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Originally Posted by sodascouts
I obviously love them both but I thought Stevie's reaction came off as ridiculously over-the-top. What Lindsey was doing was giving constructive feedback. He was right in that her inconsistent use of pronouns was confusing, although he phrased it more gently than that.
Her reaction came across to me like this: "I can't handle even the slightest implication that what I've written isn't absolutely perfect in every way. Anyone who presumes to suggest such a thing will feel my fury!"
As someone who teaches creative writing, I can say that the refusal to listen to feedback is toxic. You don't have to change things if you don't want to, but you should at least be open to listening to other perspectives on your work.
YEARS later, when I was sitting at a premiere showing of In Your Dreams that I had flown to New York to see, I was cringing in my seat when I saw the way she was using that moment as an example of how terrible he was to work with, and the way she was contrasting it with how magnificent it was to work with Dave Stewart, who is shown constantly telling her how great she is. It was hard to watch, honestly, because I went to that movie hoping to see Stevie shine, and that segment made her look petty and childish.
What that movie and other interviews have told me is that Stevie has reached the point where Lindsey is not allowed to give her any kind of feedback (unless, of course, he is praising her)... and I don't think it's just Lindsey that receives this treatment.
I think she has this attitude towards just about everyone now, and I don't think it's a good thing. Even geniuses can benefit from feedback. Look at "Lady." Someone should have told her repeating the song's lyrics in their entirety twice with only one small musical change at the end was boring. She could have pushed herself to think of some new lyrics, and the song would have been better.
However, no one did so... because they knew Stevie didn't want to hear it. Suggestions were not wanted and would be ignored (she even bragged about ignoring feedback in some interviews). Now, she seems to want to be surrounded by sycophants and yes-people.
She was at her best when she had people challenging her, pushing her to go further, to go outside of her comfort zone - whether it was Lindsey, Tom Petty, Don Henley (in the case of "Leather and Lace"), or Jimmy Iovine. She doesn't realize that by shutting down any and all constructive criticism, she is actually hurting the quality of her work.
It's a shame.
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This is so well put, I can tell you teach writing from it
And I agree with basically everything, I never thought he did anything wrong with what he said, perhaps there are sensitivity issues with them based on history but there really was nothing wrong with him offering a suggestion.
Stevie definitely does need people who challenge her, it helps her reach her best form. I remember this amazing interview I watched of hers where she talks about how Lindsey 'forced' her to listen to The Beatles and some other groups to learn how to sing harmony. And she said how it made her get resentful of The Beatles but look at what an amazing harmony singer she ended up being.
And that take of Storms where he's telling her that she's not singing it right, probably could've been worded better, but look at how incredible that song came out. Tusk in general, she called him an ayatollah (and he probably deserved it), but in my opinion, that album is an absolute masterpiece and contains her best selection of work (also my opinion) and I personally would not change a single thing about it.
And like you mentioned, she's also said things that imply Jimmy Iovine was that same kind of way.
That being said, I know she loved IYD and Dave Stewart but I feel like that also kind of ruined things, because after that experience she doesn't want to go back to something that's more of a struggle.
I also agree with what you said about 'Lady', that song could've been improved had someone pointed those things out.
I can understand why someone at her age would only want to do things that give her joy but like someone else mentioned, sometimes you just do things you don't necessarily love doing, because you should do them. I know I've done things in the past that I really wasn't thrilled about but I would've felt guilty if I hadn't done them. She's just being so stubborn now which is really so sad considering this is probably going to be the beginning of the curtain call for Fleetwood Mac.