Rock A Little - the song

[Spoinny]

Can anyone give me a breakdown on the meaning of this song?

[Thrown_Down]

I'd like to know too, although I wonder if it's about Jimmy Iovine. I am especially intrigued by the line 'pale pink satin worn out in a week', as I can only imagine she is referring to satin sheets being 'worn out'. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd like to know!

[louielouie2000]

One of my very fav songs! :D Here is a link of Stevie herself explaining the song and it's origins:

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

Stevie had an oceanfront condo in Santa Monica in the early '80s which apparently would rumble with the crashing surf. She apparently was frightened by the rumbling at first, but learned that she just had to loosen up and get used to it. So she then drew a parallel between that and life... that if you're rigid, you get shaken and hurt by life's vibrations. But if you're relaxed and just rock a little yourself when things get shaky, you'll be okay. At least part of the song is talking about her dealing with her lifelong best friend Robin's death from leukemia a few years before.

Just for reference, some of Stevie's most iconic photos were shot at her Santa Monica condo:

http://www.buckinghamnicks.net/sn/images/SNicksPlayboyPhotoShoot.jpg

http://www.buckinghamnicks.net/sn/images/SNicksK01.JPG

http://www.buckinghamnicks.net/sn/images/SNicksSunglasses.JPG

[markolas]

I am especially intrigued by the line 'pale pink satin worn out in a week', as I can only imagine she is referring to satin sheets being 'worn out'. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd like to know!

She's talking about ballet slippers. :)

[louielouie2000]

I'd like to know too, although I wonder if it's about Jimmy Iovine. I am especially intrigued by the line 'pale pink satin worn out in a week', as I can only imagine she is referring to satin sheets being 'worn out'. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd like to know!

Apparently "pale pink satin worn out in a week" is a reference to ballet shoes :). The tips of the shoes are satin, and wear out very quickly:

http://www.newasuri.com/images/2011/04/Ballet-Shoes.jpg

[fringed n fab]

Fans will always read more into things than maybe what they actually are. Minds wander far on the fan boards.

[mikebise]

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

We kinda rock a little all our life we rock ~ I did ~ I rocked in my cradle for sure and ah, then in mid-life you sort of rock on your feet and then you move onwards to a rocking chair at some point, probably, so that's kind of what Rock a Little means. It means to rock and roll all your life.
~Stevie Nicks, MTV clip, 1985

[Rock A Little] was also written before Bella Donna came out...and I've had most of the song ~ in fact, I mean really the entire [singing ] Sometimes it rages that was about the ocean you know ~ that ~ like shook my house and scared me to death every night ~ 'cause I thought it was an earthquake. [Singing] Rock a little/ Even when it's calm the house still shook a little/ Just like the sea I rock a little/ Some say it was just like me ~ Rock a little. That mean's cool out. Relax. Okay. Just rock a little all the time and you won't die.
~Stevie Nicks, Jim Ladd Interview, 1986

I'm Lily. ...I've been Lily for a long time, actually because in my writing ~ in my book and everything ~ I, when I write about me and my friend Robin who everybody knows that I lost to leukemia I wrote about her and I as Lily and Julia ~ Julia and Lillian Hellman ~ so that movie [Julia] ~ you know with Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave ~ so Robin looked incredibly like Vanessa Redgrave and I ~ I was very Jane Fonda you know. And our relationship was very much like this like you know ~ come on across the river but don't forget to tell me that you're really afraid so in case you fall in I'll be expecting it. Don't lie to me and say 'Alright ~ I'll do it because you think I'm brave.'
~Stevie Nicks, Mary Turner "Off the Record" Interview, 1986

The Other Side of the Mirror came from…well first it was going to be Mirror, Mirror, that was going to the name of Rock A Little. And then, because the song Mirror Mirror didn't end up going on the record because I didn't like the way it turned out, I changed it to Rock A Little because Rock A Little became the lead song.
~Stevie Nicks, Atlantic Records video interview, 1986

Rock a little means perseverance ~ Rock a little means rock a little all the time. If you rock out, you may not rock any more.
~Stevie Nicks, Mary Turner "Off the Record" Interview, 1986

[Spoinny]

I always thought maybe "hit it" meant hit the pipe, but I don't think Stevie did Crack :)

[fumidesigns]

She's talking about ballet slippers. :)

lmaooooooooooooo thanks for this. i was like woooooooooooooooooooooooow

[louielouie2000]

I always thought maybe "hit it" meant hit the pipe, but I don't think Stevie did Crack :)

She's talking about hitting the dance floor to do ballet. Ballet was a stress reliever for her. If you have ever seen the Tusk Documentary, she talks about her love of ballet pretty extensively, and you even get to see her doing her lessons in her home studio. The song is about how she dealt with the giant blow of losing her best friend to cancer. She danced a lot, and she just learned to rock/stay loose/go with the flow/etc when things get shaky.

