Street Angel dates, but I saw her in Columbus for that tour and I really don't remember her playing it then.

I'm so glad to hear that you prefer the rockers! I've talked with too many people who think she should only stick to the "Landslide" sound. After all, she considers herself more of a rocker when it comes to her solo career.

Nothing Ever Changes was played all over the Rock Radio stations where I lived and probably could have been a single.
I think "You Can't Fix This" is another killer track!

Thanks for your comment!
Rod :angel:

I LOVE "You can't fix this." The version she did on Letterman was FANTAASTIC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEDoG2-0yMs

YCFT is killer! It's one of my favorite "modern" Stevie solo songs for sure.

Speaking of radio play, I remember hearing "Long Way to Go" on the radio when OSOTM came out, which was pretty coo. Yet another rocker!

Yep. I'm from NYC, and I remember "Long Way To Go" was played often on WNEW which was the classic rock station 102.7 back then. Carol Miller and Scott Muni were among the more popular deejays.

I'm so glad you mentioned the performance of You Can't Fix This on Letterman! I downloaded that performance because it was SO good. I made a compilation of my fave performance and that was def a great one! :)

I first heard Long Way To Go on Rockline with Stevie. (which I have a copy on my cassette. lol)
I almost fainted when they played it. It was so damn good. I think it entered the Rock charts on Billboard.

Long Way To Go made it to the top 10 in the Rock charts. I thought FOR SURE it was the next single considering the amount of airplay it was getting, and then they released Two Kinds of Love, which bombed, and it seemed like the whole album tanked right afterwards. I think not releasing LWTG as the next single was a HUGE mistake!
*Ricoh*

I think LWTG is the best song on OSOTM but I am not sure it would have charted that much better especially without a video. It was 1989 and videos were HUGE and key to any success. HUGE mistake not to have the second single video. Tried to play catch up with a third single video "Whole Lotta Trouble." but it was too late.
Two kinds of love is a song that must grow on you. Bruce Hornsby was still pretty big in 1989 so a video with him and Stevie would have been played a lot and could have charted the single.

I can't describe how much I despise "Two Kinds of Love". Awful song with the incredibly dull Bruce Hornsby. I was shocked and saddened when it was announced as a second single. Even with a video I think it would have still flopped especially after the brilliant first single. LWTG would have made a far better second single.

Unfortunately for the Other Side of the Mirror, there was not another song as good as Rooms on Fire to keep the momentum going, but I agree, Long Way to Go was good enough for the second single. Ooh My Love was also good but some of the lyrics may not have had a mass enough appeal.

I'm not a huge fan of Rock a Little but agree No Spoken Word is a great song and should have been the lead single from that record.

But what about no video? It was necessary to have a video in the 80's. In most instances MTV introduced the songs to radio. Its almost like Stevie and her record company did not care to prolong the album and sanctioned its demise. Nightbird killed The Wild Heart, HAWAFY killed Rock a little, and Two Kinds of Love killed OSOTM.

She's lucky that Two Kinds of Love didn't kill her career. Yuck-o.

I agree with everything you said about TOSOTM and how Ooh My Love's lyrics might not have had mass appeal. Great song, though. But I don't agree with you that No Spoken Word should have been the lead single from RAL. Talk to Me did just fine as the lead single, it had a great video, a catchy chorus, was a huge hit, and was even nominated for a Grammy. I like No Spoken Word but I don't know that it would have been the smash hit Talk to Me was. It might have been a more appropriate choice as a third single, though.

I could be mistaken, but I think the Wild Heart and (especially) Rock a Little were dropping down the charts well before the third singles were released, so they can't really be blamed for killing the albums. Not than I'm a fan of Nightbird, that was a horrible decision to make that song a single. Same with Two Kinds of Love.

"Two Kinds of love... one for the way you walk... and one for the way you love me." Man, those are pretty bad lyrics.

