Quote:
Originally Posted by louielouie2000
Anyway, I really do like Paper Doll. But I seem to like most any of Stevie and Rick's pairings. The song is just fun, upbeat, and more than a touch snarky... which I particularly enjoy. I've always wondered who the song was about. In my mind, it's about Mick Fleetwood, and the awkward transition of Fleetwood Mac away from Lindsey Buckingham. We all know that Stevie resented staying in Fleetwood Mac after Lindsey's departure, and my guess is that's what this song is about. About Lindsey instantly being replaced by "men with a future" and she was the "woman with a past" who would allow the band to keep floating along, even without one of it's major stars. Stevie obviously wasn't buying it, saying: "Do you really believe that? She said to the faces in the crowd." I could be totally off base, but I strongly suspect the song to be her directing anger towards Mick for insisting Fleetwood Mac trudge on despite the circumstances. Again, this is just my speculation. The song could be directed solely at Lindsey himself... but I just don't think that makes sense if you really listen to the lyrics.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vivfox
I think she is talking about herself like she usually does. To me this refers to the Buckingham Nicks album cover photo shoot.
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Mark, I know she used the same language in describing what her father said about the album cover, but to me it's unlikely that she was writing about that by the time
Paper Doll came around.
But reflecting on what you said, I don't think song lines that are about Lindsey are
not about Stevie too. They seldom seem to be mutually exclusive in her lyrics.
Louie, I also think many songs about Lindsey and Stevie are about Fleetwood Mac. Actually, I think the Scholastic Aptitude Test people should construct syllogisms based on these major and minor premises.
For instance, the way Stevie describes FFG she says its about FM on tour and then she breaks it down and says that almost always is going to be about her and Lindsey. To her, I think King's horses are Mick's horses and Mick's horses are Fleetwood Mac. In that same sense, I agree with you that Paper Doll is about FM as a whole. I mean, I see the same thing in
Ooh My Love. I think it's about Lindsey leaving and I think it's about that departure leading to the disintegration of Fleetwood Mac's castle walls. So, you go from a very small picture about one or two people (starting maybe as early as BN in the coffee plant, in the shadow of the castle walls, where he used to love to be with her) to a much larger picture of Fleetwood Mac collapsing upon itself. I can see your take on "do you really believe that she said to faces in the crowd" as quite likely.
Also, I am not sure what I would have thought of Paper Doll if I'd never seen the video, but having loved the video as I did, I can't help but see FM in the song. The image of them on the wintry beach, huddled in coats, all looking sinister, together but not touching -- it's even more penetrating and stunning when it flits by in
Paper Doll than it was originally in
Big Love.
At any rate, I doubt that there are many of Stevie's songs that are about any one thing anyway.
If I'd just heard this song on the radio, without the video images in my mind, I don't know how I would have responded to it, but as it is, the rollicking melody almost resembles music you hear at a circus, as you ride the carousel or in the fun house. Giddy, exciting, but a little distorted, with a hint of the sad and macabre.
Michele