Like or Dislike: Nightbird [Archive]

skcin

08-10-2005, 03:55 PM

Most voted to do The Wild Heart next, so I'll get it started.

Personally, this has never been a big favorite of mine. The harmonies are beautiful, but the lyrics are pretty bad (with the exception of the chorus & the last verse.) Stevie loves blankets? :laugh: I think I know what she meant - being all nice & warm & protected in your home with your friends & family; keeping warm bundled up in front of the fire when it's cold outside - but still. "The blankets that I love" does not do it for me. I don't mind "boots all summer long" but "the real color of my skin" is odd. I think this song is about Robin dying, and I get what she was trying to express, but I don't feel it.

The music - eh. All I hear is the synthesizer (it takes over the song), and the drum machine sounds almost identical to Stand Back. That bothers me for some reason.

Her SNL live performance of this with Lori is great, they really hit it out of the park. Would I love it so much if they had done it every night on that tour? Probably not. It's so special since it was one time only. I wonder why it never made the setlist, since it was released as a single (hard for me to believe it made #33 - I NEVER remember hearing this on the radio back in 83/84. Never.) I would have liked to see it done in Vegas, though, since Lori was back.

EDIT: almost forgot the Solid Gold performance, so I guess it was done twice. Still speacial, though. :D

strandinthewind

08-10-2005, 03:57 PM

One of the most magnificent vocals she has ever recorded and she SOARED on it live :cool:

amber

08-10-2005, 04:00 PM

Oh, great, now I have to listen to Wild Heart....oh, and so far I don't like Nightbird that much. Good vocals, but....

face of glass

08-10-2005, 04:01 PM

This is my absolute favourite Stevie solo song, all I can hear on this are sweet heavenly harmonies and resonance a-plenty. And since lyrics aren't that important to me (it's the performance that counts for me the most when it comes to Stevie), I don't care if the ones on "Nightbird" seem less hard-hitting than some others she's written.

ontheEdgeof17

08-10-2005, 04:01 PM

As Naomi Judd once said on Star Search, "FA-IVE STER-ARS"

This was my favorite Stevie song when I first became a fan. It's passionate, it's different, it has Robin written all over it.

Yes, the SNL performance is classic...nothing will ever top that. And rumor has it that the song was suppose to be added to the set, but Stevie decided to begin work on RAL, then continue the WH Tour.

DrummerDeanna

08-10-2005, 04:17 PM

LOVE LOVE LOVE Nightbird :nod: Excellent vocals - just a beautiful song!

Neal

08-10-2005, 04:20 PM

Eh, 2 stars from me. Like everyone said, the vocals and harmonies are great, but the lyrics are among her worst, imho. :shrug:

I'm also still holding a grudge against it for outlasting 'Rooms On Fire' in the Singles Survivor... :cool:

GypsySorcerer

08-10-2005, 04:32 PM

I LOVE this song. Amazing vocal. I love how she belts "The touch that you want so muuuuuuuch!" The chorus contains some of my favorite Stevie lyrics ever. I think the melody is beautiful, as well.

Dreammms

08-10-2005, 05:10 PM

Nightbird RULES! Top 5 Stevie song ever. Great harmonies. Great lyrics. Great emotion. Great vocals. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

SapphireSister

08-10-2005, 05:31 PM

4 out 5 stars. I really really like this song. It took some time to grow on me but I love the darkenss and mystery it envokes and I also love the vocals and harmonies as many have said. Too bad she did not write the music. I think the lyrics kick ass. It doesn't get much better than "I wear boots all summer long". That's classic La Nicks to me.

My main complaint about this song is I love the verses and not the chorus. I get really into the first verse and then I hear "and when I call you..." and poof I'm over it and waiting for the second verse to kick it. I wish the song had a better chorus because it would have been a Lindsay favorite if so. Weak chorus, so sad.

Edit: Now that I have it in my head, I love this song and it's one of my top 5 for lyrics.

dissention

08-10-2005, 07:18 PM

I loves it. And I'm so happy you're doing The Wild Heart now. We can finally get to the meat of her solo work and not the table scraps. :thumbsup:

Stephanie

08-10-2005, 07:21 PM

love it! Top 5 for sure!

Nightbird17

08-10-2005, 07:23 PM

one of her best !!!!!!!

golden braid

08-10-2005, 09:18 PM

I love this song. It has pretty harmonies, vocals, and lyrics. I wish the music was a little better. I would prefer maybe less synthesizer and real drums. I do love the live performance on Solid Gold and I think it would have been great if Stevie and Lori had sung it in Vegas.

