Can we talk about.....Bombay Sapphires?

[hippilil86]

because, whatever you desire, I can mend your heart.

[holidayroad]

Here's a question, is the song about the brand of liquor?.....:laugh:

[LukeA]

Here's a question, is the song about the brand of liquor?.....:laugh:

Yes.

They added the "s" to "Sapphire" days before the CD was manufactured. Its sung as "sapphire" in the song, and the lyrics (as printed in the lyric book thingy they handed out at the TISL record completion dinner) clearly say "Sapphire", along with some slightly different lyrics ("...for the call of the wind")

[hippilil86]

It is blue
It is not about you
It is all true
You know who I am

I always thought that this (at least this part) was about Lindsey. It does remind me a little of Blue Denim, almost as an answer, that this song isn't about him, it's about how she feels.... and how everything she's written about him in the past is true?
Actually, I don't know if that makes sense. All I know is that I really like this song.

[michelej1]

It is blue
It is not about you
It is all true
You know who I am

I always thought that this (at least this part) was about Lindsey. It does remind me a little of Blue Denim, almost as an answer, that this song isn't about him, it's about how she feels.... and how everything she's written about him in the past is true?
Actually, I don't know if that makes sense. All I know is that I really like this song.

I don't think it's about Lindsey, but your pointing out those lyrics does remind me of her talking about their arguments and mentioning the color blue and the blues.

If he says this song is a blues song, I will say no, it's a rock song and then we'll argue about it for an hour. . . . It's like, I see it as blue and he sees it as green. It's that kind of thing.

Michele

[CADreaming]

Love this song...

One of my favorite Stevie quotes is regarding the alcohol inspiration...she's so funny!

[Now about the song "Bombay Sapphires" - has the liquor company called to say " thank you' and sent over some product?] No, they haven't, and it's not 'Bombay Sapphire', It's 'Bombay SapphireS! (laughs ) I knew people were going to hit me with that. I got the idea many, many, years ago when we were talking about jewelry and stones, about tile and rubies, Bombay sapphires.It's like a blue-gray kind of star sapphire thing, it's the color of the ocean, and that's what I wrote it about. And I purposely put the 'S' on it so that they wouldn't think I was writing about gin.Gin makes you meaaaannn! It's definitely not a liquor I would have written a song about. (laughs )" ~Stevie Nicks, In News Weekly, May 2, 2001

[LukeA]

Legal made her add it at the last moment.

[CADreaming]

Legal made her add it at the last moment.

Oh, I wouldn't doubt that...I just think it's a hilarious quote.

It still wouldn't necessarily mean it's about gin though...she could have just liked the name...I mean it is catchy... ;)

[jrpjr]

hate it...every note..i think its one of most unemotional songs and its weirdly produced..sounds like something u would here on a cruise ship and if i did hear it would go to another part of the ship

[daniellaaarisen]

It took me a while to actually like this song, and its still not a favorite of mine off of TISL. I think there are some really interesting lines in this song, though. Unavoidably interesting.

"To love one another for a while was enough
it was all that I lived for."

"It is colors that I've never seen
I can see past you to the white sand."

"The sea never changes, not really.
It is the constant in my life."


So I have some questions for all of you:
Any concrete facts about this song that you can share? When it was written, what its about (in terms of quotes from Stevie herself, not speculation)?
What do YOU think it is about?

I have a theory, I think.

[priestofnothing]

So I have some questions for all of you:
Any concrete facts about this song that you can share? When it was written, what its about (in terms of quotes from Stevie herself, not speculation)?




http://www.inherownwords.com/bombay.htm

[Musicman408]

Personally this is one of my faves of TISL. I actually like the way it was produced, kind of that mystical foreign feel to it- can't really describe it at the moment.

The lyrics are stellar, as is most of the TISL album actually.:nod:

I'm with Dani, I don't know much of the history of this song, and that would be interesting to find out. :nod:

[michelej1]

So I have some questions for all of you:
Any concrete facts about this song that you can share? When it was written, what its about (in terms of quotes from Stevie herself, not speculation)?
What do YOU think it is about?


Stevie said it was her favorite song on the album. Now, I'm not sure we can find any clues to its meaning in this;).

