Still Discovering

[Sorcerer386]

Yes, after five years of being a Stevie fan, I am STILL discovering songs that I really didn't like at first. Right now, it's Doing the Best that I Can. See, I can actually like a song just because of what it's about. It can be a horrible song, but if I like the meaning or lyrics, I can like the song. For example: John Mayer's No Such Thing I didn't like until I understood what the song was about, then I loved it. Anyway, I was sitting there thinking about things and somehow got on the subject of what Stevie says about certain songs, and I remembered reading Stevie saying this song was a nice way of telling everyone to get off her back. So, I listened a few times and it grew on me. I do have a question about the song: Where does the Escape from Berlin part come in?

[wondergirl9847]

Originally posted by Sorcerer386
For example: John Mayer's No Such Thing I didn't like until I understood what the song was about, then I loved it.

I really like that John Mayer song!! "I wanna run through the halls of my high school, I wanna scream at the top of my lungs, I just found out there's no such thing as the real world, just a lie you've got to rise above." GREATNESS!! :thumbsup: I dunno about the Escape to Berlin part, I don't think I've heard that Stevie song. :shrug:

[Johnny Stew]

Well, history buffs might gnash their teeth at my generalization here, but I always felt that by adding "Escape From Berlin" to the title, Stevie was alluding to an escape from oppression or a dictatorship... since Berlin was pretty much the birthplace of the Third Reich.

Just my thought.


"Doing The Best That I Can" is my favorite song from The Other Side Of The Mirror... right alongside "Ooh My Love."




Johnny Stew

[sara1998]

Very good song. Was one of my first favs off the TOSOTM album. I agree with Johnny about the Escape from Berlin.

Maria

[Ghosty]

I thought the same thing about the escape from Berlin thing.

I love that song too. It means a lot to me. And Ooh My Love has always been one of my fave's. And I love Fire Burning. The one song I used to not love as much was Cry Wolf, but now I love it. OSOTM seems to mean more and more to me the older I get. I think there's a lot of experience and pain and wisdom in that album. I don't know...

[estranged4life]

the "Escape From Berlin" means escaping from behind a wall...I still like the song "Doing The Best I Can" just wished the video I have of it was a bit more clear visually...Brian

PS-Its very rare to find in my car a copy of TOSOTM, I'm ALWAYS playing it when I drive...

[Sorcerer386]

It's really strange how bitter OSOTM can be. It is, like Stevie says, her magic album, but a lot of the songs can just be taken so, well, bitterly (is that a word?), or at the least distressfully. Long Way to Go was about that guy who made her drive all that way and they just broke up again. Ooh My Love about a guy seeming to want Stevie's "castles to fall down." Ghosts about living in the past and being scared of the future, Whole Lotta Trouble, while I have no idea what it's about, seems to be a not too nice song. Cry Wolf has a bitter tinge to it (just remember not to call my name when you cry wolf). Alice with the drugs, Doing the Best that I Can about people getting off her back. Thank you for the Escape to Berlin answers too.

[BellaDonnaGypsy]

I think TOSOTM is definitely one of those albums that grows on you the more you listen to it. There are songs on it that I didn't used to like way back when I first got the album, like Cry Wolf and also Doing The Best That I Can. In fact, I really love that album! :)

I also agree that it's a bitter album... a good one to listen to when you are really mad at someone.

Laura.

[BellaDonnaGypsy]

Rock A Little is another album that I've been rediscovering lately too, with the songs Rock A Little and Sister Honey being my favorites right now. I think of that one as the party album... ;)

Laura.

[miriamswell]

If I am not mistaken the Berlin wall came down in 1989 and wasn't that when OSOTM was released? And wasn’t at least part of OSOTM done in Europe? Again, if memory serves, there was a fairly large concert – including Pink Floyd performing the entire "Wall." I'm a bit sketchy about the Pink Floyd bit, but I have always wondered if Stevie was actually there. I have read accounts by many musicians who were there who found it to be, in varying degrees, a life altering experience.

Without doubt, OSOTM is very melancholy, terribly sad and sometimes very angry. At the same time, musically it is lush and gorgeous and almost Baroque. There is an interview where Stevie says essentially the same thing -- "it is very pretty, but it is also very serious." However, we all know that in even her most devastating songs, Stevie likes to leave, at the very least, a glimmer of hope. I have always understood "Escape from Berlin" to be alluding to that unwavering refusal to give in or give up, no matter what the circumstances. Yes she is in a very, very dark place, but if Germany can unite, surely Stevie Nicks can find some happiness.

