I can't believe I've been neglecting "Beautiful Child" all these years

[MarkMc1990]

what a great song! I would probably have to put it in my Top 15 Stevie songs, if not 10...

[chriskisn]

what a great song! I would probably have to put it in my Top 15 Stevie songs, if not 10...

I can't believe you've been neglecting it either!!! Beautiful Child is in my list of the most beautiful Fleetwood Mac songs along with Songbird, Dreamin' the Dream and Man of the World.

[caroline79]

what a great song! I would probably have to put it in my Top 15 Stevie songs, if not 10...

I was hesitant to listen at first because I'm not a big fan of slow songs, but I am in love with it now! Definitely in my top 15 as well! :)

[tabruns]

It starts too delicately for radio (a single edit would have been interesting) but the song is beautiful and it builds to quite a crescendo. I love the ending of the song, with Nicks in the background doing the "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" while Lindsey/Christine sing "I'm not a child any more" and then "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" while they sing "old enough to reach for the stars".

I've heard that Warner Bros wanted to limit Tusk to a single album. I can't imagine which Nicks songs would have been cut, because all 5 of them are quite good.

[BombaySapphire3]

I've heard that Warner Bros wanted to limit Tusk to a single album. I can't imagine which Nicks songs would have been cut, because all 5 of them are quite good.

There was a recession in 1979 and Fleetwood Mac had been Warner's cash cow for the last half decade.They were very afraid Tusk would not sell like Rumours but Fleetwood Mac had the clout to do as they pleased at that time.So we got five awesome Nicks songs on a masterpiece of a double album.For the record Stevie also commented that she did not want Tusk to be a double album back then.:rolleyes:

[SortaSavageLike]

You've been neglecting Beautiful Child for years?

I oughta get Child Services on your ass.

[tabruns]

There was a recession in 1979 and Fleetwood Mac had been Warner's cash cow for the last half decade.They were very afraid Tusk would not sell like Rumours but Fleetwood Mac had the clout to do as they pleased at that time.So we got five awesome Nicks songs on a masterpiece of a double album.For the record Stevie also commented that she did not want Tusk to be a double album back then.:rolleyes:

Do you have a source for this? I know that Nicks argued against Say You Will being a double album, but I've not seen where Nicks said anything about Tusk (other than that she hated the term "tusk").

[On Ice]

Beautiful Child is a stunning song with probably the best Buckingham Nicks harmony interplay ever recorded. It could have worked well in 79 as a concert staple if they had been in a 75 frame of mind. I think. The song just begs for a Stevie "Green Manalishi" live type ending, simply not possible in the Say You Will years.

[bombaysaffires]

Do you have a source for this? I know that Nicks argued against Say You Will being a double album, but I've not seen where Nicks said anything about Tusk (other than that she hated the term "tusk").

No, Stevie didn't argue against Tusk being a double album, the record company didn't want to put out a double album, but Fleetwood Mac was powerful enough to get what they wanted and hence the double album happened. That's what BombaySapphire3 was saying.

[Beachwood Mac]

^ and just before the album was released, FM radio played the entire two record album on the radio. Many, including me, taped the album on cassette that night resulting in lower than expected sales. I still bought the record but I'm sure many others didn't.

As for Beautiful Child, I can still remember the DJ on KPRI in San Diego introducing the song by saying "this is primo Fleetwood Mac."

[BombaySapphire3]

^ and just before the album was released, FM radio played the entire two record album on the radio. Many, including me, taped the album on cassette that night resulting in lower than expected sales. I still bought the record but I'm sure many others didn't.

As for Beautiful Child, I can still remember the DJ on KPRI in San Diego introducing the song by saying "this is primo Fleetwood Mac." I was living in San Diego then only I recorded it on 8 track:lol:I could not remember if they played the entire album on KGB or KPRI though.

[johnnystorms]

one of the most stunning lyrics Stevie has ever written! not to mention the amazingly powerful vocal and the intricate production of LB. easily in my top 5 of her songs!!!

[Jondalar]

one of the most stunning lyrics Stevie has ever written! not to mention the amazingly powerful vocal and the intricate production of LB. easily in my top 5 of her songs!!!

I love the melody to this song, but lyrically its too flaky

[mitzo]

Always have loved it, Stevie at her best. Unlike many/most, I am only a true Stevie fan when she is pulling at the heartstrings with slow ballads.

[Artemis]

I love the melody to this song, but lyrically its too flaky

What you call flaky, I call stunningly vulnerable. :laugh:

Like the op, I had neglected Beautiful Child for ages, but I'm now of the opinion that it's one of Stevie's best songs, and certainly her best ever vocal on record.