[Spoinny]

She's talking about hitting the dance floor to do ballet. Ballet was a stress reliever for her. If you have ever seen the Tusk Documentary, she talks about her love of ballet pretty extensively, and you even get to see her doing her lessons in her home studio. The song is about how she dealt with the giant blow of losing her best friend to cancer. She danced a lot, and she just learned to rock/stay loose/go with the flow/etc when things get shaky.

interesting, thanks Louie!

[KarmaContestant]

In the end, really, sometimes it's better not to know what Stevie's lyrics are about....that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. :laugh: Some of her greatest lyrics, full of mystery and so many hidden innuendos turn out to be about mundane things like ballet dancing and shaking houses.

The truth can totally ruin the mystery of her songs, for me.

[mikebise]

"Lily, it's time
To hit the stage...
One more time...
She's waiting...
Hit it~ one more time..."

;):]

[fumidesigns]

In the end, really, sometimes it's better not to know what Stevie's lyrics are about....that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. :laugh: Some of her greatest lyrics, full of mystery and so many hidden innuendos turn out to be about mundane things like ballet dancing and shaking houses.

The truth can totally ruin the mystery of her songs, for me.

yeah it is fun when you don't know what she's talkin about. i totally agree with you. i'm kinda disappointed to know that "pale pink satin worn out in a week" is about her ballet slippers. :angel:

[Thrown_Down]

yeah it is fun when you don't know what she's talkin about. i totally agree with you. i'm kinda disappointed to know that "pale pink satin worn out in a week" is about her ballet slippers. :angel:


Me too. I prefer my original 'sheets' theory!

[mikebise]

Yes, ballet slippers, but it could also refer to the pale pink bodice of one of Stevie's Tusk tour outfits. She never eeally hit the touring stage in ballet slippers, so the 1979-80 "Rhiannon" outift screamed to me with this line.

[Jondalar]

I am not a fan of the album, but there was something about this song that just caught my attention. It's gothic and dark and when she said rumours in the song at the end, I thought she was talking about the apolcolpyse

[Silylily]

Can anyone give me a breakdown on the meaning of this song?

It will be my pleasure! I was named after this song (well, okay, Lilyana) which was my mother's favorite from Rock a Little. I'll give my best interpretation here:

Sometimes it rages... rock a little (Addressing her newfound romanticism with Jimmy Iovine and the rock & roll lifestyle in general)
Even when it's calm... still rock a little (Same as above)
Just like the sea... I rock a little
Say it was just like me
Still rock a little

Then you knew her...funny little dancer
And you watched her all night long (In the studio, Jimmy was mesmerized and constantly trying to figure her out)
You were trying to learn from her teachers (Stevie knew Jimmy recognized she had a special special talent as he pondered the source of that talent and inspiration)
One thing that she wanted
She would not be tangled up...in it (Stevie's reflection of the irony she WAS "tangled up in it", the typical rock & roll lifestyle and relationships)

Hit it, (Stevie's subliminal reference to the connection between a live show and cocaine)
It's about time, Lily (Her ironic refence of both of the above)
Oh, I know Lily ("Yeah, but what can I do about it now?")
Rock a little
Hit the stage...Hit the stage
Hit it,
Rock a little

Then he says, Go ahead, lily
Hit it,
Hit the stage, dancin'...go on
Hit it...Well, I know lily
It's about time, lily
Hit it

Well, I know lily
It's about time, lily
Hit it
Hit the stage
Hit it

She's home now; (Stevie is on a visit with her parents, noting the many changes in her life)
She says I've gone far beyond that song (Barbara Nicks intuitively reading her daughter and how "far she's gone")
She says rock and roll ballerina (Stevie's way of saying, but look at me now mom, all those ballet lessons finally paid off! I'm the bona fide rock and roll ballerina!")
Where else would she go? (Regarding her lessons in ballet and her general personality)
He knows his daughter, says
Where does she live? (Inside joke regarding her parents constantly asking her to update her residence, for them to get in touch with her)
He says, Oh, up there somewhere (Jess Nicks knows his ungrounded, "flaky" daughter too well!)