David

08-10-2005, 09:40 PM

One of the most magnificent vocals she has ever recorded and she SOARED on it live :cool:I'm surprised to hear you say you liked it live since I thought you once said you didn't like her performances back then. :shrug:

GateandGarden

08-10-2005, 09:43 PM

I LOVE this song. Amazing vocal. I love how she belts "The touch that you want so muuuuuuuch!" The chorus contains some of my favorite Stevie lyrics ever. I think the melody is beautiful, as well.Ditto to all of that. :nod:

strandinthewind

08-10-2005, 09:43 PM

I'm surprised to hear you say you liked it live since I thought you once said you didn't like her performances back then. :shrug:

I did and still do not like most of the ones I have heard like "I will Run to You" with Petty - but I have heard only a comparative handful. I do think, though, that her SNL and SG performances are amongst her best as was in many ways the US Festival for its pure energy. But, those are three of many and the other ten or so were not that great to me. Maybe I need to hear them all before being to brazenly dismissive.

1934mission

08-10-2005, 09:55 PM

The live performances are so good. Stevie looks especially beautiful on the Solid Gold performance. I'm sure she was one of only a few to perform live on that show. Even people who hated Stand Back were impressed by Nightbird on SNL.

turquoise5

08-10-2005, 10:06 PM

I love "Nightbird" - especially the chorus with the two vocal lines that go back and forth with each other.
The lyrics about the eye makeup took some getting used to, and even now I'm not totally sure what she means by them. I think it has something to do with the fact that she's trying not to be afraid to show her real self, symbolized by "my eyes without any shadow."

Hawkeye

08-10-2005, 10:18 PM

5 star song for sure. My favorite part is at 3 minutes when there's that do do do do do do and piano thing. And I also love the whole cry for the ones who sing at night, the nightbirds, for all of us who prefer the night to the day.

TheBlueLamp

08-11-2005, 05:08 AM

When I first got The Wild Heart, Nightbird was an automatic skip. It sounded too 80s. But eventually it became one of my favourites. I love the darkness of it.

GODDESS6

08-11-2005, 06:51 AM

LUV, LUV it, i remember seeing her do it live for solid gold, love everyting about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: ~

skcin

08-11-2005, 08:56 AM

My main complaint about this song is I love the verses and not the chorus.

Heehee - I'm the exact opposite - I love the chorus but the other lyrics not so much. :)

Another thing I forgot to mention - I almost always sing Lori's (well, I believe it's actually Sandy Stewart on the album version, right?) parts during the chorus. Anyone else do this?

eclipse

08-11-2005, 10:52 AM

Heehee - I'm the exact opposite - I love the chorus but the other lyrics not so much. :)

Another thing I forgot to mention - I almost always sing Lori's (well, I believe it's actually Sandy Stewart on the album version, right?) parts during the chorus. Anyone else do this?

I do too- mostly because I don't think this is Stevie's best vocal on the albulm at all. In fact, I really think she sounds awful on the record. Live was excellent and I do love the song, I just think they should have re-done the final albulm cut-
She has stated that they just sang this song and put it on , without any finishing touches because the emotions were all there....
(At least I think I remember reading that) I think-Think they should have re-thought that :rolleyes:
Just my 2cents
~~eclipse~~

trackaghost

08-11-2005, 11:06 AM

I LOVE this song. It's one of my favourites on The Wild Heart.
The lyrics, imagery, the harmonies, the lush synth, everything! Her vocals are perfection IMO.
The two live performances of it - SNL and Solid Gold - are probably my favourite Stevie performances ever.
Yay! Wild Heart really is the best.

ka10

08-11-2005, 12:14 PM

The two live performances of it - SNL and Solid Gold - are probably my favourite Stevie performances ever.
Yay! Wild Heart really is the best.

Does anyone have clips of either of these to post? I'm dying to see them! :nod:

~Kat

skcin

08-11-2005, 01:22 PM

Does anyone have clips of either of these to post? I'm dying to see them! :nod:

~Kat

I don't think I have either of these on my computer, mine are on VHS - anyone else?

eclipse

08-11-2005, 02:23 PM

I can try, but again...I am the resident computer idiot-
Sorry, I just went to try and find it and the only thing I have on my REAL player is that Vegas Standback Ledgie Edition
(Trust me, I won't put you through it)
Sorry
No help here :mad:

eclipse

08-11-2005, 02:34 PM

I know that I got it at one of the sites that is mentioned here. I think it may have been posted at MistakenLove.com- but she is havbing problems with the site right now- I am racking my brain trying to remember...If it comes to me I'll clue you in. :sorry:
~~eclipse~~

trackaghost

08-11-2005, 02:38 PM

This has Nightbird on Solid Gold as well as loads of other clips

http://stevie.nleone.com/sn_movie.htm

ka10

08-11-2005, 03:09 PM

This has Nightbird on Solid Gold as well as loads of other clips

http://stevie.nleone.com/sn_movie.htm

Wow, thanks! :woohoo: My favorite is the very end where they keep singing a capella after the music stops. "White winged dooooove..."