ITA that the Berlin reference is alluding to escape from something oppressive and stifling and awful. But the timing of OSOTM has always seemed odd to me because it is after the cocaine/brandy/the-road-goes-on-forever-and-the-party-never-ends-years and before the Klonopin knocked her flat. And while it does come after Lindsey's departure from the band, FM had not yet broken up and Mick had not yet refused to return Silver Springs. I have always wondered what happened between RAL and OSOTM that was so harrowing for Stevie.

On a related topic, I have also always been confused by Stevie’s appearance in the videos for "Rooms of Fire." In the actual video (the story video), Stevie looks pretty much like Stevie, and IMHO a bit better than she did during RAL. But then there are a couple of live performances – one of which I believe was the European debut and was filmed in Germany – where she looks absolutely awful. She is heavier than I have ever seen her (not that her weight impacts her attractiveness per se), her face looks swollen, her eyes are half shut, she seems dazed and out of it and she is barely recognizable. She looked fine for the BTM tour and well into '90 and '91. Does anyone know what I am talking about? Or even better, does anyone know what happened?
~curious mim

[joe]

First of all, i have to say that i like TOSOTM when it came out and still do although i haven't listened to it in a while. I actually just recently rediscovered "Two Kinds of Love". I thought the album was a nice return after "RAL". To me, RAL was not very Stevie-like...too funky at times. But i did listen to TOSOTM a lot when it came out. The whole first side is great.

Anyway, i have a video of Stevie and the girls singing "Rooms on Fire" somewhere and this maybe the performance you're talking about mim...She looked heavy and bloated. I have to say, though, that there's a very hysterical thing in this clip...when she came out she had a rose or flowers or something and she went to throw it to the audience and (i know she's not athletic) she didn't let go until late and it landed right in front of her feet! It's hysterical...I'm sorry. Hey, i've been a fan since 1981 so i've paid my dues and can laugh at her every once in a while! i'm sure she does too...

[Johnny Stew]

Trust me, Joe... I get a HUGE laugh out of it everytime I watch that clip.
She often throws a little bouquet out into the audience.... the Red Rocks video shows her throwing one with GREAT enthusiasm.... and then there's *this* video!
Stevie walks to the edge of the stage... flings the bouquet, and...
SPLAT!... it drops no more than 2 feet in front of her.

It's hysterical.

My other favorite humorous Stevie moment also comes from the 'Mirror' era.
In the pro-shot concert from San Jose, CA., right before (or is it right after?!) "Two Kinds Of Love", Stevie says, "Just how many kinds of love are there?.... in San Francisco you might say TWO kinds of love!"

Oh, Stevie... if you only knew. ;)


:D


Johnny Stew

[sara1998]

Originally posted by Johnny Stew

In the pro-shot concert from San Jose, CA., right before (or is it right after?!) "Two Kinds Of Love", Stevie says, "Just how many kinds of love are there?.... in San Francisco you might say TWO kinds of love!"

Oh, Stevie... if you only knew. ;)



LOLOL!!!:laugh: I'm hysterical right about now, Johnny!!

Maria

[joe]

on the Westwood One radio concert from Texas that year she said the same thing.

[Johnny Stew]

Originally posted by joe
on the Westwood One radio concert from Texas that year she said the same thing.


Yep, she does! I'm not sure, but I think she might have actually introduced the song that way on most (if not all) of the tourdates... but it definitely takes on an "unfortunate" double-meaning in the San Jose show.
:D


That's a great show, by the way... the Houston, TX. one that was recorded by Westwood One.
Stevie was definitely having a good night... vocally she was in great form, and she seems to have a lot of energy. Thankfully the lethargy that cast a shadow on a lot of her other performances of that era, seems in little evidence there.

Incidentally, the "Whole Lotta Trouble" video was filmed at that show... though the performance was edited down considerably for release.

That reminds me... I had heard rumours several years ago, that the entire Houston show was filmed. I've never come across it anywhere, but does anyone else have info on whether or not that exists?




Johnny Stew