[CADreaming]

You've been neglecting Beautiful Child for years?

I oughta get Child Services on your ass.

:laugh::laugh::laugh:

Beautiful Child is a stunning song with probably the best Buckingham Nicks harmony interplay ever recorded.

Absolutely.

[chriskisn]

I love the melody to this song, but lyrically its too flaky

Sadly if we used that to determine which songs to listen to, we wouldn't be listening to Stevie Nicks :laugh:

[Dodfather]

I didn't "get" this song for a while, it was nice but nothing special... and then then stunning performance on Live In Boston changed my mind. Wow.

[WildHearted]

I love everything about this song. Definitely one of my favorites. The melody, the lyrics, the instrumentation, everything. It's one of Stevie's best imo.

[AnthonyMI]

I didn't "get" this song for a while, it was nice but nothing special... and then then stunning performance on Live In Boston changed my mind. Wow.


Most people don't get stevie till they have either been in love, heartbroken, or been dumped.:(

[michelej1]

Do you have a source for this? I know that Nicks argued against Say You Will being a double album, but I've not seen where Nicks said anything about Tusk (other than that she hated the term "tusk").

In 1982 Stevie said,

"Well Tusk wasn't my album. Tusk was maily Lindsey's conception, dream, everything he wanted to do. Everybody just figured that for whatever his reasons were, it was important that he do that and we just sort of sat back and let him do it. I don't mean to sound blase or anything. I was there. I just didn't have very much to do with it. Because if I had much to do with it, it wouldn't have been a double album and it wouldn't -- it wouldn't have been crazy."

[louielouie2000]

one of the most stunning lyrics Stevie has ever written! not to mention the amazingly powerful vocal and the intricate production of LB. easily in my top 5 of her songs!!!

Agreed, the entire song is just sublime. Some of the best lyrics of her career. Some of the best singing of her career. One of the best produced songs of her career. This one is truly a diamond. :nod:

[tabruns]

In 1982 Stevie said,

Most interesting. You'd think that she'd be in favor of a double album if only because it gets more of her songs out there.

[fairydust75]

Has anybody every heard Stevie mention what this song is about? Any ideas? I love this song. I thought they did a great job with it on the SYW tour, simply beautiful...

[sleepless child]

I've always loved this song and I always wondered what it was about. I tend to think it was for Mick. All the songs from that era was about her relationship with him. Sara, Storms and I think Carol Harris said in her book that Angel was written for Mick. Beauty and the Beast was also recorded for Tusk in a blues style that ended up not being on the album and it was written for Mick also. So I think Beautiful Child is also for Mick.

[Villavic]

Well I do believe you cause I don't like that song. Storms is far better. Just my opinion.

[PenguinHead]

Beautiful Child is a stunning song with probably the best Buckingham Nicks harmony interplay ever recorded. It could have worked well in 79 as a concert staple if they had been in a 75 frame of mind. I think. The song just begs for a Stevie "Green Manalishi" live type ending, simply not possible in the Say You Will years.

Insightful statements! I can totally imagine a "Green Manalishi" ending, which would have had much more impact than the somewhat tepid ending from the Say You Will performances. Yet, I'm grateful that at least she decided to unearth and perform the song so many years after the fact.

[louielouie2000]

Has anybody every heard Stevie mention what this song is about? Any ideas? I love this song. I thought they did a great job with it on the SYW tour, simply beautiful...

The song is about that first really earth shattering love that every single person has. The one that when it's over, you're never the same again... you don't view the world through the same lenses, etc. The song is about losing innocence because a love affair ends.

As for which of Stevie's many partners this song was about? I have no idea. Keep in mind though that the song is not about Stevie being a literal child when she met this person. It's a metaphor for her being an innocent. It could be about Lindsey, but it seems even more possible it's about somebody like Mick. Because she was thrown under the bus by Mick, yet had to walk away with her head up & remain friends and bandmates with him. That kind of a situation requires instant maturity, in my opinion. The song could just as well be about Stevie's affair with Don Henley, & their alleged aborted child too. If that kind of a situation doesn't make you grow up, I don't know what would.

[RickRobert]

Incredible harmony arrangement, and one of Stevie's best vocals / melodies ever.

[WildHearted]

Incredible harmony arrangement, and one of Stevie's best vocals / melodies ever.

Completely agree. It's superb.

[sjpdg]

what a great song! I would probably have to put it in my Top 15 Stevie songs, if not 10...

