So I walked on down the road away from you
 

Can she please start saying "So i walked on down the line away from you" again?
The road thing reminds me of the Fleetwood Mac versions of Stand Back which I have never liked (until 2003) when someone realized that the synthesizers and guitars are IMPORTANT to this song.

I also like when she mixes it up a little bit- changing notes, going crazy with the "You could be standing in" parts like the Wild Heart days..

But back to the road thing. It just bugs me. The rest of it might as well be changed to "You could be standing in a road,
"standing in a road"
"Standing in a RO-O-OAD"

I always wondered why she changed the notes up so much on SB for the live version virtually from the start. I have a few WH boots where she stays pretty true to the studio version but after that she totally changed it. Even the "back" in "stand back" is different and although I LOVE this song live I like the way the studio version is done a lot better. What do you guys think? I've often wondered about this. Do you notice the difference in the notes?

I cant freaking stand the studio version of Stand Back anymore. Which is probably why I dont care for the WH versions of the song live either. Live the song is another story and I just love it. Fleetwood Mac's always done it best overall but my favorite single version of the song is Woodstock 98 when she does the ad libing Maybe Maybe YEAAAHH. And I do like the high kick in the solo versions too. But yeah the way she sings it live totally kicks that studio version's ass. Hell I think I might be the only one to skip Stand Back on the Wild Heart (ducks)

You mean where she forgets the words & can't think of something to say fast enough? :) I love this version too. :nod:

I agree with Hawkeye - although I never skip the album version (for shame! LOL). Live versions in 83 were too similar to the studio version for my taste - very few ad libs, vocal differences, etc. If I want to hear a song exactly as it sounds on the CD, I'll listen to the CD. I prefer more recent versions - say, '97 & later. She kicks this song's ass these days. :nod: Less dancey/ more rock.

I'm not saying I want her to do live songs exactly the same way as the studio version but with SB it's like there are 2 different versions - the live one and the studio one and they are very distinct. Of course a lot of songs she does different from the studio version but there's just something about SB that is different from the rest. Trust me I love all the ad libs and so forth that's the best part!

:lol: that's one of my favorites.. i think she just got all caught up in the moment and was trying to really rock it out... and that's what came out...


i wonder though, when was the last time she actually sang the words "well, i would cry".. for years and years it's been "Well, i would..." would what, Stevie?? you would what??? cry, perhaps? ;) :p

She also does this on Rhiannon...

I'm annoyed at how she says "All your life you've never seen a woman taken by the sky. Would you stay if she promised to you heaven, would you even try?" I prefer the studio version's "All your life you've never seen a woman taken by the wind. Would you stay if she promised to you heaven, will you ever win?"

"Will you ever win" is an important line in Rhiannon. The official title on the single version is Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win) so it baffles me that she doesn't sing that line live.

yikes! i just realized that myself.. good point... why doesn't she sing "will you ever win" anymore??? :shrug:

Has she ever sung that live :shrug:

I figure Stevie wrote the words and decided which notes to sing the songs in..so she has the right to change whatever she wants. Most of the time I think songs just evolve over time and lyrics get slightly changed. (like in Rhiannon)
With Stand Back....it could be more intentional. The "so I walked on down the line away from you" refers to a specific event, IMO, and perhaps Stevie has changed it to "road" to make it more generalized? Anything to make it sound less about the ghastly wedding day and walking down the wedding line.
Now she is just walking on down the road of life away from this man, instead of down the aisle.
One of her lyric changes that does bother me though is in "If Anyone Falls". "My lonely........". She doesn't include the "one" and that is annoying because it is so important. The line lacks the emotional punch without the word "one". (maybe that is the reason she dropped it?)

It was awesome live. Absolutely amazing. Really, all of the Enchanted Tour she performed Stand Back with some incredible fire. "This is the time of your life...time of your life..." It's interesting to see the difference between Fleetwood Mac performing and Stevie performing the song solo--with Stevie, I always feel as though the song is longer and more music is added to the end of the song. However, I loved the SYW tour Stand Backs and then thus far, her Stand Backs on her tour with Don have been absolutely fierce. She's rocking and I love when she randomly ad libs :nod:

Do you mean How Still My Love? Not being a smart ass...seriously.

As for Stand Back, yes, the note changes are distinct, I don't know so much about "Stand back, stand back," but she goes up on "it's all right, it's all right" instead of down. Personally, I like the more simplified melody line of Stand Back live than on the album. She sounds all over the place on the album, which I know a lot of people like, but I think it sounds better simplified. I also like that she changed "line" to "road," and I especially like that she doesn't just go "so i walked on down away from you" like she does the first time on the album version. It sounds like she's trying to stretch a shorter line into the length of the music. And for Woodstock '98 (thanks again Brian for sending me this, one of her best concerts I've seen), I don't know if there is a better pick up from a missed line than that "MAYBE, MAYBE, YEAH!" And it's so funny because she nearly messes up again on the song...she's away from the mic doing her Stevie thing and forgets she has to get back to sing...so she rushes back to the mic, of course makes it JUST in time, and you can see her hitting her head during "maybe my attention, it was more than I could do," like she's saying, "come on Stevie, stay with the song here!" I love how Stand Back has evolved, especially because it's a little more guitar heavy and rock sounding, rather than the synth taking over on the album, which of course makes it sound too poppy and too 80's.

"So I walked on down the road away from you, maybe calling a taxi was more than I could do " :woohoo:

Absolutely agree with the less dance/ more rock line. Which is the only fault I have with the studio version. And I dont skipt he song all the time like I do Two Kinds of Love, I Still Miss Someone and most of Rock a Little, but its just not a song Im always in the mood for. But I still dont think it should ever leave a set becasue of what it becomes live. Stand BAck to me is the equivlent of Im So Afraid in their live vs. studio. Funny how on the SYW tour they were played pretty danmed close together.

I think she dropped it because it is high. But I really missed that note, sounds like a big void without it.

The WoodStock version of SB is pretty amazing. I also the end, where she says something along the lines of "This is the time of your life" two times. That whole show is one of my favorites. She nails GDW and Rhiannon.

yes indeed... one of my favorite shows ever! :thumbsup:

My favorite stand back live performance is on saturday night live (even though you can tell she is stoned) she sort of sings it like the live version...but it's different, and she really rocks it out

red rocks version isnt my favorite except for the instrumental part of it

nowadays...bleh it's overplayed
lol

I LOVE that SNL version. THE BEST version of Stand Back ever. Up there with that amazinngly coked out version in Tulsa Oklahoma 1983. It was CRAZY!!!

Yes! "Taken by the wind" is much more dramatic than "taken by the sky", in my opinion (but of course I'm not Stevie Nicks :laugh: ) And, "will you ever win" is like a signature line for Rhiannon. I don't like those changes either.

Another one that bothers me is not really a lyric change, but she stretches the word "only" out to "on-a-ly" during GB at the 04 shows I saw. I can pretty much fly with whatever Stevie wants to throw out there, but that one really does grate. I don't want to sound like Lindsey with his grammar lessons, but "on-a-ly" is not a word. I guess you wouldn't say that to Bob Dylan, blah, blah, but it really did bug me. :nod:

I always loved the Solid Gold SB. I love how she changes the end of the last verse, "Well one man/Said that he could not stay/And I said, "Well darlin' goodbye/Yeah GO AWAY!"

Never heard he do it that way any other time! :thumbsup:

LOVE that version too Sugar. Stevie looked way hot! I liked it because it was very close to the album version, but her performance was even better.