If I had my life to live over, I would never dream!
 

I love this heartbreaking line on POTU but was shocked to find out this song was written when she was in her twenties. The line makes a lot more sense when it is written in your fifties (like I thought). How could Stevie think she didn't have her life to live over when she was so young and had basically her whole life ahead of her?

I think it's the whole "I built my life around you" thing with she and Lindsey-- not just as lovers but partners in their musical dreams and all that. I don't think you can understand what it's like to lose someone who means *that* much to you-- in all facets of your life-- unless you have lived it... which I have not yet so I can't begin to understand it.

I do agree that the entire song makes more sense now. It's one of my favorite songs of hers, ever. :xoxo:

Mine too!

Hillary

It is a very sad line, but she wrote it at a time when she was really very angry. She says in her TISL interviews that she had not recorded it before mainly because the lyrics were to harsh and she added some lyrics later to soften it a bit. She must have been very sad at the time to say somthing like that. She was probably just being a bit of a drama queen!

Love Gem

Potu
 

One of my favorite Stevie quotes related to this topic is from the Ft Myers TISL show. She is introducing the song and says that she had written Planets after getting back from Sausalito. She goes on to say that she would always bring the song up to FM, as evidenced in the Rumours reissues. Stevie then says "everytime I would say, how about this? Lindsey would say, I DONT THINK SO"...then she goes on to talk about softening up the lyrics to make them ok to share. It made me smile because I can just picture Lindseys initial reaction to the original Planets lyrics, plus the line "you will never rule the way you ruled me". IMO, and I think she has even said herself, she was being a bit of a drama queen when she wrote the song. That is not to say she did not feel the overwhelming despair and sadness, but I do not think she really wanted to go back and never dream again in her life. Frankly, Stevie seems to thrive creatively when she is broken hearted and bitter.
I also like how she remarked during the TISL promotion that Lindsey really liked what John Shanks did with PoTU. Stevie seemed to really appreciate the compliment, as if his opinion of the song really mattered to her.

I always had a dilemma with that line. :laugh:

She removed an entire portion of the song because she thought it was too bitter, but she left that line in there. To me, "Now I know/I was wrong to live for a dream/If I had my life to live over/I would never dream" is just as bitter as the "You will remember/But I will die a slow death/It's only an overture to something that was best" portion.

Broken-hearted and angry yes. Bitter, no. ;)

But that line IS in the remix! :thumbsup:

POTU is one of my favorite SN songs EVAH!

I think it's quite telling that she actually went back and changed the lyrics, not just because she didn't want to hurt Lindsey's feelings, but it shows how she has moved on now and left all that pain behind. It's sweet.

Love Gem

I think the song is MUCH more powerful with all the lyrics in there. It does tend to ramble a bit, but I enjoy the passion of it. When you break up with someone you love desperately you feel all those extreme emotions. That's what it's all about. You hate them, love them, miss them, maybe wish they'd just "disappear into the air." That's the drama of youth and love. It's powerful and real, and I think editing it out is silly. But then, I prefer the infamous "No Light" piano demo, which is both angry and heartbreaking. One of the best demos ever.

The story of the song not making a FM album is funny, and quite revealing. First off, I don't think it fits FM. Frankly, they never let her be that writer in the band. They never let her have that voice. To this day, I don't think Smile At You fits on SYW because of that. They rejected Smile At You, Silver Springs, POTU, and a few others that were angry, aggressive, pointed songs. I think it was because that wasn't the role they wanted her to play in the band.
Plus, I don't think Lindsey wanted people to hear such things written and vocalized about him. Who knew he was such a delicate flower ? :lol:

As far as the wisdom of this song, and Landslide goes...there can be much wisdom in the simplicity of youth and idealism - even in youth and cynicism !
IMO there is much more clarity and prophetic simplicity in her early work. It seems the last couple of records are showing bits and pieces of that vision surfacing again. It's a good thing, Martha.

Yep - and IMO The Tower, which became Goodbye Baby, is right up there. Her voice and her delivery is so incredible to me in these. They just break my heart.

To be honest, I like the version on the Rumours bonus disc the best. I don't know why because there's nothing particularly fantastic about it, but it just does it for me. Love her vocal and the rambling quality of the whole outtake.

Interesting observation, it definitely has a ring of truth to it. Who made the ultimate decisions with regard to what songs made the albums? Mick right? What an ass....:laugh: :laugh:

I think that is true in studio recordings. But, on stage was another story. For example, look at Rhiannon. The studio version is light, breezy, and dreamy. The stage version up until about 94 and even some on the Enchanted Tour (which granted was not FM) were far from light, breezy, and dreamy :laugh:

Interestingly, the ending of Silver Springs was Rhiannon esq. in both the live 70's and the 97 Dance performances. In the 70's they dumped it. In 97, they relied on it :shrug:

Food for Thought!!! :cool:

Well, Rhiannon was fiery indeed. However, it wasn't personal. I think that song is one where Stevie actually inhabited the character of the song, rather than directing her passion and ire at a particular person - namely Lindsey.

They certainly did rely on SS in '97. For a myriad of reasons. Hell, rely on it...they milked it. I think they all realized it had become an emotional highlight of the show, i.e. Stevie got into it. It seems whatever reservations Lindsey may have had about such vitriol were no longer as immediate or perhaps they all realized they needed the drama in the show. Regardless, it sure worked.

Plus...
 

yeah, it's the difference between a recording and a performance. I mean, who wants to watch a quiet, safe, and incredibly boring stage performance? They know the drama of their live performances is the highlight of their shows, hence, SS '97 and early Rhiannon were born. Fans are usually drawn in through recorded versions of songs first, (gotta hook'em in) and then the whole experience gels with the live performances ;). It's a Science really...:laugh:

angry lyrics
 

It was amazing to watch Silver Springs come to life in 97...even though I had loved the song for years. They did rely heavily on the interaction between SnL during SS for all of the 97 tour. That was the reason I was so shocked it was dropped in May. So many fans got into the band just from watching that version of Silver Springs. It was amazing how many people joined the boards and started their fandom as a direct result. It made zero sense to take that out of the set this year from that perspective. I understand about her voice and all that but still, it had become such a staple to the live show..another Rhiannon. Maybe it will come back for the three September shows.

I love this version, too. I am so happy it made it onto the disc!

I feel that she took out the portion of the song that was too angry because it was directed at someone else and was she felt it was to harsh when being released years later. Her stating " I would never dream " is directed at her self, so I think thats why she left it. Also, i think what she meant in that line, is because i have such big dreams, that is what killed her relationship, and if she didnt have dreams, she would still have the relationship, thats just what I took it to mean. i once read where she said that she would never again write a song that would make her uncomfortable to sing, i dont mean that she said that after this song. She once said long time ago, and i think she was referring to her grandfather, there was a song, that had a line in it and she didnt feel comfortable singing it to him because of the situation at the time for her granddad, (i think when he became ill) .

She was always making refernces like that. Take Beautiful Child for instance: Years disappeared, much has gone by since then . Stevie writes like an old soul.

Whenever I play "Planets" in my car, I've always cranked it at that part!