I've always liked "Beautiful Child" from when I first heard it on "Tusk". Then the alternate version on the "25 Years" compilation came out and I completely flipped for it. I had felt it needed more percussion, that it was "missing something" despite the fact that I liked it, then I heard that version and knew I had gotten what I'd wanted all those years. I prefer to listen to the "25 Years" version over the "Tusk" version. (Just like Christine's "Brown Eyes"!!). :nod:

[GoldDustWoman22]

I really love this song...particularly at the end when she sorta contradicts herself. Like when she goes "I'm not a child anymore/I'm not a child I'm not/I'm tall enough to reach for the stars/I will do as I'm told/Even if I never hold you again/Too trusting yes but women usually are." I'm pretty sure that might have been the point...but either way this is a stunning song. And so sad it almost makes my heart break :distress:.

[brocadelady]

I adore this song, I mean listen to it on repeat for hours kind of adoration...
The lyrical contradictions are intensely moving for me, I think they belie the high echelon of emotion and tender vulnerability in this song...
I'd love to hear Stevie talk about it or indeed perform it live once more... For some reason it has always resonated for me and had me craving the lines in 'after the glitter fades' the loneliness of a one night stand is hard to take...

Beautiful Child is my favourite Fleetwood Mac song AND Stevie Nicks song.

[jay]

I adore Beautiful child. It's always one of the tracks I immediately go for when I want to listen to some random Fleetwood Mac. Silver springs is another one that I will never, ever tire of.

[MarkMc1990]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NqeGhHv46CM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I am ADDICTED to this version of Beautiful Child!! The instrumentation and vocal are superb.

[TrueFaith77]

Beautiful Child is my favourite Fleetwood Mac song AND Stevie Nicks song.

Sometimes I agree with you. And I have felt this way since the first listen. It's the Mac song that makes me cry.


(Woman of a 1000 Years makes me cry too)

[jbrownsjr]

Sometimes I agree with you. And I have felt this way since the first listen. It's the Mac song that makes me cry.


(Woman of a 1000 Years makes me cry too)

I love Woman of a 1000 Years!

[svnwndrs]

For me, personally, this song always falls into that "tearjerker" category.

[ViscountViktor]

One of Stevie's best ever vocals.

[Frankenstein]

Beautiful Child, Storms and Beauty and the Beast are the top three most devastating Stevie songs for me. If this song doesn't evoke emotion in you, you must be dead :lol:

[Netter75]

After reading through this thread a few days ago I decided to revisit this song. Always considered it the weakest of Stevie's five Tusk songs... Wow I don't know what I was hearing before, I guess I never gave it much of a shot, but it's amazing. The instrumentation, vocals, and backgrounds are all spot on. I actually can't decide which version I like the best: studio, Live in Boston, or the heavier one included on the Alternate Tusk.

Makes me wish that the performance with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 2006 would be released in good quality... I have a feeling the strings added a lot to this one.

So thanks for reviving this thread! Only problem is that I can't decide which of Stevie's songs on Tusk is the weakest now that I'm falling over this one... maybe Angel? They're all great to me now.

[dreamsunwind]

I love this song sooooo much. On the Tusk liner notes Lindsey said something about how this one and Storms are his favorites and that they 'just kill' him and I couldn't agree more. I think it's so weird that those two, especially Beautiful Child, are some of Stevie's more 'forgotten' songs by a lot of people. With her Tusk songs everyone usually talks about Sara which is totally fantastic but these two just have this different quality to them, this sheer emotion.

But I wish she had just never said what Beautiful Child was about.

[jbrownsjr]

I love this song sooooo much. On the Tusk liner notes Lindsey said something about how this one and Storms are his favorites and that they 'just kill' him and I couldn't agree more. I think it's so weird that those two, especially Beautiful Child, are some of Stevie's more 'forgotten' songs by a lot of people. With her Tusk songs everyone usually talks about Sara which is totally fantastic but these two just have this different quality to them, this sheer emotion.

But I wish she had just never said what Beautiful Child was about.

I love these two songs way more than Sara. Agree with emotion. Even Christine and the rest of the band sound emotional during these two songs. They grab you..

[BLY]

This has always been a favorite of mine ever since I heard it back in the day. Stevie's voice, the harmonies with Buckingham and McVie are amazing. When this song was brought to the live show years back I was thrilled. Stevie and Lindsey nailed it. All I can can say is Tusk...Tusk...Tusk. So many classics. Thank you for not doing " Rumours 2 " .

[Murrow]

When they did it live in London in 2003 when I was there, hearing Brett Tuggle play that piano intro was my goosebumps moment of the night. I don't love everything on Tusk but that's definitely one of the better ones.