Nobody does it better....

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by vermicious knid

Yeah, the lyrics sounds nice, in an abstract way. But does it have any sensible meaning?

Many times I would say there is not. But on this particular song, I think yes. I mean, it means different things to different people, because it is so abstract.

Looking past Stevie's literal explanation about the fire in her house where she had to run around and decide what to take, her cashmere blankets or her cats, I have sometimes compared these words to a relationship. When you're in its throes, you think it's passionate, exciting, all-consuming. But when you step back or it runs its inevitable course, you can see it was just something you rushed into to stave off loneliness. The emotion was not real, but manufactured out of desperation, to fill (feel) a void. There was no real fire burning, no genuine passion, just a soul yearning for love, just a soul crying.

Michele

[David]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Looking past Stevie's literal explanation about the fire in her house where she had to run around and decide what to take, her cashmere blankets or her cats, I have sometimes compared these words to a relationship. When you're in its throes, you think it's passionate, exciting, all-consuming. But when you step back or it runs its inevitable course, you can see it was just something you rushed into to stave off loneliness. The emotion was not real, but manufactured out of desperation, to fill (feel) a void. There was no real fire burning, no genuine passion, just a soul yearning for love, just a soul crying.

Michele, your prose explanations of Stevie's "poetry" are consistently more appealing & sensible than their object ... to the point that if we create stanzas out of your posts & add some funky punctuation, we'd get a much better song.

Well, I had to run around
And decide what to take ~~
My cashmere blankets
~*~ Or my cats ~*~

Well, when you step back
Or it runs . . .
Its inevitable course *~*
Well, you can see
It was just something . . .
You rushed into . . .
To stave off loneliness

The emotion ~*~
Was not really real ~*~

Well, it was manufactured . . .
Out of my . . .
OOH . . . desperation ~~

[vivfox]

Besides Lindsey, my favorite producer for Stevie is Stevie herself. I wish she had more confidence in her own abilities. Doubt me? Just listen to her songs Desert Angel, Battle of the Dragon and the dance remix version of The Nightmare. These three incredible songs were produced by the Queen herself.

[GypsyVisions]

When I first heard those lyrics, I was pretty sure I understood exactly what she meant.. which Michele has summed up.

I like it.



Vivfox, let's not forget Bombay Sapphires.. I like what she did with it. Although, the alternate version is better.

[wolfontherun]

Originally Posted by David

Ew. I hate it. I don't pay attention to songwriting anyway (because when I do pay attention, all I see is garbage like "There is no fire burning/It's just a soul crying")--I just listen to the abstract sounds. A pop song has to sound groovy & cool & hooky. It has to be a sparkly little jewel. It has to sound wispy & savvy & ripply & sneedy.

Well ok but what about this: Just a fantastic song all around, I love the lilting yearning aspect of the whole thing and her pleading about knowing it is way too dangerous to fall in love again, well, just wow.

And the rain was there...
There were many nights...
And a few of them, were all that you had dreamed of
Love was the thing...
And you feel as if someone was following you
But you know you are wrong...
It's just the ghost of what you want to be
And the ghost of the past that you live in


It's just the ghost of what you really want
And it's the ghost of the past that you live in
And it's the ghost of the future you are frightened of
So you look to your guardian angel


So long ago I was an innocent...
It had nothing to do with age
One day they were lovers...one day they were friends
There was nothing else to say


Well just the ghost of what you want to be
And the ghost of the past that you live in
It's the ghost of the future that you're so frightened of
So you turn to your guardian angel


And a few of them were all that you really dreamed of
Love was the thing...
So the silver-haired girl looks for escapism


To feel the empty spaces she's feeling
She depends on her music like a husband
And she knows it's no good to fall in love again...
One day they were lovers...one day they were friends
There was nothing else to say

**(In Bold above being the best stanza in the poem)**

It's just the ghost of the past of what you want to be
And the ghost of the past that you live in
Ghost of the future that you're so frightened of
So you look to your guardian...


So you look...to your guardian angel
Some of them are here on earth...
Well some of them are way up there in heaven...


So you look...to your guardian angel
Some of them are here on earth...
Some of them are...way up there in heaven...heaven...

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by vivfox

Besides Lindsey, my favorite producer for Stevie is Stevie herself. I wish she had more confidence in her own abilities. Doubt me? Just listen to her songs Desert Angel, Battle of the Dragon and the dance remix version of The Nightmare. These three incredible songs were produced by the Queen herself.

I wouldn't exactly hold up "Desert Angel" as an example of brilliant production- that one is definitely something that should have either been scrapped or given to someone like John Shanks, who seems to be able to polish any turd given to him.

I think a better example of Stevie-the-producer is "Bombay Sapphires." I realize she was (rather blatantly) going for a Sting-like sound, but I'm still impressed... the addition of the Spanish guitar parts is brilliant, especially when you compare it to the "funeral dirge" version. I think Stevie is probably pretty confident in herself as a producer; however, she seems to pick up the reins only when all else has failed. Since she is not a very refined musician, she probably has a more difficult time rendering her ideas into sounds, so I suspect she would rather just leave that side of the process up to the experts.