Oh yes the albums were dropping right after the lead single peaked. But that is typical of every album for the most part. I think it was Paul Fishkin who stated his regrets in releasing Nightbird. I think he said if Enchanted was released they could have sold another million albums. While I cant stomach most of RAL, there were plenty of cheezy synth pop songs that could have charted (with a video) over the raspy HAWAFY.
I am not expressing my opinion of what song I like for singles. I am just saying the wrong songs were chosen for third singles on Wild Heart and RAL. Better singles with videos (two kinds of Love) can keep an album afloat, that is all I am saying. Its hard to find any hits from the mid to late 80's that did not have videos. Its clear when a record company does not care an artist does a video in the 80's they agree the album is dead.

The lyrics you hate, I sort of love especially once Stevie explained them. Two Kinds of love are love and lust. One for the way you love me (love) and one for the way you walk (the lust after someone when you see them walk towards you or walk away with their buns shifting). I thought she did great in that. But you like the Talk to me kind of songs ;)

What can I say, macfan, you're right- I'll take Talk to Me any day over Two Kinds of Love! There's really no comparison between the two.

Talk To Me is an empty pop song targeted at top 40 stations that have no depth and not even written by Stevie. It also is a song she would never write. Two Kinds of Love is pure poetry and masterpiece of lyrics. Stevie rarely writes such a gushing lust and love song. It also gives a glimpse into her wild party, up for days partying lifestyle. I think its a spin off Room on Fire. Complete obsession, love at first sight kind of stuff. The lyrics are a passionate letter you would write to someone you are obsessed with. I just think we all search for love and we hate searching. We all wait for love and we hate waiting. I think her writing on OSOTM is brilliant. I LOVE her autobiography songs, especially those that I completely relate to. I love the song and its just too good for pop radio like a lot of her songs. But her attempt at it live just does not work. But that's ok.

Ooh and on you run
You search for love and you hate searching
You wait for love and you hate waiting
You say I hate this
Well it's just another test
'Cause there are two kinds of love
To do the thing that we do the best
My masterpiece
Who in the world do you think that you are fooling
Well I've already done everything that you are doing
Well the two of us, well we must be
A great temptation to have even started
Well don't you know, as you walk on by
That great temptations never really die
Well I talked to my famous friend last night
My third day up well, his second nighter
He says I don't know how you do what you do how do you
Let the world in
Well I say well there's no way out
Then I just play out the game
Well the two of us Widow and a Dove

I'm glad you like Two Kinds of Love. What do you think of Bruce Hornsby on vocals? I think he does a completely adequate job, but Stevie obviously brings a lot more passion to the song. I have a live version with Stevie and Waddy and thought Stevie sounded good on it. I think the sax solo by Kenny G makes the song a bit of a snoozer, it's a little too Muzak for my taste.

I agree with you about TOSOTM and her songwriting. Ooh My Love, Ghosts, Rooms on Fire, Doing the Best I Can, and Long Way to Go are some of the best songwriting Stevie's ever done.

I don't fault Stevie for bringing Kenny G on her album. During the 1987 Mac tour she fell in love with Songbird which was a huge hit on the radio. I agree at time his sax does not belong but I have learned to appreciate it. Stevie loved his music and wanted so bad to work with him. I like Bruce's heavy handed piano on the album too. His vocals are decent. What is horrible was her keyboard player singing the song in concert in 1989 :eek: He was auditioning for American Idol and he was trying way too hard.
I tend to appreciate her autobiographical songs. Two Kinds of Love is about a real experience. It happened. Same with Edge of 17, After the Glitter Fades, Bella Donna, Long Way To go, Rooms on Fire, Storms, Dreams, etc etc etc. I some how relate and have a spiritual connection. Songs that were given to her are hollow and don't get to my soul like her writings. Talk to me is an experience that did not happen. It was written by a B list songwriter. Same with Everyday. Its not an experience that happened so I cant relate to the song very much. I know this sounds really cheezy but some of her songs almost feel is I wrote them I can relate to them so much.
I think OSOTM is a fantastic album. If you could drop Blue Eyes and Cry Wolf and add 2 more Stevie gems, I would probably like it better than The Wild Heart. She really opens up emotionally on the album. Escape from Berlin holds no punches and neither does Long Way to Go (which is a burned love affair but also about extreme drug addition which she also relates to the relationship). Its pure gold IMHO.