~Kat

DashingDan

08-11-2005, 03:33 PM

If I were teaching Stevie 101 at my local community college, this song would be required listening. To me the lyrics, lyric melody, vamp, tempo, and vocal stylings of that recording epitomize her style.

Beyond her singing about what she has just been though, the rapid decline in health and resulting death of a dear friend, I've always thought that this song foreshadows the crappy times that were ahead. Particularly when she mentions the excessive love that she's sometimes surrounded by. I understood that to mean that there were too many people kissing her ass, too many people saying "yes", and too many people not willing to say "hey, chill out, what's going on with you?"

skcin

08-11-2005, 03:40 PM

^ Interesting take on those lyrics. And welcome to the board, Dan. :wavey:

UndoingTheLaces

08-11-2005, 04:16 PM

This is one of my favorites. It's so passionate and emotional. I remember thinking they were lipsynching on Sold Gold until there was a point where there was a little change in the way a line was sung. It just sounded too perfect and it turns out that it was just a really perfect performace.

To comment on an earlier post about the eye makeup lyrics, I think it was her way of saying how worn out she was from all the crying and not being able to sleep after dealing with Robin's long illness and passing. "Eye makeup dark and it's carless, same circles around my eyes, sometimes the real color of my skin... my eyes without any shadow". The rings under her eyes are still dark and the red and puffiness of one's eyes after crying could resemble dark makeup done carelessly. And she explained the "boots all summer long" thing in an interview once. I don't remember exactly but I think it was alluding to not allowing herself to be part of the world but rather covering herself up, wrapped in blankets, heavy boots keep your feet from touching the earth, keep people from seeing your legs. And wearing them in summer means that you don't even care that it's warm outside and that people are wearing sandles and shorts, a carefree way to be, but you would rather be hidden away, covered up, cocooned, healing.

michelle2677

08-12-2005, 08:47 AM

love, Love, LOVE this song!! top 5 for me.
this is the stevie voice that I fell in love with!! incredilbe :)

eclipse

08-12-2005, 02:11 PM

This has Nightbird on Solid Gold as well as loads of other clips

http://stevie.nleone.com/sn_movie.htm
Thanks so much...I knew I had listened to it somewhere, and it was driving me nuts :lol: :lol:
Now I just have to figure out my Real Player as oppossed to Media Windows player :shocked: :shocked:
Again, thanks,
~~eclipse~~

bikerchic

08-12-2005, 11:11 PM

Absolutely love this song. Even more so after I saw the SNL performance. The way Stevie look's at Lori is so cute. :thumbsup:

77Rumours77

08-12-2005, 11:12 PM

Love it! One of my fave stevie songs! Its the best!

wolfontherun

08-13-2005, 11:12 AM

2 stars. And I like about 95 % of her music, so that says something.

I dont care for the delivery, at times she sounds like she is mocking someone. The song sounds kinda harsh to me and scratchy. I never thought this song fit well on WH.

On the positive side, I do really like the vocals toward the end of the song, nice passionate upper register, my favorite way to hear Stevie sing.

skcin

08-15-2005, 02:25 PM

wolfontherun

08-15-2005, 07:47 PM

Thanks for posting & welcome to the board. LOVE your screen name, btw! :nod:

Glad to be hare and thanks! Straight Back one of my fav songs!

skcin

08-16-2005, 10:09 AM

Glad to be hare and thanks! Straight Back one of my fav songs!

Mine too. :nod: I was never a big fan, and one day it hit me like a ton of bricks. Her singing is so powerful on it.

jbrownsjr

08-18-2005, 06:24 PM

Great tune. This is my fav Stevie album.

lbelle1214

08-18-2005, 06:39 PM

Love it without a doubt....5 stars. It's one of my favorite songs.

golddust

08-21-2005, 08:04 PM

One of the most magnificent vocals she has ever recorded and she SOARED on it live :cool:

~~~Always one of my favorites and the fact that it was inspired by Robin makes it all the more special.~~~

xxxmx

08-22-2005, 10:19 AM

i've been offline (drive crash - horrors) and come back to this! to think, i may have missed an opportunity to praise Nightbird! well, i'm in NY and late for a thing, but believe that i will be composing an all-heil to NB. check back... ps i miss you guys :wavey: