[brad975]

A lot of us love Stevie down South, but sometimes we just have to say, "Bless her heart" (which could be translated as "Good lawd, why?!").

These songs make me bless Stevie's heart every time they slip past my filter:

"I Can't Wait": In a cheesy '80s way, this tune boasts some exciting instrumentation. But Stevie sounds frankly confused about how to fit into this Rick Nowels music track. I'm guessing she did a mountain of coke and hoped wailing a lot of "Wells" would carry her through and help it all make sense. She reportedly used her first take, saying some vocals are "magic" even. "Well, bless her heart."

"When I See You Again": This song gets beaten up a lot. Well, it gets my "blessing."

"The Second Time": As with WISYA, the Mac was probably hoping Stevie cook up another tender "Landslide"-style number. But her voice was way too far gone! Around the time this was released, I was joyriding a lot with my oldest friend Stephanie, regularly listening to a mixtape of songs from OSOTM/BTM. I really was trying to get into them (to find some redeeming qualities) until one day Stephanie firmly announced, "No more Stevie Nicks! If you play another Stevie Nicks song, I'm jumping out of this car!" I was frankly startled! But knowing my badass friend Steph, I took her at her word, and there was no "Second Time." In retrospect, I can hardly blame her.

"Desert Angel": You put this on your Best Of. Really? I hope you didn't include this one on the iPods you gave to gave to injured vets. They've been through enough. But you've gotta bless Stevie's heart. It's in the right place.

Like Stevie, I've also gotten my quickie online ordination. So there's probably a lot of other stuff I could "bless" as well. Actually a lot of Disc 2 of the "Enchanted" set falls into that category.

But she had an amazing run from 1973 to 1983, with occasional highlights thereafter. There's only so much I can ask of one of rock 'n roll's greats.