Stevie: Yes [it's her favorite], because it is a song that I thought had a great message. I wrote it in Hawaii two years ago. At that point, in order to write the rest of the songs for this record, I really had to leave my Enchanged box set and Fleetwood Mac behind. Hawaii was very different than any place I'd been. Very green, jade green, very calm, very Zen. And I realized that if you take yourself to a great environment, you can just about get over anything. I was looking outside one day and it was like I was almost seeing my past as a little bit of something that I really wanted to leave behind for awhile. I was looking past the past, out to the ocean and how beautiful it was and how white and inviting the sand was. I thought: I can see past you to the white sand and a message back to me that you are moving on now, you really are moving on. You are letting go of all that stuff that bothered you and you are moving foward. So, for me, it was very important that that song be on the record. I recorded that song two other times, and I didn't like it either time. I went back in for a third time and played it myself to get it the way I had written it when I was in Hawaii that night.

Here's another one:

Stevie: My personal favorite is Bombay Sapphires. when it says, "I can see past you to the white sand," that sentence right there is the whole reason for Bombay Sapphires. It means that I'm really trying to get over something, and though I'm freaked out about it, I'm looking to the green ocean and can see past all of these problems to the incredibly beautiful white sand and the ocean beyond it. I'm gonna be ok, because I am moving past you. And when Bombay Sapphires almost got pulled off the record because it wasn't recorded right, I was horrified that one line was not going to be on the record. It's really important for me to tell people that if they're in an unhappy situation, they should not stay forever and be miserable.

[michelej1]

Most of the other quotes are about Macy Gray and not the song itself. Macy was also managed by Howard and so Howard got in touch with her for Stevie. Stevie said she really wanted to ask Sting to sing on it, "but I just chickened out. He was on tour and has a big record out, so I thought he must be very busy. At the last minute of Bombay Sapphire, I thought Macy Gray coud do that part really great if she would. The next day, she was there, did it in about an hour, and was gone. It was a little moment. As people hear the record, all those little moments will be much more special after they've really listened to it and heard what Macy did. She sang a great little part on it. It's very quite, but it's very there."

"I asked Macy because she has that high, little kind of raspy voice that is what I wanted for that sort of reggae kind of song. She's a trip, she's very funny. And she said to me as she came through the door, 'I do not do harmony.' I said, "Well, ok. Let's take the melody off of Bombay Sapphires and just put the high harmony in, and you just sing that like it was the melody, as if there was never another part. As if that's the only part that ever existed.' And she did it perfect."

[Musicman408]

Stevie said it was her favorite song on the album. Now, I'm not sure we can find any clues to its meaning in this;).

Stevie: Yes [it's her favorite], because it is a song that I thought had a great message. I wrote it in Hawaii two years ago. At that point, in order to write the rest of the songs for this record, I really had to leave my Enchanged box set and Fleetwood Mac behind. Hawaii was very different than any place I'd been. Very green, jade green, very calm, very Zen. And I realized that if you take yourself to a great environment, you can just about get over anything. I was looking outside one day and it was like I was almost seeing my past as a little bit of something that I really wanted to leave behind for awhile. I was looking past the past, out to the ocean and how beautiful it was and how white and inviting the sand was. I thought: I can see past you to the white sand and a message back to me that you are moving on now, you really are moving on. You are letting go of all that stuff that bothered you and you are moving foward. So, for me, it was very important that that song be on the record. I recorded that song two other times, and I didn't like it either time. I went back in for a third time and played it myself to get it the way I had written it when I was in Hawaii that night.

Here's another one:

Stevie: My personal favorite is Bombay Sapphires. when it says, "I can see past you to the white sand," that sentence right there is the whole reason for Bombay Sapphires. It means that I'm really trying to get over something, and though I'm freaked out about it, I'm looking to the green ocean and can see past all of these problems to the incredibly beautiful white sand and the ocean beyond it. I'm gonna be ok, because I am moving past you. And when Bombay Sapphires almost got pulled off the record because it wasn't recorded right, I was horrified that one line was not going to be on the record. It's really important for me to tell people that if they're in an unhappy situation, they should not stay forever and be miserable.

Interesting clips. Thanks for the find!!! :nod:

[daniellaaarisen]

Michele, thanks so much for those.

Okay, so like everything TISL and SYW related, I automatically want to relate this song to what did or did not happen between Stevie and Lindsey during the Dance. At the very least, I think there was some extreme emotional tensions rising up during the time... so it makes sense either way, I think. This can also relate to her relationship with the band in general, and their continuous working relationship.


"To love one another for a while was enough
it was all that I lived for."
Self explanitory. "For a while" was enough... she seems to have realized that it wouldn't last, that there was a definite end that both of them saw (the end of a tour, possibly... :) ). The inevitable heartbreak at the end would be worth it because it was "all that [she] lived for."