Lots of them
And all one of a kind (the many shows, fans, and lovers of her lifetime)
But the most important thing was
What was on her mind
Pale pink satin...worn out in a week (Irony of the worn out satin that touched her skin onstage and the satin sheets she slept upon)
But you loved you the most and you said...

Go ahead Lily, hit it
It's about time, lily
Well I know, lily
It's about time, lily
Hit the stage
Hit it

Go ahead, lily
Hit it (stage/sheets/cocaine)
No explanations and I tell you no (Stevie's typical response to "the prying'' when asked personal questions)
You say...Nothing
That is how songs are written
Stories are told, rumours are started

That is how songs are written
Stories are told, rumours are started

Go ahead, lily
Hit it
It's about time lily
Hit the stage, dancin'
I know, lily
Hit it
Hit the stage

Go ahead, lily
Hit it
It's about time lily
Hit the stage, dancin'
I know, lily
Hit it
Hit the stage

Go ahead, lily
Hit it
It's about time lily
Hit the stage, dancin'
I know, lily
Hit it
Hit the stage

[Christopher]

yeah it is fun when you don't know what she's talkin about. i totally agree with you. i'm kinda disappointed to know that "pale pink satin worn out in a week" is about her ballet slippers. :angel:

Though it's possible Stevie may have been referencing "ballet slippers", I tend to believe and take that line less literally. It's a metaphor. Stevie was burnt & worn out coming off the year long worldwide TUSK tour. Everything was pretty on the outside, the fame, the gossamer chiffon in every color, she had everything money could buy, but on the inside Stevie was very tired, Worn down by the rock n' roll lifestyle that had engulfed her life. This is well documented in many interviews during this era. Stevie was entering her early 30's and feeling its effects and wanting to adopt a new way to "rock a little" without burning the candle at both ends."No speed limit, This is the FAST LANE!" It totally fascinating that she wrote this song before Bella Donna (which also parallels the same themes), and recorded it during the RAL era, when Lily did completely burn out.

[TheSorcerer]

I love this song. It's so haunting and atmospheric.

[Ghosty]

I remember hearing her talk about it once (or one of her friends talking of it), can't remember if it is in that book, Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Stevie Nicks, or someplace else....

She mentioned not feeling well one night, but she had a show, and her dad saying to her, go ahead, hit the stage, dancing.... He was supporting her and knowing the show must go on. Although I thought she mentioned it was during the BD or WH tour when that happened, so if she wrote it before then, guess she was not totally on track about the full meaning of the whole song. And I remember hearing her talk of how we rock all through our life, in the cradle, on our feet, and in a rocking chair, and how she'd be this old lady someday, but still rocking out in a rocking chair. It seems a very iconic song for her. Too bad she never did it live. I love the demo of it too. Well, one in particular that is my favorite, but it's on cassette and I haven't heard it in years.

I never heard it was about Jimmy. but if it was written back in the making of BD, I suppose it very well could have a bit to do with him too. I love the reference to the ocean and cliffs and her having to get used to that. She has such a way of taking something so literal, and it sounds good in a song, but also adding to it figuratively as well.

The pale, pink satin, I always pictured ballet shoes, but that she might be using it as symbolism. I like thinking of sexy satin or silk lingerie, but I figure most likely it could be about herself, beautiful and fragile....and about her life as a rock star, etc.

I always loved this song. But I never realized the RAL album was almost going to be Mirror Mirror! I always wished OSOTM had been Mirror Mirror, with different songs on it than what ended up on it. Mirror and Mirror, and of course, Alice. But other stuff too, like She Still Loves Him, and many of her other excellent demos from around then. Rupert screwed that up royally. : ( To think, what could have been!



edit: also in that book it talked about how one day when she was feeling down and someone gave her a few little rocks since she was working on RAL. She said how Robin would give her little things, like little hearts when she was thinking of the WH concept or song. And so it cheered her up, remembering Robin, and that her other friend thought to do that to cheer her up. Does that ring a bell with anyone, or am I remembering it incorrectly? I just thought it was cute. Don't know what she got when working on BD? I've never seen mini tambourines, except for the one that came with my Star doll when I was a kid, lol.

[Heartboy]

'Rock A Little' is my fave Stevie album and this song is kick ass!:cool:

I think it has the best bass line ever recorded in a song!:)

[jellyman10]

One of my favourite ever Stevie tracks. I love the way it uses such a great rock sounding guitar in almost a ballad tempo. And her voice is so wrecked and ragged, it just drips with all kinds of excess. Make me think 'hit it' is sexytime. :lol:

[louielouie2000]

I love this song. It's so haunting and atmospheric.