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by David

Michele, your prose explanations of Stevie's "poetry" are consistently more appealing & sensible than their object ... to the point that if we create stanzas out of your posts & add some funky punctuation, we'd get a much better song.

Well, I had to run around
And decide what to take ~~
My cashmere blankets
~*~ Or my cats ~*~

Well, when you step back
Or it runs . . .
Its inevitable course *~*
Well, you can see
It was just something . . .
You rushed into . . .
To stave off loneliness

The emotion ~*~
Was not really real ~*~

Well, it was manufactured . . .
Out of my . . .
OOH . . . desperation ~~

I think you're missing a "baby" or two.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by GypsyVisions

When I first heard those lyrics, I was pretty sure I understood exactly what she meant..

And I liked the contrast of big and small. You know, there's no fire burning, no major catastrophe that the world would care about, just my own personal disaster, just a soul crying.

It reminds me of how you feel when there's a tragedy in the family and the world goes on as if nothing is wrong while, meanwhile, your life has been changed forever. So, it's nothing big or earth shattering to anyone else. It's small, individual pain, but just as devastating to you as if it had been a national event.

The way Stevie sings the words make me think of that. And Rooms on Fire is great too.

Michele

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by wolfontherun

I would. I love Mirror. Very consistant tracks from start to finish.

Yeah, consistently horrific. What a piece of excrement that album is. ("Rooms On Fire" excepted)

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by GypsyVisions

..and Lindsey gives Dreams a vibe that I can't really describe..but it makes it incredible.

Yes, and Stevie realize it. At the Classic Albums- Making of Rumours video she says that Lindsey did great work with her songs but only.. "when he was... when he was happy with me", so she felt that not always happened.

[GypsyVisions]

It's weird to me when people think The Other Side Of The Mirror is utter crap..because I feel like Rock A Little is her worst effort. While it does have some nice moments, and certain songs have grown from it that are waaay better live..Rock A Little, to me, seems like a collection of songs Stevie wrote - mixed into a bag of 80's super-sounds.. Hearing "Sister Honey" makes me wonder who I'm actually listening to.. Is that really a Stevie song?



Eehh.. I hope that makes sense.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by chiliD

Yeah, consistently horrific. What a piece of excrement that album is. ("Rooms On Fire" excepted)

Well I have known this much longer than I've known you.....

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by GypsyVisions

It's weird to me when people think The Other Side Of The Mirror is utter crap..because I feel like Rock A Little is her worst effort. While it does have some nice moments, and certain songs have grown from it that are waaay better live..Rock A Little, to me, seems like a collection of songs Stevie wrote - mixed into a bag of 80's super-sounds.. Hearing "Sister Honey" makes me wonder who I'm actually listening to.. Is that really a Stevie song?



Eehh.. I hope that makes sense.

I think RAL is when Stevie really decided to reach artistically- she took a number of gambles here that were sometimes successful, sometimes not. But here you saw the many sides of Stevie- the manic drug-addled siren, the soothing, obedient mistress, the scorned woman, the thankful, humble poet, etc. I agree that it sounds dated in a lot of ways, but it took guts and vision to stray from the straightforward rock n roll path established by Jimmy Iovine and Tom Petty. As for "Sister Honey," I know I'm not the only who sings Madonna's "Holiday" when I hear it. It is a perfect match!

[sjpdg]

Originally Posted by chiliD

Yeah, consistently horrific. What a piece of excrement that album is. ("Rooms On Fire" excepted)

WOW!! That's pretty harsh. I wouldn't call it a piece of excrement. Is it her best? I would say no. Is it her worst? Certainly not. I would put that last cd before "Trouble in Shangri-La" (I can't remember the title right now) up as her worst effort by far. Still had a few little nuggets on it like "Blue Denim" and "Kick It", but over all pretty crappy.

I actually like "Rooms On Fire". It has some really good stuff on it and holds together well as an entire album.

I think Stevie should try to produce her own stuff now as well. It's her time to go for it and really trust herself. She doesn't have to release it until she's ready and is sure it sounds like what she wants. She did a great job on "Bombay Sapphires". That song is awesome.

Stevie's lyrics have always been somewhat "outside the mainstream" though, you have to admit. Not everyone phrases like she does and that can make it difficult to get a clear understanding, while at the same time leaves it more open to individual interpretation.

Her songs on "Tango" were great. I don't know what the complaint is there. I think she sounded a little off on "Say You Will" but too late now, as though any of us had anything we could have done about it, or as if we have anything to say about it now.

[David]

My problem with "Mirror" is the sound of it -- the sum of the sound of the singing & the sound of the playing.

Now, had she done those same songs many years earlier, they'd have been just as nice as the old songs.