"It is colors that I've never seen
I can see past you to the white sand."
"Colors that I've never seen"... a love unlike what she's experienced before. A totally surreal, unfamiliar type of relationship that is beautiful but scary. When I hear this line, I automatically think of a "forbidden" love... To be quite honest, Stevie has never been one to care too much about breaking up other people's relationships in pursuit of her own... but with the potential Lindsey situation in 1997, she could have built a wall due to a long, winding road of emotional tension... or his upcoming child. Not to say she was necessarily that dedicated to maintaining the wall, of course, which could be a major element of the entire ordeal. But to me, looking past that-- the forbidden circumstance, the beauty and the trauma-- means looking for the "white sand" and seeing a life without color (without love) to appreciate and find beautiful. This could be the realization that she really doesn't need anyone but herself. I don't think she was totally dependent on men in general for her entire life up to the Dance.... but I do think she always felt she needed Lindsey, in some shape or form. These lines make me think that she believes that she can see beyond him, beyond their 40+ year history together... I'm not so sure she can.

"The sea never changes, not really.
It is the constant in my life."
The sea is CONSTANTLY changing. It is reliably unpredictable. Like La Nicks and her entire life. I just love how the contradictions here illustrate that.

[hippilil86]

Michele, thanks so much for those.

Okay, so like everything TISL and SYW related, I automatically want to relate this song to what did or did not happen between Stevie and Lindsey during the Dance. At the very least, I think there was some extreme emotional tensions rising up during the time... so it makes sense either way, I think. This can also relate to her relationship with the band in general, and their continuous working relationship.


"To love one another for a while was enough
it was all that I lived for."
Self explanitory. "For a while" was enough... she seems to have realized that it wouldn't last, that there was a definite end that both of them saw (the end of a tour, possibly... :) ). The inevitable heartbreak at the end would be worth it because it was "all that [she] lived for."


"It is colors that I've never seen
I can see past you to the white sand."
"Colors that I've never seen"... a love unlike what she's experienced before. A totally surreal, unfamiliar type of relationship that is beautiful but scary. When I hear this line, I automatically think of a "forbidden" love... To be quite honest, Stevie has never been one to care too much about breaking up other people's relationships in pursuit of her own... but with the potential Lindsey situation in 1997, she could have built a wall due to a long, winding road of emotional tension... or his upcoming child. Not to say she was necessarily that dedicated to maintaining the wall, of course, which could be a major element of the entire ordeal. But to me, looking past that-- the forbidden circumstance, the beauty and the trauma-- means looking for the "white sand" and seeing a life without color (without love) to appreciate and find beautiful. This could be the realization that she really doesn't need anyone but herself. I don't think she was totally dependent on men in general for her entire life up to the Dance.... but I do think she always felt she needed Lindsey, in some shape or form. These lines make me think that she believes that she can see beyond him, beyond their 40+ year history together... I'm not so sure she can.

"The sea never changes, not really.
It is the constant in my life."
The sea is CONSTANTLY changing. It is reliably unpredictable. Like La Nicks and her entire life. I just love how the contradictions here illustrate that.

" I do think she always felt she needed Lindsey, in some shape or form. These lines make me think that she believes that she can see beyond him, beyond their 40+ year history together... I'm not so sure she can."

--I totally agree. She may have thought, at the time, that she could see past him, but it may not have been/may not be as easy as she thought.

[CADreaming]

What I like about the song, is its contradiction. It begins with a sad revelation about a relationship:

How can I go on without you
Can I go on without you
I tell myself this time
I'm going to have to
Move on

But, even in the midst of her declaration to "move on", she admits the one thing that remains a connecting point in the relationship and what has always drawn her back - You know who I am.

And, by the end, that's also what remains.

Whatever you desire
I can mend your heart

Unless it is about liquor, and in that case the gin is saying: Hey I can take you higher and the purple haze is marijuana and It's there every day...

You know what I mean ;)


Seriously, there is something that bugs me from one of her quotes. She said Hawaii was like no place she had ever been - making it sound like this period of time was her first visit, when we all know she had been there many times before. So, end up questioning the time period of whatever happened to inspire the song - not the time period of when it was actually written. I think she's honest about that. But, she leads us on a lot of times and lets us believe her songs play into events we know specifics about, when in actuality it may be something we know nothing about that she keeps private... jmo.

Or it's just about her pitching a drunk when Lindsey dumped her during The Dance tour. LOL.