One of my favourite ever Stevie tracks. I love the way it uses such a great rock sounding guitar in almost a ballad tempo. And her voice is so wrecked and ragged, it just drips with all kinds of excess.

Agreed and agreed!! :thumbsup:

I just adore the atmosphere of the song. It just sounds so completely drugged out. I mean, it totally sounds like she's singing the song after a 3 day long drug-fueled binge while sitting in her living room with coke lines on the mirror and candle light flickering. It's one of those tracks where Stevie just masterfully captures the moment, and the true desperate subject matter of the song. The only song I think which Stevie captures her emotions better is perhaps Storms... where she sang the song like she'd just finished a big crying session. I just love it when Stevie can really make her voice show the emotion of the intense subject matter. She really exceeded with that on Rock A Little. And the production fully captured the mood, too. This is just one of those perfect songs for me; and why I'm a Stevie fan.

[fumidesigns]

I remember hearing her talk about it once (or one of her friends talking of it), can't remember if it is in that book, Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Stevie Nicks, or someplace else....

She mentioned not feeling well one night, but she had a show, and her dad saying to her, go ahead, hit the stage, dancing.... He was supporting her and knowing the show must go on. Although I thought she mentioned it was during the BD or WH tour when that happened, so if she wrote it before then, guess she was not totally on track about the full meaning of the whole song. And I remember hearing her talk of how we rock all through our life, in the cradle, on our feet, and in a rocking chair, and how she'd be this old lady someday, but still rocking out in a rocking chair. It seems a very iconic song for her. Too bad she never did it live. I love the demo of it too. Well, one in particular that is my favorite, but it's on cassette and I haven't heard it in years.

I never heard it was about Jimmy. but if it was written back in the making of BD, I suppose it very well could have a bit to do with him too. I love the reference to the ocean and cliffs and her having to get used to that. She has such a way of taking something so literal, and it sounds good in a song, but also adding to it figuratively as well.

The pale, pink satin, I always pictured ballet shoes, but that she might be using it as symbolism. I like thinking of sexy satin or silk lingerie, but I figure most likely it could be about herself, beautiful and fragile....and about her life as a rock star, etc.

I always loved this song. But I never realized the RAL album was almost going to be Mirror Mirror! I always wished OSOTM had been Mirror Mirror, with different songs on it than what ended up on it. Mirror and Mirror, and of course, Alice. But other stuff too, like She Still Loves Him, and many of her other excellent demos from around then. Rupert screwed that up royally. : ( To think, what could have been!



edit: also in that book it talked about how one day when she was feeling down and someone gave her a few little rocks since she was working on RAL. She said how Robin would give her little things, like little hearts when she was thinking of the WH concept or song. And so it cheered her up, remembering Robin, and that her other friend thought to do that to cheer her up. Does that ring a bell with anyone, or am I remembering it incorrectly? I just thought it was cute. Don't know what she got when working on BD? I've never seen mini tambourines, except for the one that came with my Star doll when I was a kid, lol.

see and THIS is y i love being back on the ledge! WHAT BOOK!? OMG! i knew so much more when i had my phx connects!

[Ghosty]

It's a book about her that came out in the mid 80's. I remember getting it at the drugstore in the paperback book section near the magazines when I was a kid. It was awesome. I still have it somewhere. Back then the pictures were so exciting to see because there was no internet. And all the info was great. I am pretty sure all the pics have been seen now. I even posted them online many years ago on a Stevie fan site or something. The pics on the front and back of the book are nice too, and in color. Then a few b& w pics inside. And the biography of Stevie, from her childhood, singing with her grandfather, all the way up to after the WH album, if I remember correctly. Even mentions her marriage. I am not sure how much it costs these days on like ebay and collectors websites. For a while it was rather pricey to get a used copy.

[mikebise]

I still have my copy. It came out in early 1985, with the front cover being one of those "If Anyone Falls" video shoot pics with the microphone, and the back cover is Stevie screaming "Outside The Rain" from the 1983 Us Festival. By Ed Ochs and Ethlie Van Aire. She writes sci-fi movies nowadays...

[Silylily]

see and THIS is y i love being back on the ledge! WHAT BOOK!? OMG! i knew so much more when i had my phx connects!

I've speculated on this song so much through the years with my mom and you know what? Your take on the song is the most convincing to me and all of the pieces of the puzzle finally fit together!

With loving thanks ~ Lilyana ( lily-AH-na)